Fiorenza Belussi

A typology of networks: flexible and evolutionary firms

It is well known that today we are witnesseas to an enormous growth and increasing variety of ways to apply knowledge and technology in continuously changing industrial systems. New sources of information through interrelated and interactive flows of communication are combined throughout those that can be called network-inducing technologies: communication devises, information nets, telecomputing, Ž EDI, etc. The networking of the economy Belussi . and Garibaldo, 1996 implies a complex and coherent redesign of institutions and organisations. The emergence of institutional or informal networks, formed by clusters, groups or vertical filieres of `

Evolution and relocation in fashion-led Italian districts: evidence from two case-studies

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the debate about how, in advanced countries, industrial districts specialised in traditional manufacturing industries evolve as a consequence of new challenges linked to the globalization process. Using a multiple case study design, the study examines the evolution of two fashion-led Italian districts: the Montebelluna sportswear system and the Vibrata-Tordino-Vomano clothing district. Our findings reveal that cluster firms’ ability to shift from manufacturing to other activities providing higher returns along the global value chain is key to understanding the effect of globalization and relocation processes on the clusters long-term competitiveness. As illustrated in this study, weak learning districts are the most threatened while innovative districts are able to enact a selective process of relocation, substituting outplaced activities with more valuable ones and attracting inward investments.

Local systems, industrial districts and institutional networks: Towards a new evolutionary paradigm of industrial economics?

Abstract This paper seeks to unify the neo‐Marshallian theory of industrial districts with evolutionary economic theory. The latter argues that firms are collective organizations with a certain degree of resource‐development capacity of their own. They are not just homogeneous atoms of rational utility maximization as neo‐classical economics assumes. Among these resources are those concerning the capacity for learning, both firm past experience and by emulating peer firms. This is similar to the thesis advanced by some theorists of industrial districts that it is practical knowledge communicated among firms that explains their coherence as production systems. Because of this, districts can evoke in ways that allow local economic development based on network relationships to coexist with apparently more powerful multinational corporations rather than being extinguished by them.

From Fashion to Design: Creative Networks in Industrial Districts

Creative industries enjoy a great deal of attention in Western economies these days. Creative industries can be identified in sectors producing new artistic artefacts, such as those occurring in the film industry, or in the performing arts, etc., or in the manufacturing and service sectors, where the implementation of novelties is at the heart of the productive capabilities of firms. Post‐modern consumption is strongly characterized by fashion, because it assists the fragmentation and an “aestheticization” of daily life. Fashion goods become symbolic relational goods, status symbols, means of communication of identity and aesthetic satisfaction. Our research topics concern: firstly, a theoretical discussion on the evolution of fashion, which has moved from a top‐down model (as envisaged by the class‐conscious approach of Simmel) to a bottom‐up model, as described in the post‐modernist approach by Lipovetsky; secondly, a theoretical reflection on the business model adopted by firms to deal with the issue of designing new products, which is often related to the building of external‐to‐the‐firm creative networks; thirdly, a theoretical discussion on the model of an industrial district, seen here as an efficient organizational tool very efficient to deal with the circulation and external absorption of knowledge and fashion trend information. District firms, using a multiplicity of fashion sources, are able to increase their probability of selecting the winning fashion trends, and to reduce their probability of “not‐knowing” the winning fashion trends. We present some empirical evidence showing that a complex governance of several fashion sources is required to intercept fashion trends. Fashion emerges in a chaotic environment, as a bottom‐up recursive process, partially controlled by fashion firms that scan external information sources and build some interpretative/creative capability developed together with external‐to‐the‐firm agents. Our work uses some empirical data collected through a survey based in the industrial district of Montebelluna, localized in northern Italy, in Treviso. In Montebelluna, several important international producers of sport shoes and sport items are located. Qualitative interviews were conducted during 2004–2005 involving 13 final firms (some of them are leading firms) and 11 designers.

Managing Long Distance and Localized Learning in the Emilia Romagna Life Science Cluster

Abstract The paper provides some empirical evidence of the effectiveness of the “open innovation” model in the life science cluster of Emilia Romagna (a region of Italy), comparing the network of R&D collaborative activities in public research organizations (PROs) and the network linked to R&D collaborative activities in private firms. By presenting the main results of a field research in the life science sector in Emilia Romagna, we are contributing to the recent debate focused on the crises of the old “closed innovation” model and the rise of the “open innovation” model. Our survey consists of both primary data deriving from face-to-face interviews with researchers and entrepreneurs, and secondary data extracted from the Internet, the PubMed database, and from the European Patent Office. Our work is based on the analysis of a representative sample of 30 research groups in PROs, 2173 scientific articles published by the interviewed scientists, and a representative sample of 78 private firms.

Are Industrial Districts Formed by Networks Without Technologies? The Diffusion of Internet Applications in Three Italian Clusters

It is widely acknowledged that there has been a technological revolution in information and communication technologies (ICT), centred on Internet applications, in recent years. However, there is still a great controversy about the extent to which ICT are transforming the competitiveness of individual firms, clusters and large economic regions. On the one hand, the use of ICT could undermine those economic systems that are very distant from the strategic motors where these developments are taking place, re-establishing a re-centralization pattern in both functional (size) and geographical (space) dimensions. On the other hand, the ‘virtualization’ of the spatial economic relations could offer economic agents located in peripheral areas a better access to the development of distance relationships. In this perspective, the assumptions of the ‘vanishing’ of physical distance could represent a fascinating ‘utopia’. This paper analyses how industrial districts (IDs), which may be considered special forms of clusters, have managed the absorption of ICT (information and communication technologies). Are they formed by networks without technologies? In order to answer this question we organized an empirical research in three selected Italian clusters. We chose three cases which are representative of the empirical variation. The investigation presented here is based on a selected sample of 42 firms interviewed (all SMEs). Their behaviours in terms of ICT technology adoption were found to be quite similar in the three IDs studied. We reached the conclusion that neither size nor the entrepreneurial cognitive frame matters in hindering diffusion. Our results seem to demonstrate that firms adopted ICT technologies with respect to end customers while they were reluctant to use B2B linkages with subcontractors and suppliers (EDI and ERP technologies). However, this should not be interpreted as a lock-in phenomenon, but as a sign that they rely on flexible and trustful informal communication that cannot easily and efficiently be virtualized in electronic form.

Variety of pattern of the post-fordist economy: Why are the ‘old times’ still with us and the ‘new times’ yet to come?

Abstract Despite the complex changes which the economies of the most industrialized countries have undergone, current interpretations of the evolution of the economic system remain extraordinarily simplistic. The popular view has been that ‘Fordism’, at the heart of the continued development of the capitalist world since World War II, is no longer the driving force of the economy. This article challenges the all too simplistic view of the ‘old’ and ‘new’ times thesis, arguing that transformations occurring in the post-Fordist societies incorporate elements of the old system. On the contrary, in many cases old and new are blurred together. The article discusses the features of a variety of models of the post-Fordist economy, in terms of the ‘governance’ of different production systems where a massive debureaucratization of work is occurring, together with the globalization of local economic systems.

Managing Situated Creativity in Cultural Industries

1. Managing Situated Creativity in Cultural Industries Fiorenza Belussi & Silvia Rita Sedita 2. Consumer Co-creation and Situated Creativity JasonPotts, JohnHartley, JohnBanks, Jean Burgess, Rachel Cobcroft, Stuart Cunningham & Lucy Montgomery 3. From Fashion to Design: Creative Networks in Industrial Districts Tine Aage & Fiorenza Belussi 4. Interpersonal and Inter-organizational Networks in the Performing Arts: The Case of Project-Based Organizations in the Live Music Industry Silvia R. Sedita 5. Cultural Events as Potential Drivers of Urban Regeneration: An Empirical Illustration M. Paiola 6. Berlins Creative Industries: Governing Creativity? Bastian Lange, Ares Kalandides, Birgit Stober & H. A. Mieg 7. Do Creative Industries Cluster? Mapping Creative Local Production Systems in Italy and Spain Luciana Lazzeretti, Rafael Boix & Francesco Capone 8. Network Evolution in Cultural Industries Udo Staber

The combined effect of technological relatedness and knowledge utilization on explorative and exploitative invention performance post-M & A

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the combined effect of Mergers and Acquisitions (M & A) partners’ technological relatedness and the acquirer’s effective utilization of the target’s knowledge on explorative and exploitative invention performance post-M & A. Design/methodology/approach – Based on the knowledge perspective of an M & A, this study measures how much of the target’s knowledge acquired in an M & A has been effectively transformed into new knowledge. A negative binomial regression on a cross-sectional data set of 152 bio-pharmaceutical firms (59 European firms and 93 North American firms) completing at least one M & A in the period between 2001 and 2005 is conducted. The effect of knowledge utilization is assessed by comparing performance six years before the M & A and six years after. Findings – The effective assimilation and utilization of acquired knowledge positively affects both acquirers’ explorative and exploitative performance post-M & As. The combined effect with te...

The Symbiotic Division of Labour between Heterogeneous Districts in the Dutch and Italian Horticultural Industry

This article focuses on the historical development of one ornamental horticulture district in the Netherlands and two in Italy. The aim is to underline the global division of labour among three districts driven by industrial district heterogeneity, uneven learning systems and a unique specialisation in production and retailing. The historical development of all the districts is very similar, but the application of science and the role of local institutions explain the evolution of the cluster in the Netherlands. Despite the lack of natural resources and unfavourable climate, high labour and energy costs, the Dutch district and the Netherlands-based horticulture industry hold a leading position. Although endowed with better natural resources, the Italian districts belong to a very weak national innovation system and are now strongly dependent on the Dutch system.