How Clusters Create Shared Value in Rural Areas: An Examination of Six Case Studies

Abstract

The main aim of this paper is to demonstrate that clusters can support the sustainable development of rural areas through the creation of shared value. This is done via the close exam-ination of six different cases of rural clusters in Greece, Italy, Germany, Poland, Denmark, and Sweden. Qualitative as well as quantitative data weretaken from the clusters, which demonstrated that their main business approaches naturally coincided with the creation of economic, social, and environmental benefits for the local communities in which they operated. The case clusters were created in a top-down manner, aimed at boosting regional R&D activities and making the local economy more competitive and more sustainable. However, private initiative took over and al-lowed these clusters to flourish because meeting the regions’ economic, social, and environmental needs successfully coincided with the target of the clusters’ own development and profitability. The results show that clusters, with their potential for shared value creation, can constitute a powerful engine for the revitalisation and development of rural areas, addressing the significant challenges which they are currently facing.

How Intellectual Capital Predicts Innovation Output in EU Regions: Implications for Sustainable Development

“…This reasoning does not only apply to academic or research institutions but to enterprises as well since an open innovation business model has been shown to open the way for new technological innovations [89]. In addition, various cases demonstrate that the concept of shared value, in which the company's growth is interlinked with the social and environmental wellbeing of the community in which it is based or operates [90], can also play a key role in the smart and sustainable regional development of the whole ecosystem of local stakeholders and citizens [18]. It should therefore be considered another key aspect in achieving this.…”

“…The central premise of the present paper is that while innovation indices and innovation policies are highly successful in benchmarking and increasing the output of regional systems of innovation, they can sometimes overlook or oversimplify the "human-centric" aspects of innovation [16][17][18].…”

Development of Organic Production in Ukraine: Potential, Current Threats and Consequences for Global Food Security

“…The clusters in question produce several social and environmental benefits as an integral part of their business strategies. This should be clear by their contributions to the education and training of the local workforce, the creation of new jobs, the improvement of local incomes, the production of sustainable energy, and the production of healthy, sustainable, and additive-free food, etc (Martinidis et al, 2021).…”

Implementation and measurement of shared value creation strategies: Proposal of a conceptual model

“…Porter and Kramer (2011) posit that CSV is a revolution of capitalism, however, it has been challenged as being considered unoriginal and theoretically weak (Beschorner, 2014; Crane et al, 2014; Dembek et al, 2016). Similarly, few articles have provided an in‐depth analysis of this theoretical construct (Wójcik, 2016) and there is no literature showing a specific set of indicators to measure shared value (Martinidis et al, 2021; Munro, 2020). The questions reflect the non‐existence of an accepted approach to understanding and measuring CSV (Spitzeck & Chapman, 2012; Szmigin & Rutherford, 2013).…”