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• clusters enable negotiations between business, state
and scientific centres for the ways of the development of a certain region or the whole country, thus facilitating the state
regulation of a business environment, implementation of scien-
tific and social programs.
The horizontal integration within a cluster assuming an
effective decentralization of transactions is in fact based on the
information logic, because data-based pieces of information
can be shared within one organizational structure more effectively. As for the supply systems connecting the companies of
the suppliers with the companies of the demanders (customers),
they are also created according to the information logic. When
companies forming a certain cluster build steady economic re-
lations with each other, they create communication channels.
These channels can be established on the basis of personal con-
tacts, arrangements (reflected or not reflected in the contracts),
electronic data exchange systems (EDE), synchronization of
the work of technical teams and so forth. One way or another,
each of them is an information channel because what all the
cluster’s systems working at the creation of an end information
product perform is not just a set of physical actions; broadly
speaking, all these actions are overwhelmed with information
that combines them into a single unity. Information flows even-
tually define internal and external conditions of all the business
processes of a cluster.
Besides, information channels (connecting the value de-
livery systems, supply network, feedback systems reaching
state and scientific centres) are not opposed to physical chan-
nels of a cluster. However, the value of physical factors de-
creases when the ICTs spreads out, the transportation costs de-
crease, the components interchangeability is intensified, and an
increase in flexibility of the production and development of
information innovations occurs. Thus, according to P. Evans,
"physical factors facilitate only a small part of the vertical inte-
131
gration. More large-scale communications, i.e. the systems of
cost and supply, are more influenced by information factors".
Applying transformational processes occurring in an in-
formational economy to the strategy of the innovative cluster
approach, it is possible to come up with the concept of “an in-
formation cluster” that implies an intangible aggregation of the
agents of the info-network sector of the economy on the basis
of establishing information channels of communication, which
results in a synergy of competition and cooperation.
The fundamental features of an information cluster are as
follows.
1. The subjects of an information cluster are connected
by vertical information channels. There are stable commercial
interactions between the members of a cluster — major companies and their suppliers. These interactions enable access to
both material and information resources (due to creating information channels of cooperation according to the system “business-to-business”). For instance, the suppliers of the Dell company have a permanent Internet-access to the contents of their
orders through the corporate Dell portal. They can arrange their
production and delivery in the way that the Dell Company will
always have everything it needs at hand to make their production process efficient. Giving the database access to the suppliers, the management of the Dell company believes that they
will always be aware of any shifts in demand. On the other
hand, the Dell Company using its web site as a special tool informs its customers about how their orders pass through the
production chain, which allows buyers to track changes in the
status of their order, starting with the initial (factory) status of
the product and finishing with its delivery to the buyer’s living
place. Thanks to the system of electronic trading (E-trading),
major companies’ and their suppliers’ sale costs are low (for
example, according to some calculations, electronic trading
helps normally decrease the cost value by 30–50 %); besides
132
they establish an effective feedback with their consumers (by
The mass
The quality era
The consumer era
- meeting stand-
- a variety of products;
Characteristic
features
- decrease in
studying their preferences and opinions on the product as well
as by collecting the purchasing statistics).
In the 21st century, the primary focus is on the consumer:
what he or she wants is not just cheap (the outcome of a mass
production) and qualitative (the outcome of an effective
specialization) goods and services, but those ones that will sat-
isfy his or her personal needs that are never static and are con-
stantly changing. Under the conditions of the focus’s being on
the consumer, the key competition aspect is the producers’s
ability to take into account the consumer’s personal preferences
and at the same time to establish an effective production and
planning systems (Figure 8.1).
- a quick delivery of a
product;
ards;
costs;
- availability;
- production
effect
scale
- reliability;
- durability;
- maintenance
guarantee
- personified products
and
- the consumer’s influ-
services;
ence on the product
2. An information cluster suggests a horizontal network
communication. A research center creates the necessary scien-
tific and technological base (information technologies, software products, methods of facilitating a production efficiency,
etc.). The use of modern ICT allows for a real-time delivery of
the information product to the enterprises. A research center is
also engaged in skill-forming based on the E-learning system
production
Figure 8.1. Shift in economic priorities
133
making a direct communication between a teacher and his or
her trainee possible (no matter how far they are from each other), which used to be typical only of a day-time education.
However, distance training will never completely replace a
full-time higher education giving fundamental knowledge, and,
thus, it is only a good tool of advanced training in a specific
field of activity.
By means of telework systems, enterprises making up a
cluster can attract more qualified employees, reduce expendi-
tures associated with renting and the personnel, attract highlyqualified specialists, improve work performance, replace permanent staff with temporary contractors, create working groups
of performers who are not employees of a certain office but
despite their geographical position can stay in touch with each
other and customers by means of, for example, mobile com-
munication systems.Traditionally, employees each of whom is
carrying out a certain business function are brought together in
one place: if this occurs, the Financial Division can be in one
city, while the Client Relations Department — in a different
one. However, means of telecommunication allow any group to
work together fruitfully no matter where they are — in one office, city or even country or not.
Major companies are not engaged in the creation of the
end product; they outsource the biggest part of business pro-
cesses and production functions to their subcontractors. It gives
a chance to concentrate the personnel’s efforts on the solution
of the main problem, while other functions such as delivery,
financial accounting, production, etc., are performed by spe-
cialists out of the company. Thus, a large enterprise of an in-
formation cluster is to be considered as a centre surrounded by
a flexible network of the best suppliers of necessary services
who can be involved and dismissed whenever necessary, just
like a construction set (Figure 8.2).
134
Design of the program
Product testing (the firm in
Korea)
Production of a physical me-
dium (the firm in China)
Financial accounting (the
Marketing
(the firm in Japan)
The Main
(broker)
Department of the
company
Figure 8.2. An example of the modular organization
of business activities of a large company
of an information cluster
For instance, about 20 % of the inventions of the Procter
& Gamble Corporation is taking place outside the organization
today, and the efficiency of this 20 % is so high that the man-
agement of the company wants to make it 50 %. The company’s searching for a formula allowing to remove the stain from
clothes is a good example. The management of the Procter &
Gamble Company appealed to scientists of the whole world for
that and offered them an award of 50 million dollars for the
most successful project. In this case, instead of making use of
the services provided by their own specialists who are just a
few, the P&G management chooses to rely on the world-top
human brains for solving the problem.
Thanks to modern ICT, major companies can control any
business activities on a real time basis, and monitor and audit
subcontractors. As for distant barriers, they are no longer an
insuperable wall on the way to contacts.
An information cluster can boast of common (joint) pro-
motional events, trade shows, product catalogues promoting
the reputation of all the members of a cluster and integrating
them within one collective trade brand.
The government has the following functions in relation to
an information cluster:
135
• creation of cluster-oriented free economic zones, in-
dustrial parks and networks of suppliers (the more powerful the
centre of the cluster becomes, the heavier is the competition
between enterprises, entrepreneurs, small businesses for the
right to become a member of the cluster structure);
• creation of clear, ever-improving, legal standards for
reducing legislative uncertainty;
• facilitating law adoption, observance, and updating;
• sponsoring independent testing and control, certifica-
tion of products and services provided by the cluster.
It is believed that an important role in creating an information cluster will be played by venture funds financing the
development of new products and business start-ups. Even today, the electronic Internet environment provides operation of
similar funds. Their activity can be studied through the examples of NetBridge, Red-stars.com, Port.ru, etc. What is important it is the fact that about 30 % of the projects into which
the venture finance has been invested, have not been implemented, 30 % of the projects are able to return the money invested in them, another 30 % of the projects make some profit,
and the rest of 10 % of the projects become so successful that
can pay back all the expenses.
Interaction between different companies tends to develop
in such a way that the flow of nonverbal information communicated through the telephone system is greater than the
amount of telephone conversations. It gives a good opportunity
to develop information channels between different subjects of
the world economy. Thanks to their mobility, not only informational and intellectual resources, but also financial ones can
quickly get to the centre of an information cluster.
Geographical conglomeration of companies was the cen-
tral clustering idea from the very beginning. Even A. Marshall
in his time formulated the so-called "tough aspects" of gaining
benefits from localizing different companies in one place. In-
136
formational economy tends to reconsider this idea. Here are
some reasons for this statement:
• the info-network economic sector uses info-sphere as
a production factor; that’s why there is no need for using
unique natural resources and situs assets;
• economies of scale and margins (according to A. Mar-
shall’s terminology) improved by a limited number of enterprises of a proper size don’t make sense any longer because of
both the network principle implying the need to engage the
biggest possible number of participants into the information
environment and the factor of preserving flexibility of even
large companies as a result of an efficient outsourcing policy;
• labour, capital, and technological specialization of
suppliers on the factorial markets can be more efficient within
the information network than within a separate area (region);
• resources needed to accessing and sharing information
about the market or technological changes can effectively mi-
grate within information channels.
Literature
1. Efremov, V. S. Strategiya biznesa: kontseptsii i meto-
dyi planirovaniya. — M. : Finpress, 1998. — 192 p.
2. Zabelin, P. V., Moiseeva, N. K. Osnovyi strate-
gicheskogo upravleniya. — M. : Marketing, 1998. — 195 p.
3. Karlof, B. Delovaya strategiya: tseli, elementyi,
soderzhanie. — M.: Ekonomika, 2007. — 420 p.
4. Kono, T. Strategiya i struktura yaponskih predpriyatiy. — M. : Pro-gress, 2009. — 384 p.
5. Sio, K. K. Upravlencheskaya ekonomika. — M. : IN-
FRA-M, 2000. — 671 p.
6. Tompson, A.A., Striklend, A. Dzh. Strategicheskiy
menedzhment. Iskusstvo razrabotki i realizatsii strategii. — M. :
Banki i birzhi, Yuni-ti, 2008. — 427 p.
137
7. Innovatsionnaya i konkurentnaya strategiya korpo-
ratsiy: nauchno-analiticheskiy obzor. — M. : INION RAN,
2004. — 190 p.
Questions for self-checking
1. What five models of intra corporate interaction of the
remote R&D centers do you know?
2. What are the indications of a cluster’s well-being or
decline?
3. Is licensing the most attractive form of new technolo-
gies acquisition in the world markets?
4. List forms of acquiring intellectual activity results in
the context of transnational innovation activities.
5. Are the members of a cluster compete with one another while catering for the needs of different industrial segments?
6. What does the principle "McKnight's philosophy"
mean (in terms of innovation activities coordination)?
7. Give a definition to the notion of an innovation cluster
and name the benefits of innovation clustering.
8. List the main characteristics and fundamental special
features of an information cluster.
9. What are the functions of the government in an information cluster?
138
CHAPTER 9.
COMPETITION IN MODERN
INFORMATION ECONOMIES
9.1. CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPETITION
PROMOTION IN AN INFORMATION
ENVIRONMENT
Creation and distribution of information technologies
make changes in the competitive mechanism. Both an enterprise capable to do without any new technological achieve-
ments and any industrial competition between such enterprises
make up the sphere of primitive mass services, today.
Under modern conditions, it is necessary to differentiate
competitive market advantages of the companies applying in-
formation technologies (on the one hand) and a competitive
situation of the companies operating within standard production (on the other).
In the former case, information technologies being ap-
plied allow to automate planning and accounting in a firm as
well as to react to the market situation and intra corporate
changes adequately. The following competitive advantages
with regard to using computers and information systems are
most often noted in the relevant literature:
• an expansion of and quality improvement in a custom-
er service due to the economy of office employees’ time (time
reduction for recording data and increase in the information
accuracy);
• service personalization (the interactive mode gives a
chance to consider the clients’ requests in the best possible way);
• a possibility to receive accurate data followed by mak-
ing proper management decisions.
139
It is to be particularly noted, that making competition In-
ternet-like can bring about the scenario when it is not the pro-
ducers of top goods who always win, but rather those who in
the best possible way explain the idea of the product to a poten-
tial buyer.
The main characteristics of firms’ activity in an information competitive environment are as follows:
1. An information economy’s activity results in an in-
crease rather than decrease in the firm’s profitability. The fun-
damental law in terms of operating networks is known as the
law of the increasing return. Intensive initial investments are to
be made into the necessary scientific research, development
and equipment, but the production capacities increase right after launching this production, which comes cheap. As the num-
ber of the produced hi-tech goods increases, the costs of pro-
duction decrease, which results in a profit growth.
2. Unlike an industrial economy where any increase in
returns is a result of the efforts of certain firms, a network
economy enjoys an increase in returns as a result of the efforts
of all the network’s members (agents, users). In the latter case,
this increase in returns is distributed between all the members
(unequal distribution of the increased returns is possible). An-
yway, competition becomes more intellectual and suggests cre-
ating a special mechanism of cooperation.
3. The laws of demand and supply do not work, particularly because many non-material goods such as consulting services, professional training, education, entertainments are cre-
ated by both producers and consumers together.
4. The company creating knowledge-intensive products is
capable to gain profit because of externalities of a wide circu-
lation of a product.
Consider an example that has become a textbook one —
the Windows operating system of the Microsoft company. Pro-
grammers aim to develop applied programs mainly for the
140