Competitive Advantages through Clusters: An Empirical Study with Evidence from China

250 Pages·2012·2.03 MB·English

by  Sasa Saric

Strategisches
Kompetenz-Management
Herausgegeben von
K. Bellmann, Mainz
Ch. Burmann, Bremen
J. Freiling, Bremen
H. G. Gemünden, Berlin
W. H. Güttel, Linz
P. Hammann (†), Bochum
H. H. Hinterhuber, Innsbruck
D. von der Oelsnitz, Braunschweig
H. Proff, Duisburg-Essen
Ch. Rasche, Potsdam
G. Specht, Darmstadt
M. Stephan, Marburg
E. Zahn, Stuttgart
Der Resource-based View und – in enger Verbindung dazu – das Management von
(Kern-)Kompetenzen haben in den vergangenen Jahren die Unternehmensf ührung
nachhaltig beeinflusst. Wissenschaft und Praxis beteiligen sich gleichermaßen
an Fragen der ressourcenorientierten Unternehmensführung und des Knowledge
M anagements. Die Schriftenreihe greift diese Entwicklung auf und schafft ein
Forum für wissenschaftliche Beiträge und Diskussionen.
Herausgegeben von
Prof. Dr. Klaus Bellmann Prof. Dr. Dietrich von der Oelsnitz
Universität Mainz Technische Universität Braunschweig
Prof. Dr. Christoph Burmann Prof. Dr. Heike Proff
Universität Bremen Universität Duisburg-Essen
Prof. Dr. Jörg Freiling Prof. Dr. Christoph Rasche
(geschäftsführend) Universität Potsdam
Universität Bremen
Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Günter Specht
Prof. Dr. Hans Georg Gemünden Technische Universität Darmstadt
Technische Universität Berlin
Prof. Dr. Michael Stephan
Prof. Dr. Wolfgang H. Güttel Universität Marburg
Universität Linz
Prof. Dr. Erich Zahn
Prof. Dr. Peter Hammann (†) Universität Stuttgart
Universität Bochum
Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr.
Hans H. Hinterhuber
Universität Innsbruck
Saša Šarić
C ompetitive Advantages
through Clusters
An Empirical Study with Evidence
from China
With a foreword by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Hans-Christian Pfohl
RESEARCH
Saša Šarić
Shanghai, P.R. China Bernhard Schmidt
Voestalpine Langenhagen, Deutschland
Linz, Österreich
Doctoral thesis, Technische Universität Darmstadt, 2011
D 17
ISBN 978-3-8349-3553-3 ISBN 978-3-8349-3554-0 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-8349-3554-0
Th e Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografi e;
detailed bibliographic data are available in the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.
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Za moju familiju
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Foreword

Never since Alfred Marshall first introduced the concept of the industrial district into eco-
nomic thought in 1890, has the cluster discourse been more vibrant than today. Never since
the Italian District School revived his ideas and brought them back into the scientific spot-
light, has there been more rigorous research about it. And never since Michael E. Porter ele-
vated “the cluster” to stardom, has there been more attention brought to it by politicians,
non-governmental organizations, CEOs, consultants, and the scientific community alike.
Yet, Mr. Saric argues, despite all our research and knowledge about the ability of clusters to
promote innovation, regional economic development, and national prosperity, we know
surprisingly little about the firms that operate from within these clusters and drive their suc-
cess. It is here where his greatest contribution to the current cluster-discourse lies as he asks:
how do firms create competitive advantages through the cluster they are located in?
And this, more than ever, is an important question. As governments keep on pouring money
into once successful industrial regions to stop and turn over their decline and help grow
promising upcomers, these initiatives often tend to fail, because many have forgotten that it
is the cluster-firms that ultimately drive their success. And only a few seem to know what
these firms really need in order to create a thriving, vibrant, and healthy cluster. This leaves
executives, employees, workers, and the general public frustrated thus endangering the sup-
port of future generations for the concept as a whole.
As an educated student of Strategic Entrepreneurship, Mr. Saric uses a rigorous exploratory
approach with evidence gathered from China to tackle this question. China is particularly
well suited for this research as its economy is organized around strong industrial clusters.
In a nutshell, his findings suggest that the most successful firms achieved to instill in their
companies an entrepreneurial orientation of proactiveness, innovation, and risk-taking to
identify the opportunities that exist in clusters and exploit their value generating potential
through a well developed cluster-capability. It consists of the ability to gather information
and spread it throughout their organization, build and maintain access relationship with
other nearby located firms, and recruit, develop, and retain highly skilled personnel and en-
trepreneurial executives.
Mr. Saric’s findings are a first step in our endeavor to learn more about the firms that operate
within clusters. They provide an important orientation for politicians in helping them identi-
fy those cluster-firms worthy of governmental support. To executives they highlight the im-
portance of capability for entrepreneurship, as the latter is useless in clusters without the
former.
What remains after reading this carefully conducted piece of research is the hope, that Mr.
Saric’s findings become part of the current discourse on clusters and to some extent even
VIII Foreword
alter its future direction. Politicians and executives would be well advised to take these in-
sights and critically ask themselves what they mean for their own daily practice.
The author has done so for himself and decided – at least for now – to leave the academic
career path and again venture out into the unknown to explore the world of industry. Yet, he
remains a passionate lecturer of management dedicated to use his newly gained insights to
become a better teacher for his students.

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Hans-Christian Pfohl
Acknowledgements

“There is no such thing as a ‘self-made’ man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who
has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the
make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.”
George Burton Adams

When the first thought of pursuing a doctor’s degree appeared in my mind, I envisioned
myself sitting at a desk, in an office, alone, thinking about the next great thing and writing
passionately about what I thought is right. Very much like the archaic image of the scientist,
who is like a lone wolf spending his hours in solitude only to appear after weeks, months, or
years with an idea that changes the world. I also envisioned myself writing about competi-
tion, as I was fascinated by the idea of the survival of the fittest.
Little did I know that years later this vision would prove to be plain wrong! Although I did
spent many hours in solitude and wrote about competition, this book as well as the topic I
chose, are rather a tale of cooperation, mentorship, loving support, friendship, and family.
As much as a cluster is unthinkable without the community of firms it is made up of, so too
this book is unthinkable without my community of mentors, students, colleagues, friends,
and family who have helped me reaching the stars.
First I would like to thank Prof. Hans-Christian Pfohl for admitting me as his doctoral candi-
date, but much more for being my most important role model when it comes to ethical beha-
vior in business and in the classroom. As it is with many young mentees, in the beginning I
simply tried to imitate his attitudes towards performance, integrity, honesty, and leadership.
Of course, in the years that passed since my own first classroom experience I have changed
considerably, yet, sometimes I notice how much I still resemble his style when I engage with
my students.
I would also like to thank my second supervisor Prof. Ralf Elbert for teaching me the virtues
of good theory when I was his Masters student in Darmstadt and for introducing me to the
cluster topic. Our exciting discussions during that time and later on during our joint academ-
ic work eventually resulted in this research.
Prof. Gang Yang deserves my gratitude for being my closest mentor throughout the three
years I spent under his supervision at Tongji. Highly analytical by nature, he forced me again
and again to think first, then draft, and only at the end start putting things to paper, or better
to say power point. A way of problem solving, I still profit from highly.
Next, I would like to thank the best “triple-blind” reviewers of the world: Prof. Alexander
Bode, Dr. Holger Köhler, and my brother Milan. Their highly qualified feedback, stemming
from repeatedly going through my script, greatly improved the quality of my work. My
X Acknowledgements
brother in particular made me descent from the all too cozy “ivory tower” and think about
the practicality of my results. In addition, Holger and I spent countless hours on discussing
each others’ research and going jointly through the manic-depressive ups and downs of writ-
ing a dissertation. Without him, I would never have been able to finish my work in this time.
My research also greatly benefitted from the many students I mentored during my time at
Tongji. These are Björn Schmeisser, Katharia Hix, Shulin Zhao, Manuel Bäuml, Lauren Mat-
thews, Simon Alig, Claudius Centner, and Nikos Moraitakis. All of them directly or indirect-
ly shaped my understanding of the cluster phenomenon, the theoretical frameworks I am
making use of, and the statistical methods employed. During the many discussions with
these young, bright, and enthusiastic people, I often lost track of who is the teacher and who
is the student. They belong to the happiest moments I had during my time at the university.
Thanks to my closest friend Dominik Reinhard for enlightening my mood and encouraging
me when the going got tough. I am deeply grateful for his ability to bringing me “back to the
moment” and for going with me through all the ups and downs of life.
I am also thankful for the loving support I received from Sherry Hsu and her mom Diana
throughout the years I was working on this project. Sherry in particular deserves special
praise for her support during the good times and the tough times. Writing a dissertation in
itself is hard enough, doing so in such a foreign culture and so far away from home, is a
daunting challenge. Without her I never would have brought this project to an end.
I would like to again thank my brother Milan for his many advises and feedbacks regarding
my script, career, and important decisions in life. My mother Darivojka instilled in me the
desire for intellectual development and her influence has helped to solidify my wish of pur-
suing a doctor’s degree. From my father Nikola I learned that in the long run, there is no
shortcut to the top, but that it is hard work and nothing else that makes a man successful. It
is this attitude that prevented me from getting up from my desk during those long hours of
solitude.
Thank you, to all of you!
Saša Šarić
Outline

1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Scientific-Theoretical Positioning .......................................................................................................... 3
1.2 Outline of this Research .......................................................................................................................... 6
2 CURRENT STATE OF KNOWLEDGE ON HOW CLUSTERS ENABLE FIRMS
TO CREATE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES ...................................................... 11
2.1 Clusters – A Seemingly Chaotic Concept ........................................................................................... 12
2.2 Review of the Main Cluster Schools of Thought ............................................................................... 16
2.3 Towards a Meaningful Definition of Clusters ................................................................................... 43
2.4 The Effect of Clusters on Firm Performance ...................................................................................... 50
2.5 Summary of Findings: The Baseline Model ....................................................................................... 60
3 THEORETICAL MODEL OF INTERNAL CHARACTERISTICS TO CREATE
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES THROUGH CLUSTERS ................................. 63
3.1 Opportunity Exploration through Entrepreneurship in Clusters ................................................... 64
3.2 Advantage Exploitation through Strategic Management in Clusters ............................................ 74
3.3 Balancing Opportunity Exploration and Advantage Exploitation through Strategic
Entrepreneurship in Clusters ............................................................................................................... 86
3.4 Summary of Findings: The Theoretical Model .................................................................................. 94
4 CASE STUDY TO IDENTIFY SKILLS THAT MAKE UP A FIRM’S CLUSTER-
CAPABILITY .................................................................................................................. 97
4.1 Research Setting: China ........................................................................................................................ 98
4.2 Research Location: China’s Industrial Clusters ............................................................................... 103
4.3 Research Methodology: Case Study ................................................................................................. 121
4.4 Analysis of Data and Findings........................................................................................................... 131
4.5 Summary of Findings: The Conceptual Model ............................................................................... 144
5 EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE INTERNAL CHARACTERISTICS AND
THEIR INFLUENCE ON FIRM PERFORMANCE ............................................... 147
5.1 Research Methodology: Survey ......................................................................................................... 147
5.2 Data Analysis Methodology: Partial Least Squares ........................................................................ 155
5.3 Analysis of the Measurement Model ................................................................................................ 169
5.4 Analysis of the Structural Model and Hypothesis Testing ............................................................ 185
5.5 Discussion of the Results .................................................................................................................... 191
6 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTING THE IDENTIFIED
INTERNAL CHARACTERISTICS INTO ORGANIZATIONAL REALITY ... 197
7 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................ 203
7.1 Summary of Results ............................................................................................................................ 203
7.2 Limitations ............................................................................................................................................ 206
7.3 Outlook on Further Research ............................................................................................................. 207