Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
industry and business representatives together in a variety of contexts, e.g., training,
workshops, award ceremonies, webinars, social and speaker events. The growing
cluster “ecosystem” includes an increasing variety of firms both in the core industry
and the evolving supply chain and there are increasing flows among these as joint
bidding for projects and joint delivery of products and services become increasingly
commonplace. Business and related associations tend to provide forums to promote
further networking among members of the cluster and as flows among buyers and
suppliers become increasingly complex the level of cooperation increases
considerably.
Given considerable dynamics in the cluster during the exploratory phase it may
seem that there is little role for government. But leadership from government at the
local regional level is important to continue to promote the cluster and its develop-
ment. In the early parts of this phase the evolving cluster is potentially quite fragile
and can sometimes leap from a seemingly rosy future to exhaustion due to unantic-
ipated forces. Government at the national level has standing programs for
facilitating recovery from disequillibrating events, however, local regional govern-
ment organizations need to be prepared to quickly lead initiatives for recovery
resources from higher levels of government to adjust.
At the local regional government level there are other roles to be played. In the
early part of the exploratory phase there is need for government supported grants
and assurances for supporting business assistance, workforce training, entre-
preneurship, smoothing out regulatory processes by facilitating the creation of
one stop services for applications, registrations and licensing. At the national or
EU level grant programs to assist cluster development during the early parts of the
exploratory phase are important because this is a fragile period for the cluster.
12.4.4 Dimensional Patterns in the Exploitive Stage (See Table
12.4
)
The gains that have occurred during the expansion stage tend to become
consolidated into a more routine portfolio of functions and processes during the
exploitive expansion stage. During this stage the geography stabilizes and the
bounded cluster area tends to experience a reduction in the rate of spatial expansion
or stop as infilling becomes the dominant method of sitting for expansion of
existing or in-migrating companies. The density of firms tends to increase espe-
cially in the early and middle parts of the exploitation stage and stabilize in the
latter parts.
Industry and cluster strength continue to grow as the cluster region stakeholders
build deeper network relations but the increasing trend toward interdependence
evolves at a decreasing rate. A high level of interconnectedness among core
industry and the supply chain is retained. However, stability will tend to occur in
the latter parts of this stage.
Knowledge and information will be produced at a very high rate during the early
part of the exploitive stage. A high rate of patenting and cluster related sponsored
research at universities and other research organizations will occur during the early
