Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
conditions or good fishing) or more specific cultural factors. The analysis also
provides insight into the nature of entrepreneurship in this cluster and provides a
hypothesis about Korean entrepreneurship as being heavily dominated by
chaebol
influence and thus resulting in a high level of spinoff type of company formation
and a lower level of organic or independent entrepreneurship. Finally, the dimen-
sional approach enabled a structural analysis of what is here interpreted as a cluster
nearing stasis or the end of its life-cycle and the dynamics of its regeneration and
renewal. The various aspects of the life-cycle analysis of the Korean shipbuilding
cluster suggest this methodology could be used to identify the historical evolution
of clusters and provide insight into qualitative phase changes in the development
path of clusters. The resulting insight may also provide the basis for policy guidance
to help facilitate cluster renewal and therefore increasing returns economic growth
and development benefits.
12.7
Conclusions of the Paper
This chapter set out to address the concern that earlier cluster investigators voiced
regarding a lack of understanding about cluster dynamics given a tendency for
cluster enthusiasts to focus on the increasing returns part of cluster dynamics, that
is, the Exploratory and Exploitive Expansion stages. Work prior to the preparation
of this chapter was focused on life cycle theory as a framework for investigation and
thus understanding cluster dynamics. This previous work considering the life cycle
frame focused almost completely on a case study approach. Yet the case studies
adopted a methodology for the most part that was historical in character. In this
chapter a dimensional methodological approach was introduced and applied
(tested) in an application to the analysis of the Korean shipbuilding cluster. This
cluster was selected because a recent detailed historical case study analysis had
been published that provided considerable detailed data and insight into its evolu-
tion (Shin and Hassick
2011
). This enabled examining the Korean shipbuilding case
at various times in its evolution in terms of each of the seven cluster dimensions
proposed in this chapter. The major contribution of this paper is the creation of this
dimensional approach. That said the seven dimensions while not selected arbitrarily
require greater foundation and explanation than offered here. This is a task for
future research. That said each dimension has been identified in the literature as
dimensional correlates of cluster dynamics.
Future research is needed as noted to develop a full rationale for the elements of
the dimensional analysis. Additional applications of the method to other case
studies are needed to better determine its value and usefulness. Importantly such
analyses should be used to provide policy guidance or at least to suggest what
appropriate policies are for different cluster stage situations. Finally, there is a need
to also provide a way to represent the status of a cluster at any point in time on the
various dimensions. For example, seven-point star diagrams could be used to
represent the status of clusters at various times in a space that represents the life-
cycle stages: existence, take-off, exploratory expansion, exploitive expansion,
