Regional business clusters in Denmark
Ada Scupola, Department of Social Sciences, Roskilde University, DK-4000, Denmark; Tel: + 45- 46 74 25 98 Fax: + 45- 46 74 30 80, E-mail: ada@ruc.dk
Abstract
This abstract is a short proposal for a research project that I am in the process of developing. The idea is to apply for funding to the Danish Research Council for support possibly by the 1st of October this year, otherwise the 1st of Mach next year. Therefore these are some preliminary thoughts that I intend to further develop until the date of the workshop, where I hope to have the opportunity to discuss the project with researchers that are already engaged in similar projects or just at the beginning as me.
I am also very much interested to conduct a comparative study between clusters located in different regions of the world. I have previously discussed this possibility with Charles Steinfield and Marleen Huysman. Therefore I would like to underline that this proposal is only an outline, and it can be adjusted in the research question, theory and method to fit with other potential comparative studies, if the opportunity arises.
I have investigated use, adoption and diffusion of e-commerce in small and medium size enterprises for the last three years and I am still currently conducting research in this field. This project is a natural extension of my previous research.
The Research Context/Site
The research will be conducted in Denmark. Denmark is a nation of about 5,5 millions inhabitants in the southern part of Scandinavia. A study conducted by the Danish State (Erhvervsfremmestyrelsen, 2003) has identified 29 clusters in Denmark. Some of the Danish clusters have a national focus, others a more regional focus. Also, the report distinguishes the clusters into those that are already established and those that are in a formation process. National clusters include wind-mills production, electronics, production of meat, auditive accessories. Regional clusters include turism, medical industry, textile, furniture, public relations and pervasive computing.
For the purpose of my research I am considering of choosing a regional cluster among the following four (I have not made a decision yet..):
1. Textile Cluster in the region of Herning. This is a well-established cluster and has been extensively studied, even though not much from the point of view of ICTs.
2. Medicine Industry in the area of Copenhagen. This is the strongest regional cluster in Denmark and has a very strong position in Europe. The cluster has a total of circa 80 companies in Denmark and circa 60 in the region of Skåne, in Southern Sweden. Examples of companies are Novo Nordisk, Coloplast and Lundbeck.
3. The cluster of Pervasive Computing located in Copenhagen and Århus include companies developing technologies for intelligent and user-friendly products (e.g. intelligent refrigerators). This cluster is interesting because collaboration of companies is considered a condition for success and also because it is a cluster under formation.
4. Business Turism in the Copenhagen area. It includes companies such as Bella Center, SAS hotels, Experimentarium and Tivoli.
Theoretical Perspective
As Steinfield (2002) has pointed out, the research on IT use in business clusters is very limited and inconclusive. Many studies exist on networks and clusters (e.g. Porter, 1998; OECD, 2002) and their importance for the economic development of regions and nations. Also, many studies exist on business-to-business e-commerce and collaborative information systems. However, very few studies exist at the intersection of the two streams of research of clusters and networks and e-commerce. This study has the ambition of contributing to the combination of these two perspectives by using existing theories on business clusters and literature on e-commerce/collaborative systems as well as social capital and learning.
Much debate there is also on the meaning of clusters and the differences between clusters and industrial districts (e.g. OECD, 2002). While the exploration of such differences is a project in itself, here Porter (1998)’s definition of clusters is adopted according to which “clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies and institutions in a particular field….Finally, many clusters include governmental and other institutions- such as universities, standards-setting agencies, think tanks, vocational training providers, and trade associations- that provide specialized training, education, information, research and technical support (Porter, 1998, p. 78)”. To what extent the governmental institutions and other associations will be included in the empirical investigation is however not clear. It could be that the study will just concentrate on the network of companies within a specific cluster.
Steinfield (2002) has formulated a number of questions to be investigated within the role of collaborative e-commerce in business clusters. This project might, however, take the point of departure in just the simple role of B-to-B e-commerce in supporting existing clusters (or eventually in supporting the formation of clusters). The focus will be on Internet commerce. The basic research question is: What is the role of B-to-B e-commerce in local clusters in an era of globalization? In fact, as Porter states we are in front of a paradox: on one hand we have a global economy, on the other we have the growing importance of local economies constituted of geographic, cultural and institutional proximity. Examples of sub-questions to be addressed are: How is e-commerce supporting collaboration among firms (and institutions) within a cluster? What are the main activities it is used for? How can e-commerce support the exchange of social capital in a cluster? How about relationships with other clusters and companies both nationally and internationally?
Methodology
The methodology will be a combination of case studies and surveys. First a semi-structured questionnaire would be developed based on theories of clusters and e-commerce. Then the questionnaire will be tested on 2-3 case companies. The original questionnaire will then be revised and few in depth case studies (the specific number depends on the total number of companies in the specific cluster to be studied) will be conducted to gain insights about the issues above. Finally a survey will be conducted of all the companies (and possibly institutions) belonging to the chosen cluster. A interesting way to tell the story about network collaboration could be the narrative method discussed by Pentland (2002) in the EGOS article (do not have the article with me, I am traveling while writing this proposal..)Author Bibliography
Ada Scupola is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Social Sciences at Roskilde University, Denmark. She holds a PH.D. in Business Administration, an MBA from the University of Maryland at College Park, Maryland, USA and a Master In Information Systems from Bari University, Italy. Her research interests so far have focused on the impact of electronic commerce on industry structures and value chains, adoption and diffusion of e-commerce in small and medium size enterprises, strategic management of IT, and business value of IT. She is currently conducting a comparative study in adoption and diffusion of e-commerce in SMEs between Denmark and Australia, and participating to a project on e-services, both sponsored by the Danish Research Council. Her research has appeared in international journals such as Journal of Global Information Technology Management and the Journal of Information Science and major conferences such as the Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICCS) and Pacific Asian Conference on Information Systems (PACIS). She is on the editorial board of The Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations.
Other potential participants to the project are colleagues from the Department of Social Science at Roskilde University that have already done extensive research in clusters and networks and social capital, even though not exactly from the perspective of e-commerce.
References
Erhvervsfremmestyrelsen (2003), Kompetenceklynger I dansk erhvervsliv, accessed at http://www.ebst.dk/publikationer/rapporter/kompetenceklynger/for.html the 1st of May 2003.
OECD (2002), Industrial Districts: A State of the Art Review.
Porter, M. (1998), Clusters and the New Economics of Competition, Harvard Business Review, pp. 77-90.
Portland, B. (2002), EGOS Article on Networks..
Steinfield, C. (2002), Conceptualizing the Role of Collaborative E-commerce in Geographically Defined Business Clusters. Presented at the Workshop on “The Ambivalent Relationship Between Social Capital and IT”, Vrije Universitet Amsterdam, May 27-28.