The algorithm for the long-term development of the Russian economy implies an increase in its competitiveness in both new and traditional high-tech fields, a breakthrough in increasing labor productivity and qualitative characteristics of human capital, in the rapid development of high-tech production facilities and turning innovative conditions into a key source of economic development. The solution of these problems involves the formation of a system of interaction between business, government, education and science based on the application of effective methods of innovative development. A cluster approach should be distinguished among modern forms of intersectoral complexes. Consider the classification of categories, basic definitions, goals and objectives.
Improving competitiveness as a key goal of the approach
The idea of increasing the competitiveness of the domestic economy through the implementation of a cluster approach to the development of regions is not new. However, at the stage of overcoming the crisis situation, when the traditional methods of diversification no longer give the proper return, the application of the studied model of structuring and doing business has no alternative. This is an adequate means to modernize the economy.
The development of a cluster approach is more relevant than ever. The interconnections between clustering processes, interdependence, increased competitiveness and significant acceleration of innovative work - this is a new phenomenon in the economy. Which involves resisting the pressure of global competition. It adequately meets the requirements of regional and national development.
Practical aspect
In his first report to the U.S. Congress, Barack Obama, emphasizing the importance of implementing an innovative strategy for a nation to flourish, pointed out the need to support interaction processes in a dynamic manner between small and large firms, financial institutions, as well as universities based on a cluster approach. The latter is implemented primarily at the regional level. The result of the implementation in this case is the filling of the country's economy with dynamism.
The president also took the initiative to allocate $ 100 billion under the state budget for 2010, which he planned to spend on supporting regional innovation clusters, as well as business incubators. The fact is that Barack Obama considered them a critical component of the future national competitiveness of the US economy. It is worth noting that support for regional-type clusters at the national level was envisaged then for the first time. Previously, only regional authorities dealt with this problem. First of all, we are talking about the development of a certain federal program relating, first of all, to support innovative clusters in the main scientific and technological fields. Since after the crisis, the regional authorities experienced a shortage of funds in the state budget to finance the development of the innovation plan. So, an example here is the cluster approach in tourism, education, the economy and more.
The situation in the European Union
It is worth noting that today similar actions are being taken in the EU countries, where the cluster approach is also considered as the most important tool for the development of the region in the field of innovation. Günther Verhudzhen, vice president of the European Commission, responsible for industrial and business policies, noted that the country needs more world-class clusters.
He added that the cluster approach in education, economics, tourism, as well as patriotic education plays a vital role in the innovative development of EU companies. And also in the formation of new jobs. That is why he proposed to direct all efforts to support cluster policy at different levels. Günther Verhujen believed that this would strengthen openness for cooperation and excellence, but at the same time maintain a competitive environment in the framework of the developed agglomerations.
History of the approach. Definition
The cluster approach is a modern form of intersectoral complexes; new management technology, which allows to increase the competitiveness of an individual industry, region or state as a whole. You should know that in the economic literature the term "cluster" was introduced by Michael Porter in 1990. According to him, this is nothing but concentrated in accordance with the geographical sign of a group of interconnected firms, specialized suppliers, companies in the relevant industries, service providers, as well as organizations related to their activities. It is advisable to include universities, trade associations, as well as standardization agencies. Moreover, we are talking about certain areas that compete with each other, but at the same time lead joint activities. Thus, in a cluster approach, a group of companies that are interconnected and geographically neighboring, where their organizations are included, should act in a specific area. And also characterized by complementarity and commonality of activity.
World practice proves that in the past 2 decades, the process of creating clusters and developing a cluster approach has been quite active. According to experts, to date, about 50% of the economies of the main countries of the world are covered by clustering. For example, the cluster approach in the Netherlands implies the presence of 20 clusters, in India - 106, in France - 96, in Italy - 206, in Germany - 32 and so on.
It should be noted that in the United States more than 50% of enterprises operate within the framework of clusters. Moreover, the share of GDP that is produced in them exceeds 60%. There are over 2 thousand clusters in the EU. They employ 38% of the working population.
The Danish, Norwegian, Finnish and Swedish industries are fully using the cluster approach in tourism, education and the economy. For example, Finland, whose economic policy is based on clustering, has occupied a leading position in the global competitiveness ratings for a rather long period of time. It should be noted that due to those clusters that are highly productive, this country, with only 0.5% of the world's forest resources, provides about 10% of the world export of wood products and 25% of paper. In addition, in the telecommunications market it provides 30% of the export of mobile communication mechanisms and 40% of mobile phones.
Italian clusters, characterized by industrial importance, account for 43% of the total number of people employed in the industry and more than 30% of the total national exports. It should be noted that cluster structures operate quite successfully in France (cosmetics, food products), as well as in Germany (mechanical engineering and chemistry).
The process of developing a cluster approach in management, economics, education and other areas is actively carried out, and, accordingly, cluster formation is also taking place in China and Southeast Asia, in particular, in Singapore (in the field of petrochemicals), in Japan (in the automotive industry), and in some other countries. Today in China there are more than 60 special zones-clusters. They contain about 30 thousand companies, the number of employees of which is 3.5 million people, and the sales level is approximately 200 billion dollars a year.
Inclusion of initiatives in development strategies of different countries
Increasing competitiveness through the cluster approach is becoming the basic component of development strategies of most countries of the world. An analysis of about 500 initiatives that have been implemented over the past ten years in twenty countries shows that the high level of competitiveness of these countries is based primarily on the strong positions of some clusters - competitiveness locomotives.
For example, Sweden’s competitiveness in the pulp and paper industry extends to high-tech paper and wood processing equipment, conveyor lines, and certain related consumer industries (for example, consumer and industrial packaging). Denmark has become a developer of specific innovative technologies for the food industry and agribusiness. German car manufacturers and machine builders benefit from the presence in the country of highly developed production of components for these industries. In Italy, combinations were formed based on industry characteristics: metalworking - a cutting plan tool; leather - shoes; fashion - design; woodworking - furniture. China spent almost 15 years and significant foreign investment in order to realize the goals of the cluster approach and create competitive clusters around the textile industry, clothing factories, sports goods, tableware, and export-oriented toys.
The value of clusters
The importance of developing a cluster approach in the economy, production clusters as separately functioning units is evidenced by the fact that as early as 1990 the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), through the Private Sector Development Division, prepared a set of recommendations for organizing cooperation between governments of Europe and the European business in the development and subsequent implementation of programs for developing networks of small companies and clusters. In July 2006, the EU was agreed upon and adopted the “Cluster Manifesto in the EU.” And already in December 2007, the European Cluster Memorandum was submitted for approval. It is worth noting that it was finally approved on January 21, 2008 in Stockholm at the European Presidential Conference on Clusters and Innovations. Clustering support for European countries with economies in transition was demonstrated by the EU summit called “Eastern Partnership”, which was held in Prague on May 7-10, 2009. The main goal of the accepted documentation was to increase the “critical mass” of clusters, which could significantly affect the increase in the competitiveness indicator of both some countries and the EU as a whole.
Key cluster features
With the development of the cluster approach in Russia and other countries, the essence of the respective associations was modified and enriched. Thus, in a review of European eq. The 2008 UN Commission (UNECE) entitled “Improving the Innovation Level of Firms: Choosing Practical Instruments and Policies” among the key characteristics of the clusters noted the following:
- concentration in terms of geographical location (closely located companies are attracted by the opportunity to save on quick interaction in terms of production, as well as on training processes and the exchange of social capital);
- specialization (there is a cluster approach in patriotic education, education, tourism economics, and so on; that is, clusters are concentrated, as a rule, around a certain area of activity, to which authors or participants are directly related);
- a large number of economic agents (it is worth noting that the activity of clusters applies not only to the companies included in them, but also to public organizations, institutions, academies that promote cooperation);
- cooperation and competition (these are the main types of interaction between structures that are members of each individual cluster);
- achievement of the planned “critical mass” in relation to the cluster (this is necessary to obtain the effects of internal development and dynamics);
- cluster viability (it should be remembered that they are in any case designed for a long term of operation);
- involvement in innovation (enterprises and firms that are part of the cluster are usually included in the processes of market, technological product or organizational innovation).
Cluster classification
The cluster approach to economic development requires a certain classification. It is worth noting that in the past decade, many clusters specialized in the production of consumer products. They were formed to increase the competitiveness of some regions and territories. However, at the turn of the 21st century, industrial structures of a new generation began to be created. They were engaged in computer science, ecology, design, the production of biomedical products, logistics and so on. Their innovative orientation gradually increased. So, today it is considered the most important feature that determines the competitiveness of cluster formations. The latter are formed where “breakthrough” advancement is planned in the field of technology and production techniques, as well as subsequent access to other “market niches”.
So, we will consider the key industry areas of economic clustering:
- Informatics and communications, electronic technologies (Finland, Switzerland).
- Bioresources and biotechnologies (France, Norway, Netherlands, Great Britain, Germany).
- Cosmetics and pharmaceuticals (Germany, Sweden, Italy, Denmark, France).
- Food production and agricultural production (Belgium, Netherlands, France, Finland, Italy).
- Chemistry and oil and gas complex (Belgium, Switzerland, Germany).
- Electronics and mechanical engineering (Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, Norway, Germany, Ireland).
- Health care (Denmark, Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland).
- Education. The cluster approach in this area is particularly relevant in Sweden, Italy and Belgium.
- Transport and communications (Norway, Belgium, Netherlands, Finland, Ireland, Denmark).
- Energy (Finland, Norway).
- Construction (Netherlands, Belgium, Finland).
- Timber and paper complex (Finland).
- Light industry (Finland, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Denmark).
Cluster approach in tourism: basic definitions
The use of this approach in the tourism industry in a transition economy is currently relevant. This is due to a considerable number of industry features. So, the tourism industry is distinguished by the breadth of intersectoral relations, fragmented structure. In addition, here we can talk about the predominance of medium and small businesses, the intangible nature of the tourism product, its different perceptions by consumers and producers, and so on. Considering the tourist cluster, it is advisable to recall the so-called diamond of competitive advantages, which was developed by M. Porter. This rhombus is formed by the following components: conditions for production factors, demand, sustainable strategy, structure, competition, as well as related and supporting industries.
It should be noted that the clustering process in the tourism sector has particularly accelerated after the adoption of amendments to the Federal Law "On Special Economic Zones in the Russian Federation" (2006).
Conclusion
So, we examined the category of the cluster approach, the types of clusters, as well as their main features. In addition, found out the goals and objectives of the approach.
As the world practice of the most successful systems in the economy shows, stable economic growth and high competitiveness are primarily provided by factors that stimulate the dissemination of the latest technologies. If we take into account that the modern competitive advantages of the cluster approach are fully due to the advantages in production technologies, management mechanisms, and organization of the promotion of marketable products. Successful development in terms of competitiveness eq. systems is possible only in the case of the integrated use of theories of modern development concepts in the field of innovation and the mechanism under study.
Many countries are involved in this. Among them are both economically developed and beginners in the formation of a market economy. All of them are now somewhat more active than before, guided by the considered approach in supporting the most promising forms and directions of entrepreneurial activity, as well as in the formation and subsequent regulation of nat. innovation systems (NIS).
The serious involvement of cluster structures in the innovative work is confirmed by studies of the statistical plan. , , . , ( 60%) (40-45%).
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