Flexible Specialization Research Articles

The Expansion of the Contemporary Economic Role of Crete throughout its Extensive History

This article investigates the contemporary economic role of Crete through its history of many centuries. More specifically, it considers the effect of the natural, climatic and marine environment in the productive economic activity, in the international trade and its relations with its neighbors, as well as Crete’s modern financial, developmental characteristics and its position in the Mediterranean, in Europe and the World. From the review of the relative, with the economy of Crete, bibliography, ranging from antiquity until today, as well as from the analysis of modern related quantitative data, it is realized that the basic elements that determine the economic identity and the position of Crete in the international environment during its extensive history are the ground and the products that it produces, the marine environment and the interconnections that it creates with the world, the climate, and the favorable conditions that it shapes for the flora and the fauna and its human resource, as this develops in the particular historical environment each time. These are the characteristics, along with the multiform and rich accumulated cultural reserve, which Crete can evolve and strengthen in the contemporary world so that it cures its disadvantages and most importantly so that it takes advantage of the developmental surplus of possibilities that it allocates. Crete has all the prerequisite conditions- productive and human resources, research and technological infrastructure, democratically programmed institutions- and allocates the initial conditions for a developmental take off, in the frame of flexible specialization, intelligent and viable growth.

Особенности развития малого предпринимательства в старопромышленном моногороде Чапаевске Самарской области

Introduction. In current Russian environment, small business is seen as a factor contributing into the diversification of the economy of single-industry cities. The most favorable conditions to develop an entrepreneurial initiative, taking into account local factors, are an integral part of the state’s policy towards mono-profile municipal entities. Peculiarities of the implementation of entrepreneurship in particular urban settlements are determined by the varying degree of economic development and innovative activity of the territories of their dislocation, the peculiarity and variation in the ways of modernization of single-industry towns. The aim of this work is to study the functioning features of business development models, formed by measures of state support for mono-profile municipal entities and small businesses, to clarify the areas of state support for entrepreneurial initiative in the old industrial single-industry town, which is a part of a large agglomeration. Methods are systematic approach, methods of theoretical research, statistical analysis, expert assessments. Results. The scientific understandings of the innovative role of entrepreneurship in the modernization of old industrial cities and the network form of small business organization supported in economically and innovatively active regions by agglomeration processes are systematized. Demographic, socio-economic and ecological indicators of Chapaevsk in comparison with the indicators of Samara region are analyzed, the state and dynamics, branch specialization, scope and areas of state support of small business in Chapaevsk urban district are looked at. Factors hampering private initiative were studied, and the influence of agglomeration on the growth of small business in a single-industry town was investigated. The areas to support the entrepreneurial initiative in the old industrial single-industry towns are the formation and preservation of human capital, the development of the creative potential of the local community, the transformation and improvement of the urban space comfort, the improvement of the quality of life and the organization of effective network interaction that provides flexible specialization of the single-industry economy. Conclusion. The conclusions of the paper can be used as a basis for the activities of state and municipal government bodies to improve the efficiency, implemented and planned measures to support small businesses in the old industrial single-industry towns, and should be detailed in the process of further research work in the field of regional policy for the modernization of single-industry towns.

CHANGE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES RELATED TO THE GLOBAL ENVIRONMENT COMPLEXITY

The changes in organizations appear as a reaction to the organizational environment changes. In order to manage these changes successfully, the managers need to anticipate and design alternative strategies by preparing different options. Nevertheless, the complexity of the global environment forces the managers to adopt strategies for their organizations that are facilitating the creation of new strategic competences and competitive advantages to face the environmental rapid changes. In this context, this paper is aiming to illustrate the main directions the change management may consider to change the organization strategies in order to harmonize them to the external environment, such as: integration versus externalization, flexible specialization and flexible organization, standardization versus adaptation, market segmentation, relationship building and maintaining and communication integration. However, the new strategies are based on a changed attitude of the managers towards the competitive advantage that is dynamic and focused on creation rather then to operations.

Where Is Portland Made? The Complex Relationship between Social Media and Place in the Artisan Economy of Portland, Oregon (USA)

Where Is Portland Made? The Complex Relationship between Social Media and Place in the Artisan Economy of Portland, Oregon (USA)

SOCIO-ECONOMIC INEQUALITY OF RUSSIAN REGIONS: THE NATURE AND SEARCH OF WAYS OF OVERCOMING

SOCIO-ECONOMIC INEQUALITY OF RUSSIAN REGIONS: THE NATURE AND SEARCH OF WAYS OF OVERCOMING

ARRANJOS PRODUTIVOS LOCAIS E DESENVOLVIMENTO REGIONAL: DIAGNÓSTICO DOS APLS DA REGIÃO SUDOESTE DO PARANÁ

As discussões da literatura apontam para uma mudança no sistema capitalista nas últimas décadas do século XX, principalmente devido à passagem do modo de produção em massa para um regime de especialização flexível, ocasionando a valorização das aglomerações produtivas locais como estratégia para o desenvolvimento regional. Nesse cenário, esta pesquisa objetivou realizar um diagnóstico setorial dos Arranjos Produtivos Locais - APLs da região Sudoeste do Paraná, visando orientar a elaboração de estratégias de desenvolvimento. Como encaminhamento metodológico, optou-se pela aplicação da metodologia Strengths (forças), Weaknesses (fraquezas), Opportunities (oportunidades) e Threats (ameaças) - SWOT para a compilação dos resultados da pesquisa de campo, gerando um conjunto de apontamentos em relação às forças, às fraquezas, às oportunidades e às ameaças nos APLs analisados. Os resultados demonstraram a relevância desta pesquisa para a definição de estratégias e políticas públicas relacionadas ao desenvolvimento destes APLs e da respectiva região.

Informality and Flexible Specialization: Apprenticeships and Knowledge Spillovers in an Indian Silk Weaving Cluster

ABSTRACTThis article draws on quantitative and qualitative data from the Banaras (Varanasi) silk weaving cluster in North India to show how informal institutions based on family and community interact with the relations of production to enable flexible specialization while reproducing or accentuating inequality. The family‐based apprenticeship system produces a supply of highly skilled workers but contributes to labour surplus by lowering the costs of entry and making exit difficult. Surplus labour ensures that productivity gains resulting from technical improvements do not accrue to weavers as higher wages. A community of artisans called thenaqsheband(designers) produces fabric patterns that are central to the industry's market. Geographical clustering results in quick diffusion of these designs and free imitation is the key to innovation. But this entails hyper‐competition, conservative changes, a culture of secrecy and quickly dissipating monopoly rents. The Banaras case enables us to understand how collective efficiencies as well as inefficiencies are created by the same institutions.

Older workers’ workplace learning in manufacturing industries: subjectivity

Purpose– The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to older workers (OWs)’ subjective engagement in working and learning in the manufacturing industry. Workplace learning (WPL) literature rarely considers the subjective side of learning from a cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) account.Design/methodology/approach– The paper adopts a CHAT-influenced perspective: learning is a cultural and collective process and a dimension of activity. Subjectivity is conceptualized through the ideas developed by A.N. Leontiev. The design takes the form of multiple embedded case studies, within two companies which approximate two types of production strategies, mass production and flexible specialization. OWs were interviewed about their professional lives.Findings– The subjective side of WPL is differentiated by the two types of production strategies. These strategies, together with other life experiences, create different opportunities for the OWs’ subjective engagement. Motives for WPL are linked to the needs for learning in the workplace, and to the ideal image that OWs have of their workplace.Research limitations/implications– The theoretical framework requires an interdisciplinary study and leads to conclusive remarks which overcome the boundary of the educational field. More investigation is needed about the gender issue.Originality/value– This paper enlarges the view on WPL for OWs by using the concept of the “object of activity” to connect industrial practices and OWs’ subjectivities. This concept has been used to explore the motivational aspects of learning in an original way. The findings of this paper will assist policy-makers to better understand WPL and the production strategies implications supported through industrial policies.

Theorizing media production: the poverty of political economy

This article argues that the Political Economy of Communication (PEC) has generally failed to develop theories of media production. Such theory as exists has been heavily influenced by accounts of mass production and flexible specialization in Hollywood. Hollywood film production has been viewed as paradigmatic of media production in general, in the same way as Ford was for manufacturing, and these theories continue to influence accounts of production across media and cultural industries. The article tests the mass production/flexible specialization paradigm against both the evidence of the Hollywood case and Ford’s mass production system. An alternative paradigm, the theory of craft media production, is also examined. The article then attempts to show how applying organization theory and media economics can provide a more convincing explanation of media production and of the Hollywood case. Finally, the article briefly attempts to show how we might develop rich theoretical explanations of media production by exploring the relationships between economic, organizational and media-specific cultural elements.

SIX DECADES OF THE THEORY OF GROWTH POLES: REVISITING PERROUX

A presente investigação faz um balanço acerca da Teoria dos Polos de Crescimento nos últimos sessenta anos. Entende-se que esta Teoria exerceu forte influência no pensamento econômico europeu nas décadas de 1950 e 1960, e, também, no Brasil. O objetivo g

RECONCILING INDUSTRIAL CLUSTERS AND URBAN SYSTEMS THROUGH REGIONAL NETWORK GOVERNANCE: A CASE OF CENTRAL JAVA PROVINCE

The location distribution of industrial clusters is often associated with their proximity to production factors geographically and economically. Many studies show how industrial clusters can maximise inter-firm social and economic benefits through a process of collective efficiency and flexible specialisation. Particularly this condition can be achieved with a support of well-articulated urban systems where the integration of public service provisions can be established to reduce total transactional costs. In fact, most regions in Indonesia fail to present appropriate urban systems for ensuring the delivery of resources across regions. Moreover, the practices of decentralised developments since the past few years have been neglecting the importance of strengthened urban system following the tendency of governments to look after local developments. As a result, the industrial clustering approach which is implemented by some local governments only creates institutional obstacles and additional costs due to the lack of intergovernmental cooperation. Regarding this issue a regional network governance should be encouraged to provide coordination milieu between governments in developing industrial clusters altogether. This attempts may be useful to cutting off the regional differences of transactional costs that the respective clusters must cope with. Keywords: industrial clusters, urban systems, regional network governance

Frozen in Hollywood: Postwar Film Policy and the New Power-Geometry of Globalizing Production Labor

Since the end of World War II, the Hollywood motion picture industry has become increasingly dependent on overseas markets for exhibition revenues and production services. As a result, the authority of Hollywood's production unions has deteriorated as outsourcing and flexible specialization have become the growth engines of a globalizing industry (Storper & Christopherson, 1987). In this article, I chart the shifting power-geometry (Massey, 1984) of Hollywood labor in the postwar period through an analysis of published debates over the Anglo-American Film Pact of 1948 and 1950. On its surface, the Anglo-American Film Pact was created to define terms by which the Hollywood studios could collect rental fees ‘frozen’ by the cash poor United Kingdom following World War II. However, the policy had far-reaching implications for the future direction of the motion picture industry, and specifically production labor. As depicted within trade and popular press coverage of the Film Pact, we see Hollywood's unions coming to terms with the limitations of an emerging international division of motion picture production labor, including diminishing control over labor mobility and the means of production.

A second chance for the flexible specialisation with robotics? Ageing society in Korea as a case

The theory of flexible specialisation has been offering a challenging alternative to mass production system since its debut. Despite the attractiveness of the theory, practical applicability of the theoretical content has been weak. As time passes by, however, new momentum has been building up from the robotics and its related technology development, which can really open up the possibilities for flexible specialisation. Especially the advent of ageing society can be an impetus to change the industrial paradigm, due to labour shortage. This paper, noting the symptoms of change, has endeavoured with empirical data of Korea to see which industrial sectors are likely to start up this industrial change in the future.

SKILL, CRAFT AND HISTORIES OF INDUSTRIALISATION IN EUROPE AND ASIA

ABSTRACTIt is time to reexamine craft and small-scale manufacture within our histories of industrialisation, both West and East, and to reflect on the long survival and adaptation of artisanal production even within our globalised world of production and consumption. Historians since the 1950s have addressed craft, skill and labour-intensive production in historical frameworks such as ‘the rise of the factory system’, ‘proto-industrialisation’ and ‘flexible specialisation’. More recently, they have devised other concepts which include labour and skill-intensive production such as ‘industrious revolution’, ‘the great divergence’, ‘knowledge economies’, ‘East Asian development paths’ and ‘cycles of production’. This paper surveys this historiography of craft and skill in models of industrialisation. It then reflects on small-scale industrial structures in current globalisation, emphasising the continued significance of craft and skill over a long history of global transitions. It gives close examination to one region, Gujarat, and its recent industrial and global history. The paper compares industrial production for East India Company trade in the eighteenth century to the recent engagement of the artisans of the Kachchh district of Gujarat in global markets. It draws on the oral histories of seventy-five artisan families to discuss the past and future of craft and skill in the industry of the global economy.

Spin-off and clustering: a return to the Marshallian district

The origin and growth of industry clusters have attracted the attention of scholars and policy makers since the early era of industrialisation. The seminal work by Alfred Marshall has represented the foundation for a rich strand of literature, whose late expansion and refinement were inspired by the experiences of localised development in emerging regions. This is the case of Italian industrial districts, which have emerged as a territorial model of industrial agglomeration, decentralised production and flexible specialisation. Recently, the traditional explananda of the emergence of clusters have been reconsidered. The evidence about the growth of clusters in areas that did not have obvious natural advantages, or the first comers’ benefits of early agglomeration economies, has inspired a different conceptualisation, which draws consistently from the evolutionary perspective on industrial dynamics. Klepper shows that more successful firms have higher spin-off rates and their spin-offs tend to outperform competitors. Organisational reproduction and heredity are thus identified as the primary forces underlying clustering. The present paper investigates the emergence and evolution of an Italian industrial district, the Sassuolo tile district, one of the largest and most successful ceramic districts in the world and a paradigmatic example of an Italian Marshallian district. Overall, our findings confirm that organisational reproduction and heredity represent primary mechanisms of clustering. However our results also show that spin-offs do not perform better than non-spin-offs. It appears that, in dense industrial environments and social networks, competitive advantages can also be acquired or built through other channels.

‘Men own television’: why women leave media work

While all media workers face challenges particular to flexible specialization in a networked economy, there are differences in career outcomes for men and women, which occur as a result of gendered work cultures. Within media production these gendered contexts manifest through three main factors, which compromise women workers and can eventually cause them to exit their professions mid-career. Women leave media work because of a combination of the gendered nature of work cultures, the informalisation of the sector and structural restrictions placed on women’s agency to participate in networks. The interplay of these factors ultimately creates an impossible bind for many female media workers forcing them to exit media work.

Essaying purposes and specialisations of institutional types in knowledge production

This article deals with differentiation, diversification and dedifferentiation of purposes and specialisations of institutional types in the post-apartheid setting, using as examples universities of technology created 10 years ago. It examines differentiation, diversification and dedifferentiation in the global context, particularly the specialisation of purposes of institutions as a form of division of labour in knowledge production and dissemination in higher education. It then takes issue with rigid and narrow forms of specialisation, thus projecting more flexible specialisation and specialism in the production and distribution of knowledge and skills. Differentiation in the post-apartheid era is then examined. External influences, competency and outcomes, and their limitations as drivers of curriculum designs are also discussed. Lastly, issues emerging from the discussion are explored and concluding remarks made.

The Hidden Side of Design: The Relevance of Artisanship

Design Mysteries Become No Mysteries The concept of “industrial atmosphere,” elaborated by Alfred Marshall,1 plays a crucial role in explaining the link between geography and innovation.2 Clusters and industrial districts benefit from the access to a common pool of skilled workers and to new ideas that easily circulate among the firms and the professionals who share the same local context and socio-cultural background. Indeed, Marshall affirms that “mysteries of the trade become no mysteries, but are, as it were, in the air, and children learn many of them, unconsciously.”3 Knowledge, although tacit and socially embedded, is in the air, freely available to professionals and firms within clusters and industrial districts. Interactions among local actors are facilitated by physical proximity and shared local culture. “Being there” (located in a cluster or industrial district) is a necessary, although not sufficient, condition for absorbing and exploiting tacit knowledge. “Industrial atmosphere” has been used to interpret the diffusion of tacit knowledge among small and medium firms. The flexible specialization in traditional industries,4 such as textile, fashion, machineries, and furniture, and the peculiar organization of Italian firms into industrial districts (at least in the center-north of the country) were an important counterpart of the work of the most important Maestri of Italian design. Not by chance, designers such as Achille Castiglioni, Michele De Lucchi, Vico Magistretti, Marcello Nizzoli, Aldo Rossi, Richard Sapper, and Marco Zanuso (just to name a few) worked closely with firms that were based within these industrial districts. The extraordinary creativity of Italian designers met the flexibility and sensitivity of local entrepreneurs who were keen to differentiate their products through the lenses of quality and esthetics. The Milan area was the epicenter of this phenomenon, where a specific mix of designers, based in the city center, came together with firms located in the suburbs of Brianza (where an important furniture district is located). Tacit knowledge ran fluidly in the relations among the designers and entrepreneurs, as well as among firms within the district. Quoting 1 Alfred Marshall, Principles of Economics, (London: Macmillan and Co. Ltd., 1920). 2 Elisa Giuliani, “The Selective Nature of Knowledge Networks in Clusters: Evidence from the Wine Industry,” Journal of Economic Geography 7 (2007): 139-68. 3 Marshall, Principles of Economics. 4 Michael J. Piore and Charles F. Sabel, The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity, (New York: Basic Books, 1984).

Sustaining jobs and environment? The value-added wood industry in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia

This paper addresses claims that the value-added wood industries contribute towards an economically and environmentally sustainable forest economy in British Columbia, Canada. The small firms that comprise the value-added industries have grown in number, are relatively labour intensive, draw upon diverse, small volume timber supplies, and serve a wide variety of niche markets. Conceptually, the study is informed by an integration of the flexible specialisation model with green entrepreneurship. Empirically, the study adopts an extended case study approach and is based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with respondents of 41 small firms that represent various value-added wood processing activities in Metro Vancouver and with industry associations. The study found that these firms are modestly flexibly specialised and locally embedded but inter-firm networking is weak. As green entrepreneurs, they reveal variation in environmental awareness and performance but are adopters rather than leaders.

Machine tools and mass production in the armaments boom: Germany and the United States, 1929–44

This article anatomizes the ‘productivity race’ between Nazi Germany and the US over the period from the Great Depression to the Second World War in the metalworking industry. We present novel data that allow us to account for both the quantity of installed machine tools and their technological type. Hitherto, comparison of productive technologies has been limited to case studies and well‐worn narratives about US mass production and European‐style flexible specialization. Our data show that the two countries in fact employed similar types of machines combined in different ratios. Furthermore, neither country was locked in a rigid technological paradigm. By 1945 Germany had converged on the US both in terms of capital‐intensity and the specific technologies employed. Capital investment made a greater contribution to output growth in Germany, whereas US growth was capital‐saving. Total factor productivity growth made a substantial contribution to the armaments boom in both countries. But it was US industry, spared the war's most disruptive effects, that was in a position to take fullest advantage of the opportunities for wartime productivity growth. This adds a new element to familiar explanations for Germany's rapid catch‐up after 1945.