Innovation,networking and the new industrial clusters: the characteristics of networks and local innovation capabilities in the Turkish industrial clusters

Elaborating on the literature on industrial districts, this paper suggests that innovation and networking are the two key issues, which provide the new generation industrial clusters’ competitive capacity in the globalization process. The paper presents the findings on the innovative and networking capabilities of the three important industrial clusters of Turkey based on the data collected from the sample firms in each of these industrial clusters through in-depth interviews. The findings clearly show the importance of local and national networking as well as global linkages and confirm the positive relation between intensity of local networking and innovativeness. Moreover, the paper provides evidence that firms within global networks have higher numbers of innovations than firms with higher intensity of locally embedded linkages.     

基于区域经济发展视角的产业集群竞争优势研究

当今,集群竞争开始代替企业竞争而成为区域经济发展的主流。在对产业集群的创新优势、市场优势等竞争优势进行分析的基础上,指出我国区域产业集群发展中存在着企业间缺乏关联与协作、自主创新能力薄弱、资源约束与环境污染严重等问题。因此,应加强企业间关联度与专业化分工协作、完善产业链并提高产品附加值、提高企业创新能力、坚持区域和集群的可持续发展等。     

创新网络的价值链——以加拿大ICT创新网络为例

ICT企业价值链可分为研究、开发、采购、制造、销售及售后服务6个主要阶段。加拿大ICT创新网络内各企业的活动显示出与其区位优势的最佳结合,并通过这种最佳组合形成可持续的核心竞争力。加拿大ICT创新网络是产业集群与全球价值链并行的案例。     

Innovation in food firms: contribution of regional networks within the international business context

This paper explores the role of regional networks in processes of innovation within an international business context. It is hypothesized that firms participating in regional networks demonstrate a stronger innovation competence. Data are drawn from a survey among food firms in the region of Meetjesland, Belgium, and reflect the relation between the firm and a number of regional characteristics. After restructuring the data through factor analysis and cluster analysis, the important role of regional networking is revealed using discriminant analysis. The analysis marks out two factors having the strongest power to discriminate between the clusters: firms are classified as having a stronger innovation competence when networking within the region, and when orienting towards the international market. Results demonstrate that internationally operating firms benefit from regional networking. Further, it is argued that regional networking is not contradictory to an international market orientation, and that firms gain innovation competence by searching for external knowledge on different geographical scales. As these networks have the potential to enhance the innovation competence of firms, support to regional networking is promoted as a policy tool.     

Why does eco‐innovation differ in service firms? Some insights from Spain

Although environmental innovation studies have traditionally focused on manufacturing firms, the distinctive features of eco‐innovation activities carried out by service firms require special attention. Using the Spanish Commumity Innovation Survey (CIS), this paper determines which are the main drivers of undertaking eco‐innovation and investigates the similarities and differences between service and manufacturing firms within the five sub‐groups of services (supplier dominated, scale intensive physical networks, scale intensive information networks, science‐based, and others). The results confirm that the main eco‐innovation triggers are similar—technological push factor orientation (internal R&D and persistence) and firm size—while the impact of market pull factors and public environmental legislation differ within the services sub‐groups. In addition, we find a high degree of heterogeneity within service firms. In contrast to traditional service firms, those in the groups involving R&D activities, information networks, and scale‐intensive physical networks exhibit intensive eco‐innovation performance and show a high level of green indicators.     

基于企业家创新的集群企业电子商务产生机理研究——以浙江省产业集群为例

具有创新特性的企业家一般更为倾向于在本企业采用创新事物,集群企业电子商务产生的一种重要模式就是基于企业家创新而来的。企业家的这种创新特性表现为企业家的创新精神、企业家掌握的电子商务知识以及企业家对采用电子商务的态度。同时,基于企业家创新的集群企业电子商务产生过程还受到客户、政府部门、信息技术服务商等外在因素的影响。     

Do major customers encourage innovative sustainable development? Empirical evidence from corporate green innovation in China

This paper examines the impact of customer concentration on green innovation in Chinese listed firms between 2006 and 2018 through the dynamic panel generalized method of moments regressions. It is reported that major customers positively impact corporate green innovation, indicating that firms have more incentives to engage in innovative green practices to maintain stable relationships with major customers. In addition, the positive relationship between customer concentration and green innovation is more pronounced in state-owned enterprises, firms located in the provinces with a high level of marketization, and after China's new Environmental Protection Law implementation. Moreover, we observe that the positive impact of customer concentration on corporate green innovation is more significant among industrial firms and firms operating in heavily polluting industries. Furthermore, industrial competition is an essential channel for major customers to affect corporate green innovation.     

Sponsored spin-offs,industrial growth and change

This paper focuses on the role of sponsored spin-offs for industrial growth and dynamics. A sponsored spin-off is a firm born out of the venturing activities and the active involvement of an established organization; in this paper the latter in the form of retained partial ownership in the new firm. Sponsored spin-offs are one mechanism whereby the respective potential advantages of large and new firms may be exploited. Little is known about the nature and magnitude of contributions by existing firms to the creation of new technology-based firms and the effects these new firms have on innovation, change and renewal.In this paper, an empirical sample of 101 Swedish IPO firms is used in the analysis of three research questions. (1) Are sponsored spin-offs an important mechanism for the creation of new technology-based firms? (2) Are sponsored spin-off firms important for industrial growth? (3) Are sponsored spin-offs influencing industrial renewal and change? The results add to the understanding of how, and to what degree the venturing activities of existing firms contribute to the creation of new firms, as well as how and to what extent these spin-offs differ from other new firms in terms of their impact on industrial growth and change.     

产业集群内的创业网络研究

文章界定了产业集群内创业网络的定义,阐述了产业集群内创业网络的内涵,明确了产业集群内创业网络的形成机理,总结了产业集群创业网络的特征,证明了产业集群内创业网络的圆锥形结构,指出了社会网络、产业集群内创业网络和创新网络三者间的区别与联系。     

区域产业集群竞争优势构建——基于产业集群与区域创新能力互动关系视角

提升产业集群可持续竞争优势,区域创新能力可能是突破点。本文认为区域创新能力与区域产业集群之间实现互动,能为产业集群拥有竞争优势提供保障,从而促进区域经济可持续发展。产业集群的发展能够为提升区域创新能力提供所需的新知识、新信息;区域创新能力的提升能推动产业结构的调整与优化等,并促进产业集群的发展。本文通过进一步延伸探讨两者的互动关系发现,区域创新能力的加强,能够从开发新技术、引进人才、调整产业结构等方面提升区域产业集群的竞争优势。集群竞争优势的提升还需要全区域各方力量的共同努力,培育创新链条,营造良好的创新环境。     

Contributions of design emphasis,design resources and design excellence to market performance in technology-based service innovation

The value of design in product innovation is widely acknowledged and supported by empirical research, although extant research tends to focus solely on the role of designers, or design excellence, or design emphasis. Design in the context of service innovation is less well understood. Technology-based firms are viewed as key loci of innovation and, indeed, this innovation is not limited to product innovation, even though many of the stereotypes that come to mind have to do with the development of ever more technologically advanced ‘widgets’. In response to the gaps in current literature, this work takes a holistic approach to measuring design and examines how design resources (designers), design emphasis (emphasis on aesthetics and experience) and the outcomes of design (design excellence) jointly contribute to market performance in technology-based firms engaged in service innovation. Based on a survey conducted among managers of 176 technology-based service firms and evaluations of design excellence by design experts, the findings suggest that design emphasis and design resources both contribute to market performance. Surprisingly, design excellence is not found to contribute to market performance and possible reasons for this are discussed.     

Patterns of technological learning within the knowledge systems of industrial clusters in emerging economies: Evidence from China

Through an interview-based exploratory study and a follow-up survey-based quantitative analysis, this paper investigates the technological learning pattern in terms of structure and mechanisms of interaction within the knowledge system of two industrial clusters in China. Unlike the recent studies that suggest that industrial cluster comprises disconnected leader-centered communities, we argue that the different leader-centered communities within the knowledge systems of industrial clusters are not disconnected from each other. Instead, those communities are inter-connected through the so-called ‘knowledge spanning mechanisms’. Regarding the interaction dimension of technological learning pattern, this paper argues that in analyzing learning behavior in the knowledge networks of industrial clusters, it is necessary to synthesize the learning opportunity perspective and the absorptive capacity perspective to better understand and explain the similarities and dissimilarities in technological learning behavior among different cluster types, across cognitive subgroups, and between product innovation and process innovation. Our study reveals that in the context of emerging countries, the following four factors are decisive for technological learning opportunities inside the knowledge networks of industrial clusters: the underlying complexity of technology in clusters, the inter-connectedness between product and process, path dependency in knowledge searching, and the incremental nature of a cluster’s technological development.     

High technology localization and extra-regional networks

Firms in spatial concentrations of advanced-technology activities do not constrain their knowledge inputs to opportunities found within their industrial cluster. Rather, firms seeking extra-regional markets augment their in-house resources by means of material (embodied technology) and knowledge inputs obtained from sources at the extra-regional scale in addition to within the region. Literature is reviewed on the clustering of firms and their network geography, models of open and closed industrial systems, and absorptive capacity. The latter is used to interpret the search for knowledge undertaken by firms, which are discussed in terms of their organizational differences and strategic choices. A sample of manufacturing establishments from the electronics cluster in the Toronto metropolitan region (Canada) shows firms that are export-intensive have significantly stronger international input connections, especially with consultants and alliance partners. Export orientation is associated with higher levels of expenditure on the in-house generation of knowledge, more innovation inputs from external sources, and distinctive network geographies. Differences in network relations occur within and between three organizational groups of firms – foreign affiliates, multi-location and single-location domestic firms. Geographically wide-ranging networks are interpreted in terms of opportunities in extra-regional locations compared with local supplies. Regional innovation policy implications are considered.     

Determinants of performance of independent financial advisors

This paper examines the performance of independent financial advisors (IFAs) in terms of their involvement in innovation activities, participation in business networks and open innovation as a strategy to cope with difficult market conditions caused by the recent economic downturn. Performance is assessed on the basis of average sales growth for years 2010–2012. The results of the study suggest that IFAs’ involvement in innovation activities, participation in networks and open innovation enhances business performance. The managerial implications are that IFAs may be able to achieve higher sales growth by participating in networks and engaging in innovation activities. The originality of this paper is that it provides an empirical assessment of possible strategies to support sales growth in small financial service sector firms facing volatile market conditions.     

Knowledge flow and inter-firm networks: The influence of network resources,spatial proximity and firm size

The objective of this paper is to analyse the characteristics and nature of the networks that firms utilize to access knowledge and facilitate innovation. The paper draws on the notion of network resources, distinguishing two types: social capital–consisting of the social relations and networks held by individuals; and network capital–consisting of the strategic and calculative relations and networks held by firms. The methodological approach consists of a quantitative analysis of data from a survey of firms operating in knowledge-intensive sectors of activity. The key findings include: social capital investment is more prevalent among firms frequently interacting with actors from within their own region; social capital investment is related to the size of firms; firm size plays a role in knowledge network patterns; and network dynamism is an important source of innovation. Overall, firms investing more in the development of their inter-firm and other external knowledge networks enjoy higher levels of innovation. It is suggested that an over-reliance on social capital forms of network resource investment may hinder the capability of firms to manage their knowledge networks. It is concluded that the link between a dynamic inter-firm network environment and innovation provides an alternative thesis to that advocating the advantage of network stability.     

Business Models for Frugal Innovation in Emerging Markets: The Case of the Medical Device and Laboratory Equipment Industry

This study investigates business models for frugal innovation (i.e. a specific form of resource-constrained innovation) in the medical device and laboratory equipment industry in the context of emerging markets. Based on original data from five case studies, we investigate how firms can set up value creation and value capturing mechanisms to reach new customer segments in remote rural areas with unprecedented value propositions. With this research, we contribute to the literature on frugal innovation and business models in emerging markets. It is among the first empirical studies to apply a fine-grained perspective on resource-constrained innovation in emerging markets. In doing so, we focus on its most disruptive form, which is when these innovations entail entirely new applications. We advance and detail the value proposition for frugal innovation in these industries and argue that frugal innovation create new markets. Further, we show how firms set up their value creation and value capturing mechanisms to achieve the value proposition and identify two distinct Research & Development (R&D) strategies for frugal innovation.     

United we stand,divided we fall? Clustered firms’ relationships after the 2008 crisis

Abstract

Research on clusters or industrial districts within various schools of thought focuses on the relationships between clustered firms. We observed that the territory can produce sources of advantage, but also disadvantages, for firms. Using an exploratory and qualitative approach, the aim of this work is to determine what happened in the Spanish ceramic tile industrial district firms’ relationships after the 2008 crisis. The analysis has been performed in three of the dimensions in which these connections can take place: cooperation – horizontal and vertical cooperation, knowledge transfer and supporting institutions, along with innovation as a measure of performance. In order to examine these shifts, members of the firms and institutions in the cluster were interviewed, resulting in eight propositions for changes that may take place when the competition is intensified within a cluster, suggesting an analytical framework that could be tested in future research.     

Improving SME competitiveness reinforcing interorganisational networks in industrial clusters

Drawing on a social network approach this paper proposes a methodology that helps with the empowerment and development of interorganisational networks in clusters. Paper emphasises the necessity of establishing relationships with other firms and external agents in order to empower the creation and diffusion of knowledge, through factors such as innovation. The aim of the proposed methodology is to know how required knowledge should be located and diffused to identify the opportunities motivating the creation of particular interorganisational networks. Similarly, it is also important to know how to determine which agents might to take advantage of these opportunities creating networks.     

The influence of co-location in higher education institutions on small firms’ perspectives of knowledge transfer

Since 1980, the UK has experienced a dramatic growth in firms and employment in information–intensive business services, such as management consultancy and market research. Recent expansion of new and small firms operating in these sectors is the focus of a major ESRC–sponsored research project currently under way at Cambridge University Small Business Research Centre.

Small business service firms are able to compete successfully with large firms due to the imperfect nature of the market which characterizes business services demand and supply, together with specialization of expertise. The success of small business service firms depends on informal person–to–person networks, word–of–mouth recommendation and repeal business based on successful earlier assignments or personal contacts acquired, for example, while working in a large consultancy or market research company. This paper examines the types of networks utilized by small business service firms and argues that two distinct types exist: demand– and supply–related networks; the former involves links with clients, the latter links and co–operation between complementary small business service firms.