What drives the effectiveness of industrial clusters? Exploring the impact of contextual, structural and functioning determinants

Abstract This study examines how contextual, structural and functioning characteristics of industrial clusters influence their effectiveness. We develop a conceptual framework that identifies potential influencing factors, validate the factors statistically, and estimate the factors’ impact on cluster effectiveness. Our results show that among the important determinants of cluster effectiveness are long-term planning security and procedural trust among the cooperating firms (contextual conditions), formalized rules and sustainable structures (structural elements), and clear goals and tasks (functioning characteristics). However, the results also reveal that some determinants assessed as important in the literature do not seem to have a positive impact on effectiveness. Our results not only modify general assumptions in cluster research concerning the drivers of cluster effectiveness, but also assist firms and policy-makers in conceptualizing successful new clusters.

[1]  H. Wold.  Path Models with Latent Variables: The NIPALS Approach , 1975 .

[2]  Tobias Kretschmer,et al.  Firm Innovativeness across Cluster Types , 2012 .

[3]  G. Hofstede,et al.  Culture′s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values , 1980 .

[4]  E. Juenke.  Management Tenure and Network Time: How Experience Affects Bureaucratic Dynamics , 2005 .

[5]  Carola Jungwirth,et al.  How to Turn Public Networks into Clubs? The Challenge of Being a Cluster Manager , 2009 .

[6]  Philippe Martin,et al.  Spatial Concentration and Firm-Level Productivity in France , 2008 .

[7]  Georg Schreyögg,et al.  Organizational Path Dependence: Opening the Black Box , 2009 .

[8]  B. Kogut,et al.  Knowledge and the Speed of the Transfer and Imitation of Organizational Capabilities: An Empirical Test , 1995 .

[9]  L. Stern,et al.  Conducting Interorganizational Research Using Key Informants , 1993 .

[10]  E. Uyarra,et al.  Reconceptualising the 'policy mix' for innovation , 2011 .

[11]  L. Klerkx.  Establishment and embedding of innovation brokers at different innovation system levels: insights from the Dutch agricultural sector , 2009 .

[12]  Leonhard Dobusch,et al.  Theorizing Path Dependence: A Review of Positive Feedback Mechanisms in Technology Markets, Regional Clusters, and Organizations , 2013 .

[13]  Scott B. MacKenzie,et al.  Transformational Leader Behaviors and Substitutes for Leadership as Determinants of Employee Satisfaction, Commitment, Trust, and Organizational Citizenship Behaviors , 1996 .

[14]  G. Hofstede,et al.  Culture′s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values , 1980 .

[15]  Daniel Baier,et al.  Success Factors for Innovation Management in Networks of Small and Medium Enterprises , 2011 .

[16]  Patrick Kenis,et al.  TOWARDS AN EXOGENOUS THEORY OF PUBLIC NETWORK PERFORMANCE , 2009 .

[17]  Geert Duysters,et al.  Brokerage in SME networks , 2010 .

[18]  K. Meier,et al.  Beware of Managers Not Bearing Gifts: How Management Capacity Augments the Impact of Managerial Networking. , 2010 .

[19]  Regional Innovation Policy: Problems and Strategies in Britain and France , 1985 .

[20]  Jean-Philippe Vergne,et al.  The Missing Link between the Theory and Empirics of Path Dependence: Conceptual Clarification, Testability Issue, and Methodological Implications , 2010 .

[21]  Adamantios Diamantopoulos,et al.  Advancing formative measurement models , 2008 .

[22]  T. Bresnahan,et al.  ‘Old Economy’ Inputs for ‘New Economy’ Outcomes: Cluster Formation in the New Silicon Valleys , 2001 .

[23]  P. Swann,et al.  Do firms in clusters innovate more , 1998 .

[24]  Todd R. Zenger,et al.  Testing Alternative Theories of the Firm: Transaction Cost, Knowledge-Based, and Measurement Explanations for Make-or- Buy Decisions in Information Services , 1997 .

[25]  S. Lirtzman,et al.  Role Conflict and Ambiguity in Complex Organizations. , 1970 .

[26]  M. Porter.  The Competitive Advantage Of Nations , 1990 .

[27]  Marko Sarstedt,et al.  PLS-SEM: Indeed a Silver Bullet , 2011 .

[28]  M. Stone.  Cross‐Validatory Choice and Assessment of Statistical Predictions , 1976 .

[29]  Harold A. Linstone,et al.  Technological forecasting and social change , 2011 .

[30]  H. Harman.  Modern factor analysis , 1961 .

[31]  A. Zaheer,et al.  Does Trust Matter? Exploring the Effectsof Interorganizational and Interpersonaltrust on Performance , 1998 .

[32]  Robyn L. Keast,et al.  Evaluating the effectiveness of interorganizational relations through networks , 2008 .

[33]  James A. Brickley,et al.  Managerial Economics and Organizational Architecture , 1996 .

[34]  Paul A. Pavlou,et al.  Building Effective Online Marketplaces with Institution-Based Trust , 2004, Inf. Syst. Res..

[35]  J. Wincent,et al.  The Importance of Compensating Strategic Network Board Members for Network Performance: A Contingency Approach , 2010 .

[36]  B. Gray,et al.  Performance of International Joint Ventures: What Factors Really Make a Difference and How? , 2009 .

[37]  M. Feldman,et al.  R&D spillovers and the ge-ography of innovation and production , 1996 .

[38]  Xulia González,et al.  Do public subsidies stimulate private R&D spending? , 2008 .

[39]  J. Howells.  Intermediation and the role of intermediaries in innovation , 2006 .

[40]  Jan B. Heide,et al.  The Organization of Regional Clusters , 2009 .

[41]  Yi Li,et al.  Exploratory innovation, exploitative innovation, and performance: Influence of business strategies and environment , 2010 .

[42]  M. Fromhold-Eisebith,et al.  How to institutionalize innovative clusters? Comparing explicit top-down and implicit bottom-up approaches , 2005 .

[43]  R. Martin,et al.  Deconstructing clusters: chaotic concept or policy panacea? , 2003 .

[44]  J. Nishimura,et al.  Subsidy and networking: The effects of direct and indirect support programs of the cluster policy , 2011 .

[45]  H. Kaiser,et al.  Little Jiffy, Mark Iv , 1974 .

[46]  Björn Asheim,et al.  Clusters and Regional Development: Critical Reflections and Explorations , 2006 .

[47]  Terry S. Overton,et al.  Estimating Nonresponse Bias in Mail Surveys , 1977 .

[48]  K. Provan,et al.  Modes of Network Governance: Structure, Management, and Effectiveness , 2007 .

[49]  Sanjay K. Pandey,et al.  Public Managers' Perceptions of Organizational Goal Ambiguity: Analyzing Alternative Models , 2006 .

[50]  S. Geisser.  A predictive approach to the random effect model , 1974 .

[51]  Luiz Mesquita,et al.  Starting Over when the Bickering Never Ends: Rebuilding Aggregate Trust Among Clustered Firms Through Trust Facilitators , 2007 .

[52]  Robert S. Dooley,et al.  Strategic Alliance Outcomes: A Transaction-Cost Economics Perspective , 2006 .

[53]  Alf Erko Lublinski.  Does Geographic Proximity Matter? Evidence from Clustered and Non-clustered Aeronautic Firms in Germany , 2003 .

[54]  Andreas B. Eisingerich,et al.  How can clusters sustain performance? The role of network strength, network openness, and environmental uncertainty , 2010 .

[55]  Duane T. Wegener,et al.  Evaluating the use of exploratory factor analysis in psychological research. , 1999 .

[56]  Philippe Martin,et al.  Spatial concentration and plant-level productivity in France , 2011 .

[57]  Scott B. MacKenzie,et al.  Common method biases in behavioral research: a critical review of the literature and recommended remedies. , 2003, The Journal of applied psychology.

[58]  R. David,et al.  A systematic assessment of the empirical support for transaction cost economics , 2004 .

[59]  O. Shenkar,et al.  Parent company dissimilarity and equity international joint venture effectiveness , 2001 .

[60]  M. Porter.  Location, Competition, and Economic Development: Local Clusters in a Global Economy , 2000 .

[61]  J. Wincent,et al.  Role stress, exhaustion, and satisfaction : a cross-lagged structural equation modeling approach supporting Hobfoll's loss spirals , 2010 .

[62]  Oliver Falck,et al.  Industrial innovation: Direct evidence from a cluster-oriented policy , 2010 .

[63]  Cheryl Burke Jarvis,et al.  A Critical Review of Construct Indicators and Measurement Model Misspecification in Marketing and Consumer Research , 2003 .

[64]  Brian T. McCann,et al.  Performance differentials within geographic clusters , 2011 .

[65]  Yadong Luo.  Procedural fairness and interfirm cooperation in strategic alliances , 2008 .

[66]  P. M. Podsakoff,et al.  Self-Reports in Organizational Research: Problems and Prospects , 1986 .

[67]  N. Islam,et al.  Collaborative networks and technology clusters - the case of nanowire , 2014 .

[68]  D. Eichel.  Beyond Boredom And Anxiety Experiencing Flow In Work And Play , 2016 .

[69]  Donald L. Amoroso,et al.  Testing a Causal Model of End-User Application Effectiveness , 1991, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[70]  Sanjoy Chakravorty.  Clusters and Regional Development , 2010 .

[71]  A. Colli.  Contextualizing Performances of Family Firms , 2012 .

[72]  N. Allen,et al.  Assessing dissimilarity relations under missing data conditions: evidence from computer simulations. , 2007, The Journal of applied psychology.

[73]  Pierre J. Richard,et al.  Measuring Organizational Performance: Towards Methodological Best Practice , 2009 .

[74]  Henk W. Volberda,et al.  Exploratory Innovation, Exploitative Innovation and Peformance: Effects of Organizational Antecedents and Environmental Moderators , 2006, Manag. Sci..

[75]  C. Huxham,et al.  A Silent Cry for Leadership: Organizing for Leading (in) Clusters , 2010 .

[76]  Alex Turrini,et al.  NETWORKING LITERATURE ABOUT DETERMINANTS OF NETWORK EFFECTIVENESS , 2009 .

[77]  Yu-Shan Su,et al.  Spontaneous vs. policy-driven: The origin and evolution of the biotechnology cluster , 2009 .

[78]  R. Bagozzi.  Evaluating Structural Equation Models with Unobservable Variables and Measurement Error: A Comment , 1981 .

[79]  A. Malmberg,et al.  The Elusive Concept of Localization Economies: Towards a Knowledge-Based Theory of Spatial Clustering , 2002 .

[80]  P. Cooke.  Regional Innovation Systems, Clusters, and the Knowledge Economy , 2001 .