What is the role of a cluster organization?
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The Role of Cluster Organizations
Coping with Economic Crises
Cluster organizations play a significant role in mitigating the impacts of economic crises. During the economic downturn in Norway from 2008 to 2010, clusters helped reduce uncertainty and improve access to necessary resources. This was achieved not only through increased collaboration among firms within the cluster but also through substantial lobbying efforts directed at regional and national policymakers and public funding bodies1. Mature clusters, in particular, adapted more effectively by implementing new innovation strategies and enhancing collaboration and competence-building activities1.
Clusters as Deliberate Social Actors
Clusters can be seen as deliberate social actors within their contexts. By adopting a meta-organizational approach, clusters can make strategic decisions regarding membership, hierarchy, rules, monitoring, and sanctions. This deliberate construction allows clusters to engage in identity, boundary, and practice work, addressing both internal and external legitimating audiences. These organizational design choices influence the degree of collaboration and the effectiveness of institutional work within the cluster2.
Managing Global and Local Dimensions
Leading firms within clusters play a crucial role in balancing global and local dimensions. In the medical technology cluster in the west of Ireland, large firms influenced the technology trajectory of the region and stimulated local dynamics, thereby generating agglomerative effects. This highlights the importance of leading organizations in connecting global and local dimensions, even in the absence of extensive local formal linkages3. However, the presence of large organizations alone does not guarantee clustering effects, as seen in the software cluster, where specific conditions and characteristics are necessary for such effects to materialize3.
Enhancing Business Performance
Clusters significantly impact the performance of member enterprises across various industries. In the Czech Republic, companies in the automotive, IT, packaging, and machinery industries that were part of cluster organizations achieved better results than non-members or firms in other regions. This underscores the role of clusters in enhancing competitiveness and business performance through shared knowledge, infrastructure, resources, and suppliers4.
Development and Specialization
Cluster groups often form naturally due to economic activities or through the efforts of disruptive leaders. These groups aim to leverage advantages in productivity, innovation, and creativity by sharing resources and knowledge. Successful cluster initiatives begin with data and analysis to identify and prioritize opportunities, contributing to broader economic development goals. The interdependence within clusters is complex, requiring careful design and understanding to foster growth and specialization in high-value industries5.
Knowledge Creation and Resource Efficiency
Clusters serve as specific spatial configurations that facilitate the creation, transfer, and usage of knowledge. They enable firms to build network relations, achieve resource efficiency, and minimize transaction costs. Clusters emerge as self-organizing alternatives for interfirm relationships, particularly when global network formation is less feasible6.
Innovation and Competitiveness
Clusters are integral to innovation management, enhancing performance and competitiveness. They foster efficient collaboration between private entities, public institutions, universities, and other stakeholders. This collaboration leads to better communication, integration of new information, and development of unique partnerships, ultimately driving regional development and optimizing organizational decisions7.
Brokerage Roles
Supporting organizations within clusters play vital brokerage roles, including coordination, interconnection, and gatekeeping. Universities often excel in coordinating technical knowledge, while private organizations facilitate vertical communication and coordination. These roles help connect cluster members with external networks, enhancing the overall functionality and effectiveness of the cluster8.
Cluster Management and Development
Cluster organizations in Central Europe and Italy have been established to support sustainable business models and revenue streams. Cluster managers play a crucial role in both top-down and bottom-up approaches to cluster development, supporting growth and development through strategic management and policy implications9.
Institutional Entrepreneurship
Clusters can act as institutional entrepreneurs, creating favorable conditions for innovation. In transition economies like Russia, clusters engage in deliberate decision-making and strategy formulation to shape their institutional environments. They empower constituent actors, fostering creativity and enabling them to engage in institutional entrepreneurship, even in the face of high institutional barriers10.
Conclusion
Cluster organizations are pivotal in enhancing economic resilience, fostering innovation, and improving business performance. They act as deliberate social actors, manage global and local dimensions, and play crucial brokerage roles. By leveraging shared resources and knowledge, clusters drive regional development and competitiveness, making them essential components of modern industrial policy.
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Most relevant research papers on this topic
Coping with Economic Crises—The Role of Clusters
Clusters play a crucial role in reducing uncertainty and improving access to resources during economic crises, with mature clusters adapting more effectively through innovation strategies and increased collaboration.
Designing organised clusters as social actors: a meta-organisational approach
Organised clusters can deliberately construct themselves as organizations and social actors, engaging in identity, boundary, and practice work, addressing both internal and external audiences.
Managing the Global–Local Dimensions of Clusters and the Role of “Lead” Organizations: The Contrasting Cases of the Software and Medical Technology Clusters in the West of Ireland
Large firms playing a leading role in industrial clusters can enhance the relevance and sustainability of clusters, but permanent geographical proximity is also crucial for generating agglomerative effects.
Comparison of the Significance of Clusters for Increasing Business Performance
Cluster organizations positively impact member companies' performance in automotive, IT, packaging, and machinery industries, but not in furnituremanufacturing or other regions.
Cluster Group Development
Cluster groups can enhance regional and local economies by sharing knowledge, infrastructure, resources, and suppliers, and can be instrumental in developing the creative economy through their uniqueness.
The Cluster as Market Organisation
Clusters in the economy can create knowledge, reduce transaction costs, and serve as an attractive alternative to global network formation for interfirm relationships in various industries.
Highly CitedThe brokerage role of supporting organizations inside clusters: how does it work?
Supporting organizations in clusters play three main roles: coordination, interconnector, and gatekeeper, with universities excelling in technical knowledge coordination and private organizations focusing on vertical communication.
The rush for cluster initiatives: Cluster organisation and management in Central Europe
Cluster organizations in Central Europe and Italy play a crucial role in supporting cluster development and growth, with managers playing a key role in both top-down and bottom-up approaches.
Clusters as institutional entrepreneurs: lessons from Russia
Organizational clusters can act as institutional entrepreneurs by shaping their environments and empowering their constituent actors to engage in institutional entrepreneurship, particularly in transition economies.
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