This book attempts to provide an effective strategy for industrial development based on the KAIZEN management training experiments conducted in Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia, Vietnam, and Tanzania. We focus on micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in industrial clusters, because clusters consisting of MSEs are ubiquitous and have high potential to grow.

Clusters - regional concentrations of related firms and organisations - are a key element of economic growth and innovation. This book discusses the case histories of well-known clusters, including: the Hollywood motion picture cluster, Silicon Valley, and Boston and San Francisco biotech regions.

There is now a wide spread interest in regions as a key focus in the organization and governance of economic growth and wealth creation. This important book considers the factors that influence and shape the competitive performance of regions. This is not just an issue of academic interest and debate, but also of increasing policy deliberation and action. However, as the readings in this book make clear, the very idea of regional competitiveness is itself complex and contentious. Many academics and policy makers have used the concept without fully considering what is meant by the term and how it can be measured. Policy formulation has tended to rush ahead of understanding and analysis, and the purpose of this book is to close this important gap in understanding. This book was previously published as a special issue of Regional Studies.

Policies to stimulate innovation at national and local levels must both build on and contribute to the dynamics of innovative clusters. This book presents a series of papers written by policy makers and academic experts in the field, that demonstrate why and how this can be done.

This book provides a comprehensive overview of what Asian industrial clusters might teach us. At a time when the dynamics of the world''s economy are increasingly being influenced by developments in Asia, the question takes on particular relevance because of the explosion of clusters and cluster policies throughout the region; and because of the great variety of models which can be seen developing in the various countries. Based on robust empirical surveys and interviews conducted in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan, the studies collected in this book were first debated at an international workshop in Lyon. From industrial districts to poles of competitiveness, these studies explored the transformation of traditional systems of activities or industrial districts to new networks ready for global competition or innovation, and also the development of new agglomerations or scientific knowledge clusters. The wide range of case studies in this collection offers a rich store of theoretical and practical lessons for analysts, policy-makers and economists. The book will also be a useful guide for graduate students as well as researchers in economics, sociology and political studies.

How logistics clusters can create jobs while providing companies with competitive advantage. Why is Memphis home to hundreds of motor carrier terminals and distribution centers? Why does the tiny island-nation of Singapore handle a fifth of the world's maritime containers and half the world's annual supply of crude oil? Which jobs can replace lost manufacturing jobs in advanced economies? Some of the answers to these questions are rooted in the phenomenon of logistics clusters—geographically concentrated sets of logistics-related business activities. In this book, supply chain management expert Yossi Sheffi explains why Memphis, Singapore, Chicago, Rotterdam, Los Angeles, and scores of other locations have been successful in developing such clusters while others have not. Sheffi outlines the characteristic “positive feedback loop” of logistics clusters development and what differentiates them from other industrial clusters; how logistics clusters “add value” by generating other industrial activities; why firms should locate their distribution and value-added activities in logistics clusters; and the proper role of government support, in the form of investment, regulation, and trade policy. Sheffi also argues for the most important advantage offered by logistics clusters in today's recession-plagued economy: jobs, many of them open to low-skilled workers, that are concentrated locally and not “offshorable.” These logistics clusters offer what is rare in today's economy: authentic success stories. For this reason, numerous regional and central governments as well as scores of real estate developers are investing in the development of such clusters. View a trailer for the book at: http://techtv.mit.edu/videos/22284-logistics-clusters-yossi-sheffi

Research on the topic of clusters and industrial districts is very extensive. However, most of it has focused more on understanding the past than on trying to map out the future. The aim of this book is to fill this gap by identifying and discussing the main research topics that populate the current scientific debate and highlight the emergent lines of research that will constitute the future research agenda. It does so by drawing on the debate started with the "rethinking clusters" workshops, which in a short time have become a rich place for discussion among cluster scholars around the world. Rethinking Clusters: Towards a New Research Agenda for Cluster Research collects contributions from authoritative colleagues, who cover a number of relevant and timely issues, such as the territorial roots of radical innovation processes, new ways of understanding and measuring the role of place in economic development, path renewal, internationalization and entrepreneurship. The final section is devoted to the critical analysis of policies that support smart specialization. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of the journal European Planning Studies.

Industrialization supported by industrial hubs has been widely associated with structural transformation and catch-up. But while the direct economic benefits of industrial hubs are significant, their value lies first and foremost in their contribution as incubators of industrialization, production and technological capability, and innovation. The Oxford Handbook of Industrial Hubs and Economic Development adopts an interdisciplinary approach to examine the conceptual underpinnings, review empirical evidence of regions and economies, and extract pertinent lessons for policy reasearchers and practitioners on the key drivers of success and failure for industrial hubs. This Handbook illustrates the diverse and complex nature of industrial hubs and shows how they promote industrialization, economic structural transformation, and technological catch-up. It explores the implications of emerging issues and trends such as environmental protection and sustainability, technological advancement, shifts in the global economy, and urbanization.