Hub Firms and the Dynamics of Territorial Innovation: Case Studies of Thales and Liebherr in Toulouse

Abstract

The principal objective of this article is to offer an approach to the notion of hub firms using concepts from the Economy of Proximity. It shows that the specificity of the hub firm lies in its ability to combine technical and relational skills, allowing early involvement with, for example, an aircraft manufacturer in order to take part in the definition and the production of systems or sub-assemblies. A particular characteristic of the hub firm is the way it develops linked organisational and geographical proximities which this article analyses in detail. In particular, such firms demonstrate the capacity to establish different types of organisational proximity according to whether they are coordinating with the architect-integrator or with subcontractors , proximities sometimes reinforced by a temporary geographical proximity. When hub firms coordinate with industrial or scientific partners which help them conceive and master particular sets of skills, they often forge links based on geographical proximity in order to develop the innovations necessary for the acquisition and master of these in-house skills. These theoretical arguments are then tested in the cases of the hub firms Thales Aerospace and Liebherr Aerospace in the Toulouse aeronautical complex.

The visible hand of cluster policy makers: An analysis of Aerospace Valley (2006-2015) using a place-based network methodology

“…Greater Toulouse (France) is a leading and historical place for aeronautics and space industries in Europe (Dupuy and Gilly, 1999;Niosi and Zeghu, 2005;Zuliani, 2008;Gilly et al, 2011). The main oligopolistic companies of these two related industries and some of their plants are located in Toulouse (Airbus, Airbus Defense and Space, ATR, Thales Alenia Space, Safran, among others), and the city hosts the main French high schools of engineering and research in this technological domain (Sup'Aero, ONERA, Federal University of Toulouse, among others) as well as the headquarter of the National Center for Spatial Studies (CNES).…”

Introduction: the role of proximity relations in regional and territorial development processes

“…The research conducted in this framework highlights the importance of the actors' location and therefore of geographical proximity (Frigant and Lung, 2002), but also of some of the components of organised proximity, particularly those that pertain to trust and reputation (Dupuy and Torre, 2005) to being part of a network, to the sharing of a common culture or rules (Perrat, 2010;Gilly et al, 2011), all positive aspects for cooperation and for reducing coordination costs. More generally, the combination of the different forms of proximity helps bring to light the importance of the various stakeholders' relation to the territory -conceived as a social construction and to the latter's trajectory (Pecqueur et al, 2008), and first and foremost to give analytical content to the concept of cluster or local system, viewed as a successful combination of geographical and non-geographical proximity.…”

From 'aircraft manufacturer' to 'architect-integrator': Airbus's industrial organisation model

“…The pivot-firm can then play the role of architect firm for the units that it is in charge of. It articulates the technical and organisational competencies of the other participants (Kechidi, 2008;Cagli et al, 2009;Gilly et al, 2011).…”

“…Earlier in the paper, we have seen that the components come within the strategic segmentation of Airbus' supply chain 4 . (Kechidi and Talbot, 2010;Gilly et al, 2011).…”