Clusters and competitiveness - PRO INNO Europe

Main actions carried out in the kitchen and bathroom tap cluster
192021
Of particular importance were the initiatives aimed at encouraging strategic change in the cluster’s firms
(manufacturers of the end product and auxiliary companies) by redirecting their business towards
activities that were more sustainable and had a higher margin. Also important were those initiatives that
aimed to improve the key elements for competing more efficiently, such as training company managers,
production gains and investment in innovation and development.
The process of strategic change for the cluster’s firms, surely the most important of all, was promoted firstly
by holding workshops on strategic reflection which presented the problems and challenges facing the
sector and also served to create a climate of trust in the group and, secondly, by offering financial support
at the same time, via the New Business Opportunities programme described in the previous section, to
individual companies taking effective steps towards another way of competing. Both initiatives were
considerably successful, as more than half the firms took part in the first strategic reflection workshop
held and 17 carried out projects of strategic change 19 , many of them auxiliary firms that wanted to enter
new market niches 20 or incorporate more design so as to target more profitable segments 21 .
Some actions carried out in the area of internationalization should also be mentioned, such as the
participation of some tap manufacturers in a trade delegation of Catalan home products firms (furniture,
lighting, home textiles, etc.) to Dubai.
Collective actions included the creation of a marketing platform called Grup 7, through which seven
auxiliary firms from the cluster, suppliers of parts or complementary services, joined forces to market
their products, working with a joint website or sharing the marketing expenses of their joint participation
in trade fairs.
As is customary in a large number of SMEs in Catalan industry, the management of the tap cluster’s firms
had a great deal of practical experience and excellent knowledge of their business, but limited strategic
vision for competing in a totally globalised economy. For this reason, the competitiveness reinforcement
initiative set up by the Catalan government in 2005 aimed to reinforce the management skills of the
sector’s managers by offering them tailor-made training courses, held in collaboration with a business
school. It should be noted that, beyond their main aim, these training courses also served to engender a
true networking spirit that helped to eradicate suspicion, and to open the eyes of many of the participants
to the possibilities of cooperation arising from the initiative they were involved in.
19 ACC1Ó dedicated 700,000 euros over two years to support projects of strategic change presented by firms in the kitchen and
bathroom tap cluster.
20 For example, a company producing shower hoses developed a product line for hairdressers.
21 See the case of the Orfesa, Griferias Galindo and Standar Hidráulica companies in the newspaper cuttings accompanying this text.
80 CLUSTERS AND COMPETITIVENESS: THE CASE OF CATALONIA (1993-2010)