Sustainability in Clusters: Proposal of a Conceptual Model

Abstract

The growing industrial restructure and movements of cooperation, increase pressures by reducing costs and increasing productivity, thus it has generated the formation of new arrangements between the companies, with focus on clusters. The clusters are formed when the similar areas and geographical aspects are concentrated and where the expertise and innovation are essential for companies to reach markets beyond their borders. On the other hand, one of the challenges in developing a cluster is related to its sustainability, in the economic, social and environmental dimensions. Thus, in this essay, we propose a conceptual model that addresses the relationship between clusters and sustainability, taking into account the perspective of networks. Such a model, spiral shaped, involves basic (actors, governance mechanisms, resources and location), intermediate (cluster strength and openness, integration and adaptation, knowledge creation / inventory and movement, exploitation and exploration actions) and resulting aspects (performance and sustainability of the cluster), in a context of life cycle and environmental dynamics.