Cooperative Ties and the Impact of External Factors upon Innovation in an Industrial District: Some Insights from the North Staffordshire Table and Giftware Sector

Abstract

Tomlinson P. R. and Jackson I. Cooperative ties and the impact of external factors upon innovation in an industrial district: some insights from the North Staffordshire table and giftware sector, Regional Studies. Drawing upon a sample of 118 firms, this paper explores the impact of cooperative ties and the role of institutions upon innovation in the UK ceramic table and giftware sector. It is found that locational economies are important for aiding innovation, with firms in the North Staffordshire industrial district holding an inherent advantage vis-à-vis non-district firms. However, while close vertical ties enhance innovation, recent concerns have arisen that horizontal collaboration between district and Asian firms is having a detrimental impact upon innovative capacity within the district. Finally, institutions also appear to play an important role in facilitating the innovation process.

Tomlinson P. R. and Jackson I. 产业区内的协作关联与外因对创新的影响：以北斯塔福德郡盛具与礼品行业为例，区域研究。本文在分析118家公司样本的基础上，探讨了协作关联以及机构作用对于英国陶瓷盛具和礼品行业创新的影响。研究发现，地方经济在辅助创新中扮演着重要的角色，北斯塔福德郡的本地公司相对于外来公司而言存在潜在优势。然而，在密切的纵向关联提升创新的情况下，需考虑的问题是，该地区与亚洲公司间的水平协作对于地区内的创新能力却产生了负面影响。制度在辅助创新过程中发挥着显著作用。

创新 协作 产业区 制度 表和礼品行业

Tomlinson P. R. et Jackson I. L'action coopérative et l'impact des facteurs externes sur l'innovation dans un district industriel: des aperçus provenant du secteur de la vaissellerie et des cadeaux situé dans le Staffordshire du nord, Regional Studies. Puisant dans un échantillon de 118 entreprises, cet article examine l'impact de l'action coopérative et le rôle des institutions sur l'innovation dans les secteurs de la vaissellerie et des cadeaux en céramique au Royaume-Uni. Il s'avère que les économies de localisation importent pour aider l'innovation, les entreprises situées dans le district industriel du Staffordshire du nord jouissant d'un avantage vis-à-vis les entreprises situées à l'extérieur du district. Cependant, alors que l'action coopérative verticale étroite améliore l'innovation, on s'inquiète récemment de la collaboration horizontale entre les entreprises du district et les entreprises asiatiques, ce qui nuit à la capacité innovatrice du district. En dernier, il semble que les institutions aussi jouent un rôle important pour faciliter le processus d'innovation.

Innovation Coopération Districts industriels Institutions Vaissellerie et Cadeaux

Tomlinson P. R. und Jackson I. Kooperative Verbindungen und die Auswirkung von externen Faktoren auf die Innovation in einem Industriebezirk: Einblicke aus dem Sektor für Tisch- und Geschenkartikel in Nord-Staffordshire, Regional Studies. In diesem Beitrag untersuchen wir anhand einer Stichprobe von 118 Firmen die Auswirkung von kooperativen Verknüpfungen und die Rolle von Institutionen für die Innovation im britischen Sektor von Tisch- und Geschenkartikeln aus Keramik. Wir stellen fest, dass standortspezifische Wirtschaften für die Unterstützung bei der Innovation eine wichtige Rolle spielen; die Firmen im Industriebezirk Nord-Staffordshire verfügen gegenüber anderswo angesiedelten Firmen über einen inhärenten Vorteil. Doch auch wenn die engen vertikalen Verknüpfungen die Innovation fördern, sind in letzter Zeit Bedenken laut geworden, dass sich die horizontale Zusammenarbeit zwischen Firmen des Industriebezirks und asiatischen Firmen negativ auf die Innovationskapazität des Bezirks auswirkt. Schließlich scheinen die Institutionen auch eine wichtige Rolle bei der Unterstützung des Innovationsprozesses zu spielen.

Innovation Zusammenarbeit Industriebezirke Institutionen Tisch- und Geschenkartikel

Tomlinson P. R. y Jackson I. Vínculos cooperativos y el impacto de factores externos en la innovación de un distrito industrial: algunas percepciones sobre el sector de artículos de mesa y regalo de North Staffordshire, Regional Studies. Basándonos en una muestra de 118 empresas, en este artículo analizamos el impacto de los vínculos cooperativos y el papel de las instituciones con respecto a la innovación en el sector de los artículos de cerámica para mesa y regalo en el Reino Unido. Observamos que las economías de localización son importantes para el apoyo a la innovación y que las empresas en el distrito industrial de North Staffordshire cuentan con una ventaja inherente frente a las empresas fuera del distrito. Sin embargo, aunque los estrechos vínculos verticales mejoran la innovación, la colaboración horizontal entre las empresas del distrito y las de Asia ha sido reciente motivo de preocupación porque está repercutiendo negativamente en la capacidad innovadora dentro del distrito. Finalmente, parece que las instituciones también desempeñan un papel importante en facilitar el proceso de innovación.

Innovación Cooperación Distritos industriales Instituciones Artículos de mesa y regalo

Keywords:

• Innovation
• Cooperation
• Industrial districts
• Institutions
• Table and giftware

JEL classifications:

• L67
• O18
• R58

Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful for the comments and suggestions of two anonymous referees. An early version of this paper was presented at the Regional Studies Conference, Pécs, Hungary, 24–26 May 2010.

Notes

Within European policy circles such ideas have had a significant influence. For instance, Bougrain and Haudeville (2002) note that innovation policies have increasingly tended to allocate funds towards promoting inter-firm cooperation rather than providing direct subsidies to individual firms. In the UK, such policies continue to permeate current thinking towards innovation (see, for instance, the recent Innovation Report by the UK government's Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, 2008).

In contrast, there are numerous studies of innovation and collaboration occurring in traditional industries in other European countries. For instance, see Molina-Morales and Martinez-Fernandez (2006) in relation to five Valencian industrial districts (food, textiles, furniture, ceramic tiles and leather); Hervas-Oliver et al. (2008) and Hervas-Oliver and Albors-Garrigos (2009) with regards to ceramic tiles in Castellon, Spain, and Sassoulo, Italy; and Boschma and Ter Wal (2007) in the case of the Barletta footwear district in Southern Italy.

Empirically, both Shan et al. (1994) and Ahuja (2000) have found in the US biotechnology and chemical industries, respectively, that the number and range of cooperative ties that a firm establishes is positively correlated with their patent count. More widely in the management literature, the competitive advantage in innovative performance enjoyed by Japanese manufacturers during the 1970s and 1980s was also largely regarded as being based upon their own collaborative (and integrated) supply chain systems (for instance, Gerlach, 1992; Smitka, 1991; and Sako, 1994).

In contrast to tacit knowledge, ‘codified’ knowledge is in the public domain and it is easily transmitted between firms, irrespective of geography (Sacchetti, 2004).

For instance, in the Barletta footwear district, Boschma and Ter Wal (2007) found that local knowledge externalities were unevenly distributed among local firms, with better-performing district firms having a higher absorptive capacity as well as being better connected and actively participating in local networks.

Jaffe and Trajtenberg (1999) uncovered a similar pattern at the national level, with inventors more likely to cite patents originating from their own country than elsewhere.

Both De Propris (2002) and Freel and Harrison's (2006) studies use categorical variables to capture the variables of interest (innovation and cooperative ties). These omit important information, particularly in relation to the scale and various dimensions of innovation and cooperation; as such, they are unable to say very much about the degree of inter-firm cooperation required for successful innovation.

Freel and Harrison's (2006) study also showed that links with universities were positively correlated with innovation.

An example in the context of the current study is the British Ceramics Biennial Trade Festival, which is held in the North Staffordshire industrial district and brings together leading ceramic manufacturers, artists and customers from across the globe. This is organized and supported by the West Midlands Regional Development Agency, Stoke on Trent City Council and the main UK ceramics industry institutions, which are all based in North Staffordshire (see the third section).

The district's hotel-ware companies have taken advantage of changing trends towards ‘experience’ dining out and increased demands for premium dinnerware in ‘exclusive’ restaurants/hotels. In addition, servicing tableware sets is important for hotels/restaurants that want to be assured that broken items can easily and quickly be replaced with similar items from the same product line and of similar (high) quality. The salience of these points was made to one of the authors in a conversation with the (late) Kevin Farrell, who was head of the British Ceramics Confederation, in 2007.

The authors aware that in identifying district affiliation, Sammarra and Biggiero (2001) proposed a focus upon cognitive elements and social interaction between actors; where firms share similar values, norms and trust and recognize their mutual interdependencies, their behaviour towards each other will exhibit group characteristics that define their district membership. These groupings are sometimes difficult to capture in survey work. Such cognitive processes and group formation are, however, enhanced through physical proximity (and network density). In the case of the North Staffordshire table and giftware industry, firms generally recognize their long-held historical and geographical associations within the industrial district (Day et al., 2000; Carroll et al., 2002). It thus seemed appropriate to base the district affiliation upon geographical boundaries.

This is a non-trivial insight, since previous quantitative studies (for example, De Propris, 2002; and Freel and Harrison, 2006) have merely emphasized the existence (and sometimes number) of cooperative ties as being important for innovation, yet have shed little light on the nature of such ties. What is therefore clear from this study is that the nature of the dyad between partner firms in the district industry is particularly important for innovation.

Recently, there have been proposals for a new innovation centre located within the North Staffordshire district, with the aim of linking the existing areas of innovation, knowledge transfer and developing the skills base, along with R&D across firms and related actors (SQW Consulting, 2009).