SMEs DEVELOPMENT WITHIN INDUSTRIAL CLUSTERS – STRATEGIC CHALLENGE FOR CLUSTER MANAGEMENT

The purpose of this article is to characterise the role of industrial clusters in SMEs development. Trying to meet demands of the current environment, these companies are forced to constantly identify new ways of development, including new sources of sustainable competitive advantage. Nowadays, focusing only on the internal (endogenous) development for many entities is insufficient and external development of the SMEs through the clusters may be a complementary approach for their internal development. Despite the scarcity of clear cluster definitions it is widespread that clusters - as concentrations of R&D entities, business support institutions and interconnected firms operating in the same or related economic sectors that cooperate and compete at the same time - provide favorable conditions for entrepreneurship and innovativeness development. SMEs can improve their market offer, transfer knowledge, formulate and implement R&D activities, and develop relational capital by actively operating within clusters and collaborating with their partners, both in internal and external environments (eg. involvement in foreign networks). The activities of cluster coordinators play a strategic role in shaping the appropriate conditions for the development of cluster members. Based on the good practice in the field of Polish-Spanish international networking linked to the execution of the “Adelante” project by the coordinator of Sub-Carpathian Renewable Energy Cluster, the benefits for SMEs of that cluster were pointed out. This practice shows that the involvement of a cluster coordinator with key cluster stakeholders for development of cluster members contribute to development of the entire cluster and boost its competitiveness.

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