A stakeholder-oriented approach to managing cluster relationships

Abstract

Clusters are important for achieving regional competitiveness and development through innovations and new business development, but the realization of this goal requires good management of relationships. This bears challenges because cluster members have divergent interests and differences in power, and environments change constantly, creating opportunities and threats for cluster members, which may affect their relationships. Applying stakeholder theory to cluster management, this chapter proposes a stakeholder-oriented approach to managing relationships in the cluster. The approach argues that building common stakes among cluster members, complemented by supporting governance mechanisms, could promote cooperation and avoid the exercise of coercive power in the cluster. The use of coercive power and the proposed stakeholder-oriented approach are illustrated with the historical analysis of two cases from the European automotive industry. The first case is about the coming into force of the Block Exemption Regulation 1400/2002, and the second case is about the competitiveness challenges of the Volkswagen Group in the 1990s and 2000s.