Clustering is a mode of organization of the productive system, which is characterized by the establishment of a co-operation framework relating to joint activities, on companies' initiative and with the possible participation of university institutions or research centres, and by the voluntary development of complementary, vertical, horizontal, commercial or not commercial relationships between companies, as well as by the promotion of a common view of development.
Economical Interest
The main objective of the cluster is to increase the sales turnover and the economical effectiveness of the company and then find out the factors supporting its growth in its environment.
The cluster is an interesting strategy when a group of companies is more effective than a consolidated activity in a single company.
The structure of the relational system : Michael Porter's Diamond
The cluster's functioning fits in with "Michael Porter's Diamond" which principal elements are as follows:
"Firms" are companies involved in the realization of products and services defining the cluster,
"Related" are companies supplying other similar customers with other products and services and being thus able to interact with customers as well as with the « firms » of the cluster,
"Factors" are the elements of the structural environment (institutions, infrastructures, universities, supports, ...),
"Demand" are the specific demands which activities make specialization and external growth possible at the same time.
Positive Interactions
By mobilizing the existing elements "Factors" and "Related" towards a particular demand which makes specialization and external growth possible, the actors of the cluster are able to develop an expertise and a growth more quickly than any other region not having both factors simultaneously.
The underlying interactions within the cluster are principally free and unformal. They arise from sociocultural behaviors leading to the coherence between the elements of the "diamond": each actor favours cluster's members (collaboration), but keeps freedom of choice in any sales opportunities (competition).
The cluster's economical growth arise from the conjonction of these two elements: collaboration increases the GDP and profitability of the endogenous investments, whereas competition keeps competitiveness and progress.
Basis Engine : individuals
Cluster's creation and growth arise from a common state of mind stimulating individually the economical (Firms, Related & Demand) and institutional (Factors) actors of the diamond.
Bases of this state of mind are simple and lead to individual attitudes in keeping voluntarily with the general consistency. For example, we will quote :
- to consider a business relationship as a value provision towards its client and a contribution to its growth,
=> sales positive view : willing to discover any opportunity of real growth for its clients and prospects, even those not coming within the frame of its own products and services,
- to be concerned by its own growth but also by the global growth:
=> redirect towards a close provider or create a collaboration around opportunities that cannot be fulfilled by oneself but well by actors of the diamond,
- to consider that basis competition is external to the diamond :
=> realize a benchmarking and propose corrections for the opportunities lost by the diamond.
The global engine is the social relational structure
The cluster has an efficient social system that creates many links as well as exchanges and frequent contacts between the economical actors. The deep relational structure that follows is the medium linking people together and spreading information, giving the cluster its coherence, resistance and competitiveness.
In the cluster the social relational behaviour creates the economy and competitiveness, in opposition to industrial organisation where it is generated by economy and competitiveness.
In this way the social dimension is a necessary condition to the cluster's creation and functioning.
The regional dimension
The regional dimension is not essential to the formation of a cluster. It is usually a consequence of its emergence.
Actually, the creation and support of an efficient relational system are favoured by the proximity and cultural homogeneousness, which usually corresponds to a regional entity.
When industrial concentrations result in some specialization, a region may take leadership and export its products or technology.
Its positive sales turnover then attracts complementary services and investments that contribute to the increase of the global growth, above the “mother” specialization.
To be a tool for the regional development, a cluster in a particular sector such as e.g. clinical research must not be only an important sector companies concentration.
These companies also must have skills that cannot be found elsewhere, be able to export them and attract investments interested by the concentration of these specialized skills.