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Global Spaces for Local Entrepreneurship: Stretching clusters through networks and international trade fairs
Växjö University, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, School of Management and Economics.
2007 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

Many of the insightful writings on clusters identify the role of entrepreneurs as key agents in the formation of firms and clusters. This thesis argues instead that local entrepreneurship is not ceased once firms and clusters are established; local entrepreneurship is about the continuous (re)creation of both businesses and clusters in global spaces. Global spaces for local entrepreneurship emphasises how firms collectively become an agent of continuous renewal. Firms enact an organising context materialising in networks that stretch relations and collaborations according to the issues being dealt with. These networks are localised but are extended beyond the geographical boundaries of clusters. One important example of this, which is in focus in this doctoral thesis, is that firms operating in clusters often interact with actors whom they have met at international trade fairs (ITFs). ITFs are those attractive events that individuals, firms and institutions attend temporarily to exhibit and trade products in foreign and national markets.

This thesis is based on the work contained in a cover and five papers. Each paper contributes to the research objective and questions brought forward in the thesis cover. The empirical evidence has been mostly drawn from several case studies conducted in the Lammhult cluster in Sweden. The findings show that firms build their organising contexts in order to stretch the reach and accessibility to local and non-local actors; they jointly co-create potential opportunities. The organising contexts are mapped in networks using three proximity orders. The empirical findings report three types of situations in which there is a potential opportunity for continuous renewal. By emphasising the opportunities that can be originated when a business is not realised or when a new or improved product or process has not been generated yet, this thesis aims to stimulate a theoretical reappraisal of global spaces for local entrepreneurship. With the conceptual development of global spaces for local entrepreneurship, we put forward the idea that such spaces enhance an ability to renew firms and clusters. The underlying reason is that local entrepreneurship is centered on the social interaction between individuals, firms and/or institutions; it materialises in intended and unintended dialogical situations when there is a commitment to the continuous renewal of firms and clusters. Such dialogical situations carry with them an opportunity for co-creating new businesses, new products and new processes.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Växjö: Växjö University Press , 2007. , p. 249
Series
Acta Wexionensia, ISSN 1404-4307
Keywords [en]
clusters, international trade fairs, proximity, networks, organising contexts
National Category
Business Administration
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-1771ISBN: 978-91-7636-577-9 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:vxu-1771DiVA, id: diva2:205629
Public defence
2007-12-14, Sal Weber, K Huset, 10:15
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2007-12-18 Created: 2007-12-18 Last updated: 2010-03-10Bibliographically approved
List of papers
1. International trade fairs as amplifiers of proximity in clusters
Open this publication in new window or tab >>International trade fairs as amplifiers of proximity in clusters
Manuscript (Other academic)
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-4811 (URN)
Note
Part of urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-1771Available from: 2007-12-18 Created: 2007-12-18 Last updated: 2010-03-10Bibliographically approved
2. Revisiting knowledge cross-fertilisation and clusters by means of international trade fairs
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Revisiting knowledge cross-fertilisation and clusters by means of international trade fairs
Manuscript (Other academic)
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-4812 (URN)
Note
Part of urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-1771Available from: 2007-12-18 Created: 2007-12-18 Last updated: 2010-03-10Bibliographically approved
3. International trade fairs as alternative geographies of knowledge
Open this publication in new window or tab >>International trade fairs as alternative geographies of knowledge
Manuscript (Other academic)
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-4813 (URN)
Note
Part of urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-1771Available from: 2007-12-18 Created: 2007-12-18 Last updated: 2010-03-10Bibliographically approved
4. The institutional embeddedness of local inter-firm networks: a leverage for business creation
Open this publication in new window or tab >>The institutional embeddedness of local inter-firm networks: a leverage for business creation
2002 (English)In: Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, ISSN 0898-5626, E-ISSN 1464-5114, Vol. 14, p. 297-316Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

There is an increasing concern for the notion of ‘embeddedness’ of economic activity; yet the conceptualization of the concept and its operationalization remain underdeveloped. First, embeddedness may concern, on the one hand, the structure of relations that tie economic actors together (structural embeddedness) and, on the other hand, the social strands supplementing economic strands in each relation (substantive embeddedness). In this paper, a network framework is outlined which proposes several layers or ‘orders’ of embeddedness. Focusing on small firms, the point of departure is individual exchange relationships as personal ties combining economic and social concerns. First-order embeddedness concerns the localized business networks created by combining these dyadic relations. Second-order embeddedness is achieved when considering also the memberships of business persons in economic and social local institutions while third-order embeddedness concerns the special cases where these institutions bridge gaps between firms. The network model is operationalized and applied to a small Swedish industrial (furniture) community, its firms and economic/social institutions. The findings generally support the applicability of the model and demonstrate the supplementarity of different layers/orders of embeddedness. Further research challenges are deduced and implications for practitioners are provided.

National Category
Business Administration
Research subject
Economy
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-4814 (URN)10.1080/08985620210142020 (DOI)
Note

Part of urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-1771

Available from: 2007-12-18 Created: 2007-12-18 Last updated: 2017-12-13Bibliographically approved
5. Theoretical and methodological challenges bridging firm strategies and contextual networking
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Theoretical and methodological challenges bridging firm strategies and contextual networking
2002 (English)In: International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, ISSN 1465-7503, E-ISSN 2043-6882, Vol. 3, no 3, p. 165-174Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

There is an increasing concern for, on the one hand, networked business strategies and, on the other, the competitiveness of localized small-firm clusters. This paper first reviews four different strategy frameworks - the resource-based organization, the industrial organization, the virtual organization and the industrial district - from a network perspective. Eleven generic dimensions of such strategic frameworks are generated and operationalized. Then graph analysis is used to map a small business community in which furniture manufacturing and retail make up the core industry sectors. Three centrally positioned firms in the local production networks are identified and interviewed face-to-face. The owner-managers were asked to map their enactment of business strategy according to the operationalized frameworks. The findings demonstrate that no single strategic framework can make the firms' strategic conduct intelligible. The use of advanced information technology ensures that all three firms align to features associated with virtual organizing. The balanced use of strategies is assumed to add to the competitiveness of firms and local business systems. The paper concludes with suggestions for further research and advice for practitioners.

National Category
Business Administration
Research subject
Economy
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-4815 (URN)10.5367/000000002101299169 (DOI)
Note

Part of urn:nbn:se:vxu:diva-1771

Available from: 2007-12-18 Created: 2007-12-18 Last updated: 2017-12-13Bibliographically approved

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