THE STRATEGIC FACTORS SHAPING COMPETITIVENESS FOR MARITIME CLUSTERS: AN OVERVIEW

Peter J. StavroulakisPhD Student, Department of Maritime Studies, University of Piraeus

Prof. Stratos PapadimitriouProfessor, Department of Maritime Studies, University of Piraeus

WCTRS SIG2 2015 Conference ‘The Port and Maritime Sector: Key Developments and Challenges’11-12 May, University of Antwerp

Introduction Competitiveness is an intrinsic characteristic

of firms within industrial clusters Agglomeration economies are attractive for

they enjoy numerous competencies Studying industrial clusters gives birth to

strategic management topics

Objective The provision of a topology of strategic factors

concerning maritime clusters, their critical linkages with factors concerning other industrial clusters and their differentiation (if any)

Data/Methodology Literature/critical review Instrument extraction for inventory

compilation

Clusters, a Fascinating Phenomenon

Nature projects them as manifestations of abundance

Whether referencing clusters of insects such as ants or bees or clusters of industries, the astonishment we may hold is the same, for we can observe a marvelous instance of systems on ‘the edge of chaos’ (Macintosh e.a., 2007), self-sustained and always versatile, not only adapting, but always thriving within a complex and ever-changing environment

Why Bother? The paradigm is along the lines that

within this particular edge of chaos there is order, that within a given geographic location and following the ever-dictating scarcity principle, all members of the cluster may be able to benefit

Clusters require severe scrutiny, pristine analysis and recruitment of mighty mathematical instruments and even thence they do not surrender their mysteries completely

Clusters as it seems are a prominent part not only of strategy and business, but society, nature and life

Clusters as a Cornerstone for Analysis Natural attribute within human beings to

observe patterns and assign them to clusters has posed as the cornerstone of novel scientific domains (e.g. John Snow, 1854)

Intrinsic Cluster Parameter: Paradox

Paradox is inherent in cluster manifestation:a. For Smith it’s an ‘invisible hand’ that will

guide the benefit of a society within a geographical location “to promote an end which was no part of his intention”

b. For Marshall whence illustrating the near-permanence of localization it is the mysteries that are no mysteries “but as it were in the air, the children learn many of them subconsciously”

Industrial Cluster Theory Foundations

Cost reductions from Marshallian factors (1890/1920)1. labor market pooling in proximity-locality2. shared inputs-local supplier linkages3. knowledge spillovers (local)

4. The initiation of the localized industry requires the pertinent conditions, albeit physical potential (concentration of resources) and/or a centralized trigger effect

Marshallian Factors Today

Utilized from a variety of perspectives, e.g. to extract location strategies (Alcacer & Chung, 2010)

Research suggests that these factors are still prevalent (Potter and Watts, 2014)

Though Jacobs (1969) argues that the knowledge spillover source (and its underlying causes) lies in industry diversification and that its benefits are extra-industrial

Jacobs vs. Marshall Van Der Panne (2004) shows that innovation is favored

by Marshallian factors Beaudry and Schiffauerova (2009) conclude that both

models are viable Helsley and Strange (2014) demonstrate relevance of a

synergistic theory Galliano et alli (2014) highlight the benefits from utilizing

a model of the fusion of externalities, for “an area can be both diversified and specialized in the activity in which the firm in question is engaged”

This synergy of typologies may hint to a novel response as to the analysis of agglomeration economies, for the two concepts may not be regarded as mutually exclusive with respect to innovation

Modern Cluster Theory, M. Porter

“Increasing the current (static) productivity of constituent firms or industries, the increasing of capacity of cluster participants for innovation and productivity growth and stimulating new business formation that supports innovation and expands the cluster”

“Competitive advantage within the global economy seems to be local”

Diamond model

Cluster Theory Framework

Simmie (2004) shows that innovation (as a global dynamic system) drives competitiveness and discusses the linked processes that are productivity, innovation and competitiveness

Carbonara, N. (2004) directly links clusters’ competitiveness to innovation potential and their ‘cognitive system’ and provides a cluster typology with respect to distinct learning processes

Martin and Sunley (2003) provide a deconstruction of the cluster concept and its caveats and point out the fact that caution is required whence utilizing the concept

Industrial Clusters - SpecificsLinked Concepts: Knowledge creation

(Bathelt et alli, 2004; Feldman and Audretsch, 1999)

Centralization(Hendry et alli, 2000)

Innovation (Hassink, 1997; Delgado et alli, 2010; Simmie, 2004)

Culture(Gibson and Kong, 2005)

Policy-governance (Helmsing, 2001)

Cluster Theory Corollaries

Scope: City competitiveness can be examined within a cluster

approach framework (Lyamzin, 2005) Eco-innovation (Daddi e.a., 2012) can be examined with

its relation to competitivenessInstruments: Zhang et alli (2010) utilize the analytic hierarchy

process and fuzzy comprehensive evaluation Spencer et alli (2010) extract the basic parameters of

clusters from literature and find a correlation of clustering and financial output

Maritime Clusters Laaksonen and Mäkinen (2013)

utilize Porter’s diamond to analyze the competitiveness of the Baltic Sea maritime cluster

Benito et alli (2003) utilize the diamond model to analyze Norway’s maritime sector

Isaksen (2009) analyzes various Norwegian industrial clusters in terms of innovation dynamics

Jenssen (2003) explores the linkages of innovation and competitiveness

Shinohara (2010) Analyzes the Japanese maritime cluster to

promote the concept of ‘sustainable competitiveness’ with respect to the cluster

Stresses the importance of a shared culture and policy:1. education and research system2. corporate management style 3. mechanism of communications, knowledge

creation and its transmission 4. value system of work

Results Main factors affecting industrial cluster

competitiveness seem to bear similarities and there is little controversy as to the scope of the factors, as opposed to their breadth

Except for evident differentiation in industries and corporate culture, there exists no basic differentiation of the strategic factors with respect to maritime clusters

Main categories of strategic factors affecting:1. Cluster formulation2. Cluster competitiveness

Inventory CompilationRelated factors’ grouping: Cluster Formulation

1. Agglomeration Economies2. Domestic Industry3. Core Activity4. Conditions

Cluster Competitiveness 1. Oversight 2. Driving Industries 3. Infrastructure 4. Dynamics5. Linkages

Conceptual Model Strategic factors’ inventory through Ishikawa cause and

effect diagrams

Cluster Formulation

Cluster Competitiveness

Conclusions

A taxonomy based on cause and effect diagrams has been formulated as to the strategic factors and causes of competitiveness

The inventory of strategic factors can facilitate the review and analysis of strategic management of maritime clusters

It includes the pertinent indicators that have to be taken under consideration, as extracted from literature

Limitations and Future Directions

This overview in no way can be considered as a panacea, but rather as a dynamic inventory that has to be challenged, enriched and trialed

It would maybe yield interesting results to institute a quantitative methodological instrument to provide an analysis of the factors included herein

Empirical investigation for the prioritization of strategic factors

Thank you for your attention!

Acknowledgement

The publication of this paper has been partly supported by the University of Piraeus Research Center