The Evolution of the Stone Cluster

Transcription

1 The Evolution of the Stone Cluster Inês Paulo Frazão, Rui Moreira de Carvalho, Joana Paulo Frazão, José Paulo Afonso Esperança Synopsis The scope of this investigation is to analyse the evolution of the Stone sector and the impact of network relations for the gain of competitiveness. A Cluster is identified as an instrument capable of creating favourable conditions for an ecosystem conducive to innovation, cooperation and scale. The Stone Cluster, which started in 2009, assumes favourable characteristics for a qualitative analysis, focusing on the emergence of partnerships and on a creation of a database for future monitoring. We carried out an extensive documentary analysis in the Stone companies that belong to the Cluster, we evaluate the evolution of the sector before and after its formation. The results suggest that the companies, that belong to the Cluster, show a positive evolution compared to the sector in general, namely twice of the exports due to the introduction of innovative technologies and processes, promoting cross learning. Keywords: Business Network, Cluster, Innovation, Exports, Stone. Introduction "Stone" is an easily exportable product. And, Portugal, despite being a relatively small country, has a great diversity and quantity to offer to the international market. According to Anil Taneja (2016) the companies of Stone, worldwide, are in difficulties and need to innovate and to adapt. There are several challenges for which companies must be prepared. To Portuguese companies to enter this new era, an instrument capable of creating favourable conditions for the creation of an ecosystem conducive to innovation and competitiveness is what are called Clusters (Amaral, 2015). A Cluster is a concentration of companies with similar characteristics that cohabit in regions of proximity that tend to collaborate towards efficiency gains (Porter, 1985). The Stone sector, through its sector associations, is promoting a set of value creation initiatives aimed to gain competitiveness. The associations are promoting a project that develops the Cluster concept (networked companies). In 2009 was created the Cluster ValorPedra based on the Science and Technology System (STC). In 2012 a "national" brand was created for the sector: STONE.PT. This research aims to observe the evolution of the Stone Cluster and the impact of network relations for the gain of competitiveness. State of the art The main question is how can you adapt the resources and capabilities to a market that is constantly changing. According to Teece (2007), organizations need to develop their dynamic capabilities, i.e, their ability to find change in a dynamic environment. Cardeal and António (2012) emphasize that dynamic capabilities are the necessary to transform resources into competitive advantage. During a period of changes in a company's environment, there is a relationship between dynamic capabilities and competitive

2 advantage (Seyed Kalali and Heidari, 2016). Dynamic capabilities (CD) are organizational processes designed to change the enterprise resource base to achieve competitive advantage in a rapidly changing environment (Ambrosini and Bowman, 2009). It is recognized that a company may have access, albeit limited, to the resources of other companies through, for example, to a partnership (Dyer and Singh, 1998). The networking is clearly linked to the development of dynamic capabilities (Eriksson, 2014; Parida, 2008). Vahlne and Johanson (2013) argue that the interaction between the markets is carried out within the networks, learning, creating, internationalizing, and improving their dynamic capacities. So it's important to be an insider in these networks. Recognizing the need for collaboration is an important step in developing a partnership. However, many companies that identify this shortage do not know how to start it. Thus, a "mobilizing" agent (institution or individual) may be required to initiate the process. This "mobilizing" agent to be effective must offer credibility and expertise, personal or institutional, reliability and a sense of neutrality (Carvalho, 2014). Can this "mobilizer" agent be the Cluster? In 2015 the Stone sector exported to 127 Countries, were the 9th Country of the World International Trade of Natural Stone, has an import coverage rate of 897% and a turnover of 952 Million. Its export were 330 Million Euros (48% outside Europe) and had about 2700 companies with 16,000 workers. The Stone Cluster has horizontal cooperation (Stone companies) and vertical (suppliers). The strategic axes are the internationalization of the Portuguese Natural Stone, the sustainability of Cluster activities, bet on the qualification of resources and territories, bet on organizational, productive and technological innovation. Since its formation, the Cluster has led several anchor projects: (1) Valorisation of Natural Stone; (2) Environmental Sustainability of the Extractive Industry and (3) New technologies for the competitiveness of Natural Stone. Recently, ValorPedra was been renamed Portugal Mineral Resources Cluster, extending its scope also to metallic minerals. R&D activities are in products and processes, increasing productivity and extending the value chain. Since 2000, the industry has developed projects to eliminate wastage throughout the supply chain, increase flexibility, enable tailor made projects, increase productivity, increase raw material added value and protect the environment. The projects in the Stone sector were JetStone (2005), InovStone (2010) and InovStone 4.0 (2017). It is estimated that these projects will have yielded between 180 and 240 million euros in exports by 2014 and will have leveraged the creation or maintenance of more than 2,000 jobs. Method The approach is qualitative and the instrument is a documentary analysis (12 databases and 6 sources) for the Stone sector and the Cluster Stone companies. Results and Discussion The Cluster has 39 entities (16 Stone companies, 6 of equipment and 17 of STC). The 16 Stone companies that integrate the Cluster have an average age of 33 years and export about 60% (2015) of their production. The main destinations are non EU markets (68%).

3 Regarding turnover and exports, although turnover fell from 51 (2010) to 49 million euros (2015), exports increased from 23 (2010) to 29 million euros (2015). The exports in both the Stone and Cluster Stone businesses increased significantly. However, in the companies of Stone Cluster (N = 16), exports increased twice as much (25%) than in the sector (12%). Comparing the evolution of the companies of Cluster Stone with the sector, in the period from 2010 to 2015, Cluster companies tend to present better results. The export of the Stone sector increased from three hundred and three million euros ( 303 million) in 2010 to three hundred and thirty million euros ( 338 million) in By the other hand, the export of the Cluster Stone Companies increased from approximately twenty three million euros ( 23,1 million) to approximately twenty nine million euros ( 29 million), in 2010 and 2015 respectively (Tab. 1). Table 1 Exports in the stone sector and in the cluster Companies exports of stone cluster Stone Sector Exports The export of the stone cluster companies comparing with the stone sector more than double as you can see in the Fig 1. Exports Growth Rate ( ) 50% 0% 25% Exports of stone cluster companies 12% Exports of stone sector Fig. 1 Evolution of the Exports in the Stone Sector and the Cluster Stone Companies ( ). For the analysis of the results we chose to observe the sector from 2004 to 2009 (before the creation of the Stone Cluster) and from 2009 to 2014 (after the creation of the Stone Cluster). The evolution of exports was greater after the formation of the Cluster ( ), increased by 23%, than in the period before the formation of the Cluster ( ) in which they increased by 6%. Consequently, the coverage (exports / imports) of the sector grew more strongly after the formation of the Cluster (371%) than in the period prior to the formation of the Cluster (171%). In terms in of the employment the stone cluster companies present better results and in the qualified workforce is higher (Frazão, 2016). As reported in the literature by Jankowska and Glowka (2016) Cluster entities increase their involvement in international markets. This demonstrates that enterprise networks enhance the ability to innovate, speed of response to market, levels of quality and strategic flexibility (Carvalho, 2009). It also reflects that

4 strategic alliances arise as a logical and suitable response to the rapid and intense changes in economic activity (Doz and Hamel, 2000). It is possible to observe a collective efficiency gain in Cluster companies. In the case of the Stone Cluster, it is possible to create positive conditions for the creation of an ecosystem favourable to innovation and competitiveness (Amaral, 2015). Research suggest that networking tends to allow the gain of competitiveness. Turning potential competitors into allies and suppliers of complementary goods and services helps to develop new businesses, enabling prominent rivals to be neutralized as threats, and companies with complementary goods and creating network economies (Carvalho, 2014). As suggested by Bovet and Martha (2001) the concept of value chain tends to be replaced by the concept of value networks. The premise is, do the companies in the Stone sector realize what they benefit being part of the Cluster? The Cluster can act as a mobilizing agent to provide a stimulating environment for innovation and knowledge creation (Obadic, 2015). Conclusions As seen above the companies that belong to a strong networked structure (cluster) tend to present better results. That lead us to the point that one of the main future threats is to survive with the changes brought by new technologies. So, is it possible to do it without being networked? Acknowledgments We thank Fravizel, Mineral Resources Cluster, ISCTE IUL, ISG and Marlene Ribeiro for their collaboration and support. References AMBROSINI, V., and BOWMAN, C. (2009). What are dynamic capabilities and are they a useful construct in strategic management? International Journal of Management Reviews, 11(1), ANIL TANEJA (2016), Conferência Internacional da Pedra, 08 Novembro de AMARAL, L. M. (2015). Clusters e Política industrial O caso português. In Seminário sobre Clusters. Lisboa. BOVET, D. and MARTHA; J. (2001). Redes de valor: aumente os lucros pelo uso da tecnologia da informação na cadeia de valor. Tradução Márcia Tadeu. São Paulo: Negócio Editora. CARDEAL, N., and ANTÓNIO, N. (2012). Valuable, rare, inimitable resources and organization (VRIO) resources or valuable, rare, inimitable resources (VRI) capabilities: What leads to competitive advantage? African Journal of Business Management, 6 (37), CARVALHO, M. R. (2009). Parcerias Como criar valor com a internacionalização (3 edição). Lisboa: Deplano. CARVALHO, R. M. (2014). A Força das Coisas. Diário de um futuro Lusófono, ed. Bnomics, Lisboa. DOZ, Y. and HAMEL, G. (1998). Alliance advantage: the art of creating value through partnering. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. DYER, J. and SINGH, H. (1998). The Relational View: Cooperative Strategy and Sources of Interorganizational Competitive Advantage. Academy of Management. The Academy of Management Review, 23(4): ERIKSSON, T. (2014). Processes, antecedents and outcomes of dynamic capabilities. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 30(1),

5 FRAZÃO, J. (2016). Evolution of the stone workforce. Master thesis, ISG JANKOWSKA, B., and GŁÓWKA, C. (2016). Clusters on the road to internationalization evidence from a CEE economy. Competitiveness Review, 26(4), OBADIC, A. (2015). Cluster development and mapping process in Croatia. 9th International Scientific Conference "Economic and Social Development" Istanbul, 9 10 April PARIDA, V. (2008). Small Firm Capabilities for Competitiveness. Lulea University of Technology. PORTER, M. E. (1985). Competitive Advantage. Strategic Management. TEECE, D. J. (2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: The nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28(13), SEYED KALALI, N., and HEIDARI, A. (2016). How was competitive advantage sustained in management consultancies during change?. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 29(5), VAHLNE, J. and JOHANSON, J (2013). The Uppsala model on evolution of the multinational business enterprise from internalization to coordination of networks. International Marketing Review, 30 (3): About the authors Inês Paulo Frazão, MSc Master in Marketing and Ph.D. Student in Management, ISCTE IUL Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. Assistant Professor of Management, ISG Instituto Superior de Gestão. Portugal. ifrazao@fravizel.com Rui Moreira de Carvalho, PhD PhD in Management, ISCTE IUL Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. Associated Professor of Management, ISG Instituto Superior de Gestão. Portugal. rui.moreira.carvalho@gmail.com Joana Paulo Frazão, MSc Master in Social and Organizational Psychology and Ph.D. Student in Management, ISCTE IUL Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. Assistant Professor, ISG Instituto Superior de Gestão. Portugal. jpfrazao@fravizel.com José Paulo Afonso Esperança, PhD PhD in Economics from the European University Institute, Florence, Italy. Full professor of Finance, ISCTE IUL Instituto Universitário de Lisboa. Chairman of AUDAX ISCTE center focused on entrepreneurship and family business and Dean of ISCTE Business School. Portugal. jose.esperanca@iscte.pt