Regional industry clusters have been promoted for several years as effective mechanisms to assist firms become more innovative and more competitive. But do they really achieve this goal, and more importantly, just how should an assessment of cluster performance in supporting and facilitating innovation within its members, be undertaken? In this paper we report on a study of a regional IT cluster in Western Sydney, Australia, develop some criteria for assessing the innovation facilitation performance of industry clusters, and discuss the cluster in relation to these criteria. We suggest that engagement with a cluster may enhance the innovation capacity of a firm, and the type of required innovation support varies significantly with the maturity and absorptive capacity of individual firms.
History
Parent Title
23rd ANZAM Conference 2009 : Sustainable management and marketing, 1-4 December 2009, Southbank, Melbourne
Start Page
1
End Page
18
Number of Pages
18
Start Date
2009-01-01
ISBN-10
1863081593
Location
Melbourne, Australia
Publisher
Monash University
Place of Publication
Melbourne, Vic.
Peer Reviewed
Yes
Open Access
No
External Author Affiliations
Aalborg universitet; International Conference; TBA Research Institute; University of Western Sydney;
Era Eligible
Yes
Name of Conference
Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management. International Conference