The cluster studies undertaken by JNCT span over almost a decade. Many of the older studies have been updated periodically over this period, and the dates of each are provided for the reader. The level of analysis and detail in each of the studies progresses with the team's own learning, and adoption of the competitiveness tools in the studies.
The studies are provided for your use and enjoyment, and we appreciate receiving your reactions to the material.
The concept or understanding of clusters has also developed over this period. Michael Porter, for instance, defines an industrial cluster as a set of industries related through buyer-supplier and supplier-buyer relationships, or by common technologies, common buyers or distribution channels, or common labor pools. Clusters can in fact be thought of on two levels. The first is the geographic cluster, where the relationship is based on a concentration of business in a certain region. The second is the network cluster, based on the notions of ongoing communication and interaction, and even a certain level of interdependence, amongst firms from the same industry or from related industries, that do not necessarily operate in a specified geographic space.
Most of the cluster studies that you will read below are based on the concept of the network cluster, which is more common in
Automotive
