Clusteres y Competitividad - created from Mind Map

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Even as old reasons for clustering have diminished in importance with globalization, new influences of clusters on competition have taken on growing importance. (Porter, 2000)<br><br><ul><li>LOCATION, COMPETITION, AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: LOCAL CLUSTERS IN A GLOBAL ECONOMY

Porter, Michael E. </li></ul>

Why view economies using the lens of clusters instead of, or in addition to, more traditional groupings such as companies, industries, SIC codes, and sectors (e.g., manufacturing, services)? The most important reason is that the cluster as a unit of analysis is better aligned with the nature of competition and appropriate roles of government. (Porter,2000)

A cluster is the manifestation of the diamond at work

Local Clustering

Global Clustering

Cambio

Globalization and the ease of transportation and communication have led to a surge of outsourcing in which companies have relocated many facilities to low-cost locations. However, these same forces have created the location paradox. Anything that can be efficiently sourced from a distance has essentially been nullified as a competitive advantage in advanced economies. Information and relationships that can be accessed and maintained through fax or e-mail are available to anyone. Although global sourcing mitigates disadvantages, it does not create advantages. Moreover, distant sourcing normally is a second-best solution compared to accessing a competitive local cluster in terms of productivity and innovation. Paradoxically, the most enduring competitive advantages in a global economy seem to be local.

Clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, firms in related industries, and associated institutions (e.g., universities, standards agencies, trade associations) in a particular field that compete but also cooperate

Clusters suggest that a good deal of competitive advantage lies outside companies and even outside their industries, residing instead in the locations at which their business units are based

For governments, thinking about the competitiveness of nations and states has focused on the overall economy, with national-level policy as the dominant influence. The importance of clusters suggests new roles for government at the federal, state, and local levels

The geographic scope of clusters ranges from a region, a state, or even a single city to span nearby or neighboring countries

clusters cannot be understood independent of a broader theory of competition and competitive strategy in a global economy

For governments, in the global economy, sound macroeconomic policies are necessary but not sufficient.

inputs can be efficiently sourced in global markets

Firms can access immobile inputs via corporate networks

Governments are losing their influence over competition to global forces

Established companies based in other locations (both foreign and domestic) also are drawn to establish subsidiaries in cluster locations, seeking the productivity benefits and innovation advantages discussed previously.

Clusters, broader than traditional industry categorizations, capture important linkages, complementarities, and spillovers in terms of technology, skills, information, marketing, and customer needs that cut across firms and industries

Most cluster participants are not direct competitors but rather serve different segments of industries. Yet they share many common needs, opportunities, constraints, and obstacles to productivity

The cluster provides a constructive and efficient forum for dialogue among related companies, their suppliers, government, and other institutions.

Location affects competitive advantage through its influence on productivity and especially on productivity growth

National productivity ultimately is set by the sophistication (e.g., technology, skill) with which companies compete. Unless companies become more productive, an economy cannot become more productive

the role of clusters in innovation and productivity growth

By contrast, a firm relying on distant outsourcing faces greater challenges of contracting, securing delivery, obtaining associated technical and service support, and coordinating across complementary entities

Individuals working somewhere in or near the cluster more easily perceive new gaps in products, services, or suppliers to fill

Needed assets, skills, inputs, and staff often are readily available at the cluster location and are assembled more easily there. (Caves & Porter, 1977).

that clusters represent a combination of competition and cooperation. Vigorous competition occurs in winning customers and retaining them. Yet cooperation must occur in a variety of areas I have identified. Much of it is vertical (buyer-supplier), with related industries, and with local institutions.

Location is a powerful variable shaping the trade-offs between markets and hierarchies. Clusters offer obvious transaction cost advantages over other forms and seem to ameliorate many incentive problems.

Repeated interaction and informality of contracts within the structure resulting from living and working in a geographic area foster trust and open communication while reducing the costs of severing and recombining market relationships.

The stronger the advantages of clusters and the more tradable the field, the fewer viable cluster locations there tend to be. The importance of clusters rises with the sophistication of competition and the concomitant rise in knowledge and innovation intensity, meaning that the incidence of clusters tends to increase with economic development.

Government policies inevitably affect the opportunities for upgrading clusters

The concept of clusters rests on a broader and dynamic view of competition among firms and locations, based on the growth of productivity. Interconnections and spillovers within a cluster often are more important to productivity growth than is the scale of individual firms.

A location's best chance of attracting foreign investment and promoting exports, for example, is in existing or emerging clusters.

globalization has focused attention on worldwide multilateral institutions. However, state, metropolitan region, and local governments also have an important influence on the general business environment in a location

Successful cluster initiatives have a number of common characteristics: °

These externalities create a possible rationale for collective action and a role for government.

Clusters affect competition in three broad ways that both reflect and amplify the parts of the diamond: (a) increasing the current (static) productivity of constituent firms or industries, (b) increasing the capacity of cluster participants for innovation and productivity growth, and (c) stimulating new business formation that supports innovation and expands the cluster

firms in a cluster benefit from the concentration of firms with buyer knowledge and relationships

The productivity and prosperity of a location rest not on the industries in which its firms compete but rather on how they compete

Economies with low productivity are characterized by little local rivalry

The potential advantages of clusters in perceiving both the need and the opportunity for innovation are significant

Most clusters form independently of government and sometimes in spite of it

Given the importance of scale, governments should nurture high-priority emerging ("infant") industries until they reach a critical mass through subsidies, elimination of "destructive" or "wasteful" internal competition, selective import protection, and restrictions on foreign investment

Subsidies and suspension of internal competition should concentrate on scale-sensitive areas such as research and development (R&D) and facilities investment

A focus on removing obstacles and easing constraints to cluster upgrading

A shared understanding of competitiveness and the role of clusters in competitive advantage. Productivity and innovation

A structure that embraces all clusters in a nation or state

° Appropriate cluster boundaries. By definition, clusters include industries and institutions with important linkages or spillovers rather than broad sectors (e.g., manufacturing, high tech) or individual industries (e.g., plastic machinery, Italian restaurants). Cluster boundaries should reflect economic reality, not necessarily political boundaries

Wide involvement of cluster participants and associated institutions

Private sector leadership. Active government participation in a privately led effort, rather than an initiative controlled by government, will have a better chance of success.

Close attention to personal relationships. In itself, the presence of an established or emerging cluster does not guarantee functioning cluster linkages. Many of the benefits of clusters flow from the personal relationships that facilitate linkages, foster open communication, and build trust.

A bias toward action. Cluster initiatives must be motivated by the desire to achieve results.

Institutionalization. Cluster upgrading is a long-term process that must have a life beyond a one-shot effort. It requires institutionalization of concepts, relationships, and linkages among constituencies