Porter M E
Harvard Business School, Boston, MA, USA.
Harv Bus Rev. 1998 Nov-Dec;76(6):77-90.
Economic geography in an era of global competition poses a paradox. In theory, location should no longer be a source of competitive advantage. Open global markets, rapid transportation, and high-speed communications should allow any company to source any thing from any place at any time. But in practice, Michael Porter demonstrates, location remains central to competition. Today's economic map of the world is characterized by what Porter calls clusters: critical masses in one place of linked industries and institutions--from suppliers to universities to government agencies--that enjoy unusual competitive success in a particular field. The most famous example are found in Silicon Valley and Hollywood, but clusters dot the world's landscape. Porter explains how clusters affect competition in three broad ways: first, by increasing the productivity of companies based in the area; second, by driving the direction and pace of innovation; and third, by stimulating the formation of new businesses within the cluster. Geographic, cultural, and institutional proximity provides companies with special access, closer relationships, better information, powerful incentives, and other advantages that are difficult to tap from a distance. The more complex, knowledge-based, and dynamic the world economy becomes, the more this is true. Competitive advantage lies increasingly in local things--knowledge, relationships, and motivation--that distant rivals cannot replicate. Porter challenges the conventional wisdom about how companies should be configured, how institutions such as universities can contribute to competitive success, and how governments can promote economic development and prosperity.
全球竞争时代的经济地理呈现出一种自相矛盾的现象。从理论上讲，地理位置不应再成为竞争优势的来源。开放的全球市场、便捷的交通运输以及高速通信应该使任何公司都能够在任何时候从任何地方获取任何东西。但迈克尔·波特指出，在实际中，地理位置对于竞争依然至关重要。当今世界的经济版图以波特所称的产业集群为特征：在一个地方，由相互关联的产业和机构——从供应商到大学再到政府机构——聚集形成的临界规模，这些产业和机构在特定领域取得了非凡的竞争成功。最著名的例子是硅谷和好莱坞，但产业集群遍布世界各地。波特解释了产业集群影响竞争的三种主要方式：第一，通过提高所在地区公司的生产率；第二，通过推动创新的方向和步伐；第三，通过刺激集群内新企业的形成。地理、文化和制度上的临近为公司提供了特殊的便利、更紧密的关系、更好的信息、强大的激励以及其他难以从远处获取的优势。世界经济越是复杂、以知识为基础且充满活力，情况就越是如此。竞争优势越来越多地取决于本地因素——知识、关系和动力——而这些是远方的竞争对手无法复制的。波特对有关公司应如何组织、大学等机构如何促进竞争成功以及政府如何推动经济发展和繁荣的传统观念提出了挑战。
