Is local sourcing out of fashion in the globalization era? Evidence from Italian mechanical industry

The paper concerns a study on the changes affecting leading cluster companies' supplier relationships. In particular, the paper aims at investigating under which conditions and how industrial cluster companies rely on local suppliers in the current context of international competitive pressure and easier access to international supply sources. The research methodology is qualitative and based on a long-term longitudinal research of three case studies of Italian industrial cluster companies that are leading firms in specific niches of the mechanical industry. Two main questions are debated: under which conditions have industrial cluster companies relied on local suppliers? What has been the evolution of relationships between industrial cluster companies and their local suppliers? The empirical analysis shows that local suppliers have been playing strategic roles in different ways in distinct historical phases, contributing actively in terms of knowledge and competence development, production flexibility, delivery performance and cost efficiency.     

基于数据挖掘技术的教学测评

学院为保障教学质量,每学期对教师教学情况进行测评,其中学生的测评结果占教师总测评成绩的70％.通过多年的实证性研究表明;学生教学评价问卷具有很高的可信度,较客观地反映了任课教师的教学效果.由于学生测评数据量较大,又没有分类标准,应用SPSS软件进行聚类分析,可以较好地进行教学效果的等次划分.用关联规则分析教学测评数据可...     

Clustering Methods for Real Estate Portfolios

A clustering algorithm is applied to effective rents for twenty-one metropolitan U.S. office markets, and to twenty-two metropolitan markets using vacancy data. It provides support for the conjecture that there exists a few major "families" of cities: including an oil and gas group and an industrial Northeast group. Unlike other clustering studies, we find strong evidence of bicoastal city associations among cities such as Boston and Los Angeles. We present a bootstrapping methodology for investigating the robustness of the clustering algorithm, and develop a means for testing the significance of city associations. While the analysis is limited to aggregate rent and vacancy data, the results provide a guideline for the further application of cluster analysis to other types of real estate and economic information.     

Exploring the regional implications of interstate quarantine policies in Western Australia

As a signatory of the World Trade Organization Agreement, Australia has a responsibility to ensure the behaviour of its internal markets for food and food-related products abide by the same rules and regulations as international trade. This has generated a need to demonstrate the validity of any measures that restrict competition to avoid disputes and/or retaliatory actions by other signatories. This paper explores a spatial economic evaluation technique that can be used to examine the welfare implications of quarantine policies for regionalised industries, and demonstrates practical application of this technique using two case studies of interstate trade within Australia.     

Exploring the interaction between incubators and industrial clusters: the case of the itri incubator in Taiwan

This article aims to explore the interaction between incubators and industrial clusters, which is an important linkage for local development but has not been analyzed in the literature. A model is proposed to describe this interaction. The Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI) Incubator within the Hsinchu industrial cluster, the core of Taiwan's technology industries, is considered to be an empirical case. This case is investigated with the proposed model and methods including data analysis, in–depth interviews, manager surveys and stakeholder analysis. It was found that the clustering effect in the Hsinchu industrial cluster is main factor in the ITRI Incubator's development. The ITRI Incubator in turn reinforces the cluster in some aspects as feedback. This result confirms the existence and importance of this interaction in local development. It is recommended that government officials and incubator managers take account of this interaction in operating an incubator program and utilize the proposed model to analyze the incubator's contributions to its industrial cluster.     

Confidence Intervals and the Evaluation of Regression Based Appraisal Models

Perhaps the most important technical development in assessment administration in recent years has been the application of multiple regression analysis. The technique offers an effective means of reappraising the large majority of single family residences each year or so at low costs per parcel. This paper addresses the issue of how to evaluate properly the accuracy or reliability of such models.     

基于SWOT分析法的河南纺织产业集聚区发展对策研究

随着国家支持中部崛起政策的逐步落实和东部沿海地区产业转移的加快,河南纺织业遇到了千载难逢的好机会.如何抓住机遇,促进产业结构升级,就成为了河南纺织产业集聚区亟待解决的问题.文章运用SWOT分析法对河南纺织产业集聚区发展的内在因素,以及所处的各种外部环境进行了深入客观的分析,并在此基础上提出了一些发展建议,以期为河南纺织...     

高技术产业集群的信任与声誉机制研究

高技术产业集群的“竞合关系”表现出“合作关系占主导,竞争关系为辅助”的关系结构;高技术产业集群内部经济主体具有长期合作的主观倾向;高技术产业集群的网络治理机制可以分为正式机制与非正式机制。从关系结构与网络成员的机会主义行为分析入手,对高技术产业集群非正式网络治理机制——信任文化和声誉机制进行了研究;高技术产业集群的信任体系结构包含五个层次,信任是网络型组织的基本运行机制,建立高绩效网络的最重要的要求是信任或社会认同。信任机制可以降低组织之间的交易成本;高技术产业集群以企业为主体的网络具有开放性,声誉机制的扩散效应更为明显,高技术产业集群声誉机制的重要含义在于拓展了交易范围与交易空间,为技术创新提供了更多的资源选择,使潜在交易对象可以演变为现实的可利用资源。     

The role of multiple ties in knowledge networks: Complementarity in the Montefalco wine cluster

After decades of studies about pervasive, wide, and inclusive knowledge externalities and the advantages of being there, recent literature on management, industrial marketing, economic geography, regional studies, and related fields has stressed that knowledge spreads imperfectly, unevenly, and selectively within regional and cluster contexts. In this respect, little is known about the role played by heterogeneous knowledge ties among the same set of actors and to what extent they follow overlapping or different routes of exchanging knowledge. Thus, an investigation of multiple knowledge networks in clusters is a fundamental approach to interpret the reasons for innovation and economic performance.With an original dataset comprised of data collected by surveys directly administered in local wineries in the Montefalco wine region of Italy, this paper aims to analyse the roles played by different local knowledge ties within a sector that is critically driven by the exchange of knowledge among economic actors. Social network analysis and exponential random graph modelling were applied to investigate the driving forces of the knowledge flows. The empirical results showed that economic and social ties positively affect the spread of knowledge, but the former has a higher magnitude impact than the latter. Moreover, they follow complementary routes of exchange rather than overlapping ones. We suggest that such a structure has implications for understanding the diffusion of knowledge and structures of innovation in cluster contexts.     

Exploring talent flow in Wuhan automotive industry cluster at China

In recent 10 years, the city of Wuhan has built a big automotive industry cluster in China. The Wuhan automotive cluster is developing quickly, but scarcity of talent has become the bottleneck for its development. Recruiting talented worker is a significant concern and the influence factors of talent flow have been explored. The questionnaire about influence factors of talent flow are designed and sent to nine core enterprises at Wuhan Economic and Technological Development Zone. One hundred and seventy five automotive specialists returned the effective answer sheet. In the questionnaire survey, principal components analysis is used to explore the structure of this instrument, which suggests five components: industry cluster characteristic, urban environment, working environment, income and individual factor. The investigation result demonstrates the top three of these components are income, working environment and individual factor.     

Spatial clustering of rural poverty and food insecurity in Sri Lanka

We mapped poverty, with reference to a nutrition-based poverty line, to analyse its spatial clustering in Sri Lanka. We used the Divisional Secretariat poverty map, derived by combining the principal component analysis and the synthetic small area estimation technique, as the data source. Two statistically significant clusters appear. One cluster indicates that low poverty rural areas cluster around a few low poverty urban areas, where low agricultural employment and better access to roads are key characteristics. The other indicates a cluster of high poverty rural areas, where agriculture is the dominant economic activity, and where spatial clustering is associated with factors influencing agricultural production. Agricultural smallholdings are positively associated with spatial clustering of poor rural areas. In areas where water availability is low, better access to irrigation significantly reduces poverty. Finally, we discuss the use of poverty mapping for effective policy formulation and interventions for alleviating poverty and food insecurity.     

基于产业链治理的集群外部经济增进研究——以浙江绍兴纺织集群为例

外部经济通常被认为是形成集群竞争力的重要源泉,但鲜有文献揭示其变化规律。对浙江绍兴纺织集群的研究发现,当模仿创新达到一定程度时,集群的创新会因"搭便车"而陷入"囚徒困境",此类市场失灵会导致外部经济由升转降。通过以共享要素平台构建为核心的产业链治理,可促进群内各相关主体之间交易费用的降低和共生利益的形成,从而化解市场失灵,实现外部经济的由降转升,这一逆转可通过全要素生产率(TFP)的估计等测度予以初步验证。产业链治理包括:在上游研发环节构建以"企企"间"激励相容"为特征的共享技术平台,从研发成果的形成、流转与应用层次使集群研发效率提升,技术共享面扩大;在下游销售环节构建共享市场平台,通过传统网下业态向新型网上业态的延伸及适度利润率的定价策略可实现销售规模内生性扩大;以及促进上下游环节间的协同互动。研究表明,集群内要素的共享面越宽,共享程度越高,其外部经济的增进越显著;建立在"企企"与"政企"之间激励相容及企业家才能内生性拓展基础上的集群外部经济增进是可持续的。     

川南城市群工业发展及其物流规划研究

川南城市群作为成渝城市群中的一个重点工业经济圈,其工业经济与物流的发展有极其重要的战略意义。通过分析区域经济联系、区位商优势,对川南城市群工业发展以及物流市场进行了划分。利用spss软件的主成分分析,对川南各市综合物流发展现状进行了评价,再通过与成都市各项指标的比较,提供了确定物流节点数量的方法,并运用聚类分析对川南各市进行了分类,为进一步物流规划提供了理论基础。     

Assessing Finland's Wireless Valley: can the pioneering continue?

Internationally, the success of Finland's Wireless Valley, i.e., the Finnish telecom/mobile cluster, has often been credited to Finnish industry competitiveness, population dispersion, and pro-technology attitudes. Yet, the number of competitors has been low, while demographic dispersion and technology attitudes have not been that different from those in other Nordic countries. In effect, the cluster performance during the second-generation rivalry has been a function of geopolitics (Finland's special relationship with Tsarist Russia and Soviet Union), public strategies (Nordic cooperation, EU strategies and Finnish liberalization in the 1970s and 1980s), and first-mover advantages (firm-level strategies of Finnish mobile vendors and operators). In the emerging 3G competition, the importance of geopolitics and public strategies has become secondary to that of the marketplace. As a result, the Finnish success drivers are dissipating in the new environment.     

An application of clustering for strategic group analysis

Taxonomies, factor analysis and clustering are discussed as tools to investigate the structure of competitors within an industry (‘strategic groups’). An example using cluster analysis is presented as one means of operationalizing this concept. Careful definition and selection of the dimensions used to identify the boundaries between strategic groups (their mobility barriers) are particularly crucial in the effective application of analytical tools.     

Global connectivity and the evolution of industrial clusters: From tires to polymers in Northeast Ohio

Industrial clusters are a critical component of the competitive viability of economies around the world. However, clusters are not static but evolve in response to technology and competition. This process has garnered interest from scholars and from practitioners, with the focus primarily on local linkages and networks. Although global knowledge ties have the potential to fuel innovation, scant attention has been given to global knowledge connectivity in the context of cluster evolution. We analyze a comprehensive 30-year patent dataset (1975–2005) associated with the Akron industrial cluster in Northeast Ohio. The results also show that innovation in the cluster has survived in spite of a long-term decline in manufacturing activity and employment. The survival of innovation in the Akron cluster is driven by increasing specialization at the local level with an emphasis on technologies rather than products and growing connectedness to global innovation systems. A key implication of our study is the importance of anchor tenant multinational enterprises and research institutions in ensuring the persistence of local innovation through two key processes (a) orchestrating knowledge networks; and (b) spawning startup activity. We provide support for recent work in industrial marketing suggesting that network evolution has both deterministic and strategic aspects.     

A methodological note on diversity measurement

This research addresses the question, do categorical and continuous measures capture the same construct of diversity? Using analysis of variance, cluster analysis, and discriminant analysis, we investigated whether continuous measures (entropy and product count) differentiate between diversification categories, whether continuous measures converted to categories and subjectively assigned categories classified companies similarly, and whether continuous and categorical measures predicted similar diversity–performance relationships. We concluded that the techniques were associated but did not yield the same performance predictions. For researchers investigating diversity–performance relationships, choice of measurement technique will influence research results. Our research results suggest that attempts to combine categorical and continuous techniques as a way to overcome the limitations of both methods is not appropriate.     

风网互补技术在丛式井组的应用探讨

介绍了长庆油田地区风能资源测试、统计和分析的方法,得出了长庆油田基本位于风能可利用区的结论;针对长庆油田现状,提出了分布式风网互补供电系统在油田丛式井组上应用的方案;并对风力发电进行了效果测试分析。     

Use of partial least squares (PLS) in strategic management research: a review of four recent studies

Advances in causal modeling techniques have made it possible for researchers to simultaneously examine theory and measures. However, researchers must use these new techniques appropriately. In addition to dealing with the methodological concerns associated with more traditional methods of analysis, researchers using causal modeling approaches must understand their underlying assumptions and limitations. Most researchers are well equipped with a basic understanding of LISREL‐type models. In contrast, current familiarity with PLS in the strategic management area is low. The current paper reviews four recent studies in the strategic management area which use PLS. The review notes that the technique has been applied inconsistently, and at times inappropriately, and suggests standards for evaluating future PLS applications. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

论企业集群的竞争优势

企业竞争逐步从过去注重单个企业的发展战略，向企业联盟以及企业集群战略演化，企业集群通过协同效应所显现的竞争优势，不仅日益备受关注，而且集群战略已成为企业，区域发展的重要模式，本文首先简介企业集群概念，接着从直接经济要素和非直接经济要素两个方面分析集群的竞争优势，前者包括生产成本优势，基于质量基础的产品差异化优势，区域营销优势，市场竞争优势四个方面，后者体现在区域创新能力上。