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A focus on constructing regional advantage requires an 'unpacking' of what makes territorial agglomerations important for innovation and growth by disclosing and revealing the contingencies, particularities and specificities of the various contexts and environments where knowledge creation, innovation and entrepreneurship take place. In order to achieve more effective regional innovation policy, the paper presents and discusses five dimensions along which such unpacking can take place. These dimensions refer to different perspectives that originate in different industrial knowledge bases, different territorial competence bases, the distributed knowledge base, the importance of creative knowledge environments and different institutional frameworks.
This paper presents a review of existing theoretical perspectives and empirical work on strategic IT outsourcing. By presenting the main findings of various recent studies and elaborating on current research gaps it conveys a picture of the past research, the present findings and the future applications of IT outsourcing. Prior research has generated theoretical insights and largely qualitative evidence on IT outsourcing. While quantitative studies remain sparse, limited to decision making and performance, there is a lack of quantitative empirical research examining outsourcing processes more comprehensively. This paper outlines a simple, yet integrative process model and develops propositions, which serve to integrate and compare theoretical strands, to evaluate existing empirical research and to stimulate new avenues of empirical research.Strategic outsourcing, IT services, stocktaking, empirical challenges,
Emerging clusters: Theoretical, empirical and political perspectives on the initial stage of cluster evolution. Dirk Fornahl, Sebastian Henn and Max-Peter Menzel (eds). Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar. 2010. 373 pp. £85.45. ISBN: 978-1-848-44522-2. Many current approaches regard to emergence of cluster 1 are either accident-based or deterministic (strategic action). This book positions itself somewhere in between by trying to see accident and strategic action together (Part I). In addition, it takes into account the role of localized knowledge and institutions for endogenous cluster dynamics (Part II). Finally, it challenges the commonly accepted view on agglomeration economies to be the dominant force behind clustering, instead suggesting the new patterns of emergence (Part III).The first part of the book is concerned with the link between new clusters and established regional paths, that is, path-dependency, by looking at two distinct and probably contrary perspectives explaining the cluster emergence, namely, accident-based (bottom-up) and strategic action (top-down). First, Cooke suggests the related variety between sectors within a region (Jacobian cluster) as the 'evolutionary fuel' for cluster emergence. However, it is not obvious which of the two perspectives he is adopting. Next, Dorenkamp and Mossig show in German TV production clusters that the policy intervention (a manifestation of strategic action) have been extremely influential in cluster emergence (unlike many studies assuming the influence of policy intervention to be the most only after critical mass). They highlighted the influence of 'regulations of policy system' on location decisions of both first-movers as well as subsequent private broadcasters. In the last chapter (and probably the most consistent one with the stated aim of Part I), Henn and Laureys clarify how two presumably contrary perspectives on cluster emergence can simultaneously explain the re-emergence of the Antwerp diamond cluster. Unlike the literature treating 'chance' as the major reason for emergence of clusters, this study mentions the role of chance only as "a factor that opens the space for strategic action." Accordingly, they highlight the critical role of key regional organizations (called CoFDI) as the doer of strategic actions, while on the other hand, they acknowledge the accidental events, that is, the post-war leftover of knowledge base within the region. The strategic action (by CoFDI) was manifested (among other things) by 'lobbying' between them and Belgian government. However, as authors themselves acknowledged, the mechanism behind such lobbying process is not clear.In Part II, the book is concerned with endogenous dynamics responsible for the emergence of clusters. It aims to focus on the connection between the localization of knowledge generation (e.g. through local labour mobility) and the collective establishment of cluster-specific institutions. First, Otto and Fornahl try to investigate the endogenous dynamics of clusters in G...
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