Clusters and competitiveness - PRO INNO Europe

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This working method led the members of the micro-cluster through three consecutive stages.The first stage identified the main challenges of the micro-cluster from the members’ point of view. The work in this stage consisted basically of holding interviews with the companies, and generating a climate of trust. At the same time, a mapping of the activity was carried out, which provided the delimitation of the micro-cluster and the identification of the various strategic segments in which it competed. The second stage united the members in a common task: formulating a joint proposal for a vision of the future. In this stage a competitive diagnosis was carried out, in which new points of view originating from the technical analysis usually emerged, as a rule differing from the sector’s conventional wisdom. It was very useful to make trips at this stage, to learn, at first hand, examples of how other countries had responded with good practices to problems similar to those of the micro-cluster. Finally, the third stage, based on the work of the previous ones, defined the guidelines to be followed in order to strengthen the micro-cluster’s competitiveness. Figure 6. Diagram of the process of agreed change Month 1 Month 2 Month 3 Month 4 Establishing the microcluster's challenges 1 st public presentation Launching and motivating 48 CLUSTERS AND COMPETITIVENESS: THE CASE OF CATALONIA (1993-2010) Proposing a common view for the future Source: Conejos, J. et al. (1997): Canvi estratègic i clústers a Catalunya. 2 nd public presentation Breaking with the sector's conventional wisdom and proposing a view of the future Defining the lines of action 3 rd public presentation Achieving cooperation actions Within this theoretical framework, over twenty specific initiatives to strengthen competitiveness at micro-cluster level were set up in Catalonia between 1993 and 2004, developed as part of a largely non-interventionist industrial policy, recommending strategies decided by the companies themselves, and offering support focused on opportunities rather than problems.
Figure 7. Competitiveness reinforcement initiatives in Catalonia (1993-2004) Source: Observatory for Industrial Foresight. LLEIDA Agricultural machinery Construction materials ANOIA Leather tanning Knitted fabrics VALLÈS Consumer electronics Professional electronics Textile technology Automotive plastics Railways Aerospace MONTSIÀ Household furniture OSONA Wooden toys GIRONA Meat Meat technology LA BISBAL Ceramics LLORET Tourism MARESME Knitted fabrics BARCELONA Clothing Jewellery Publishing Motorcycles Audiovisuals Pharmaceuticals With some exceptions, such as tourism in Lloret or jewellery in Barcelona, practically all the initiatives were conducted in strategic segments (knitwear, clothing, machinery, motorcycles, meat products, etc.) belonging to industrial sectors with a significant presence in Catalonia (textiles, metals, food), distributed throughout the territory according to their location, resulting in the companies being concentrated largely in Barcelona and its area of influence (Vallès, Maresme, etc.). In terms of strategic position, some initiatives focused on micro-clusters whose companies facedtheneedtomovefromahandicraft-basedproductionstructuretoamoreindustrialised one (wooden toys in Osona, agricultural machinery in Lleida, jewellery in Barcelona, leather tanning in Anoia, etc.). Others faced the basic challenge of changing from being exclusively manufacturers to becoming integrated into the distribution network (household furniture in Montsià, meat industry in Girona, knitwear in the Maresme and in Anoia, publishing in Barcelona, etc.). Lastly, others had the challenge faced by subsidiaries of large multinational companies (in sectors such as automobiles or consumer electronics) of attaining the ideal environment to achieve manufacturing excellence, and so being able to compete with other territories where these multinationals might be established. The more than twenty competitiveness reinforcement initiatives carried out during the 1990s made Catalonia a pioneering region in the world in the implementation of cluster policy, understood as an industrial and business policy that emphasised a rethinking of companies’ strategies and the improvement of the environment in which they work. The following chapter offers a summary of one of those initiatives: the leather tanning microcluster of Anoia, which was later used as a case study at Harvard Business School (1995). THE CATALAN GOVERNMENT’S CLUSTER POLICY 49
Page 1: Clusters and competitiveness: the c
Page 4 and 5: Hernández Gascón, Joan Miquel Clu
Page 7: Acknowledgements Verymanypeople,com
Page 10 and 11: Index of tables Table 1. The local
Page 12 and 13: Figure 31. Textile distribution tre
Page 14 and 15: The term “cluster” is used to r
Page 16 and 17: The last effect of the new focus, a
Page 18 and 19: Figure 11. Map of the local industr
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Page 22 and 23: Figure 16. Main competitiveness rei
Page 24 and 25: Figure 33. The change in project de
Page 26 and 27: Catalonia was a pioneer in the use
Page 28 and 29: Cluster policy, understood as a ser
Page 31 and 32: A little theory: Marshall, Becattin
Page 33 and 34: However, the proliferation of regio
Page 35 and 36: the diversity of clusters themselve
Page 37 and 38: The first step: the competitive adv
Page 39 and 40: political environment which conditi
Page 41 and 42: Figure 2. The clusters of the futur
Page 43: 1. To invest in lasting long-term c
Page 46 and 47: 4.1 Introduction Following the impa
Page 48 and 49: 4.2 First stage: 1993-2004 4.2.1 Me
Page 52 and 53: 4.2.2 A case study: the leather tan
Page 54 and 55: added to this industry’s strong d
Page 56 and 57: Figure 9. Comparison between the pr
Page 58 and 59: Within this framework, Igualada’s
Page 60 and 61: 4.2.3 Some lessons More than twenty
Page 62 and 63: Finally, and with the aim of transm
Page 64 and 65: the initial stage was selected, eli
Page 66 and 67: Table 1. The local production syste
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Page 70 and 71: 2. Analysis of the business and str
Page 72 and 73: It should be noted that, during the
Page 74 and 75: Table 4. Types of competitiveness r
Page 76 and 77: Figure 18. Basic data for the kitch
Page 78 and 79: 2. Specialised firms: normally fore
Page 80 and 81: Figure 22. Main strategic challenge
Page 82 and 83: Main actions carried out in the kit
Page 84 and 85: On the one hand, this change in men
Page 86 and 87: In 2009 the Catalan government’s
Page 88 and 89: As in most regions or countries tha
Page 90 and 91: countries in the 1990s. However, th
Page 92 and 93: For this reason, one of the most re
Page 94 and 95: total in 2005 was 66.7%; in the Bas
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With regard to strategies, the anal
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Table 7. Professional profiles of e
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In terms of the positive results ac
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In 2009, after over fifteen years
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Figure 33. The change in project de
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implementing the subsequent actions
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At the same time, the Directorate G
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Cluster policy, understood as a ser
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entirely to this topic. This centre
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It hasalreadybeenmentionedthatclust
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2. Some rationale for territorial s
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Twomainreasonsjustifythispeculiarro
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of the specific interventions to re
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Sincethesenewpoliciesarestillinthei
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7. References Altobelli, C.andCarna
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Schmitz, H. (1999): “Collective e
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2. Clusters as building blocks of a
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Anumberofempiricalstudieslookatallt
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and othercompaniesthatturnintoaclus
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Thelackofagenerallyaccepteddefiniti
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aswellassupportersofclusterpolicy(a
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3.3 Implementing cluster policy to
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as a way to leverage existing agglo
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Boekholt, Patrice and Shonie McKibb
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Fritsch, Michael and Viktor Slavtch
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Porter, Michael E.: Clusters and Co
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C. Clusters: a strategic tool Anton
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The other characteristic of our pro
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they arenotrepresentedbyotherassoci
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• Gaining insight into a country
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Diez, M. A. (2001): “The Evaluati
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Joan Miquel Hernández Gascón (Val
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