A Road Map to the Development of European SME Networks: Towards Collaborative Innovation 2009 edition

Marc Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index. Biographical Note: Agostino Villa was made a full professor in 1990 and since 1991 has taught Production Planning and Control, and Performance Analysis of Industrial Production Systems at the Polytechnic University of Torino. He is currently President of the International Foundation for Production Research( IFPR), Vice-Chairman of the Technical Committee MIM (Manufacturing Modeling, Management and Control) of the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC). Dario Antonelli got his Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering in December 1990. After being a researcher at the Fiat Research Center, he became an associate professor at the Politecnico di Torino in 2001, in the scientific sector Technology and Production Systems. He now teaches Production Systems at the same University and is responsible for all the graduation courses at the Faculty of Management and Industrial Engineering. His scientific activity covers the numerical modelling and simulation of production processes and its experimental verification. Jacket Description/Back: A significant development in Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) can no longer be postponed in the European industrial world. Although this need has been recognized for several years, recent recommendations from the European Commission have recalled the urgency of promoting new and more robust SME organizations, owing to two critical factors: the rise of enormous global markets and the emergence of a new industrial system originating from the distinctly different business culture of the Far East. Globalization forces enterprises to maintain a recognizable impact on markets in both the Old and New Worlds, but this requires efforts sustainable only by either large enterprises or agglomerations of SMEs. On the other hand, the industrial systems of the Far East enjoy a competitive advantage based on very low wages, which can be only be counteracted by the use of newer and newer technologies, requiring investments too heavy for SMEs. These two issues caused crises in many industrial sectors across Europe and USA. A Road Map to the Development of European SME Networks analyzes the causes of the crises and their effect on a number of different European countries. The analysis shows that the commonly adopted solution has been the integration of several SMEs in networked organizations that guarantee both efficiency in internal trading and contractual strength in dealings with the "outside world." Yet the majority of these networks suffer from a lack of effective coordination: a method for describing the different levels of governance in a network, and for comparing them with known best practices, would be essential to fully exploit the potential performance of the network. The book addresses this issue by describing a conceptual model of the network organization, and by using it for performance evaluation aims and for identifying strong and weak points in the network. Table of Contents: 1. Analysing Collaborative Demand and Supply Networks in a Global Economy -- 1.1. SME Networks: a European Way to Collaborative Innovation / A. Villa, D. Antonelli -- 1.2. Industrial Districts: Historical Tools for Complex Systems / V. Marchis -- 1.3. Motivations for a New Analysis Methodology / A. Villa, D. Antonelli -- References -- 2. A View of SME Clusters and Networks in Europe -- 2.1. An Overview of SME Networks Across Europe / T. Potinecke, T. Rogowski -- 2.2. Poles of Competitiveness in France / X. Boucher, A. Dolgui -- 2.2.1. The French Context and Advantages Offered by Competitiveness Clusters -- 2.2.2. Thematic and Geographical Distribution -- 2.2.3. Governance and Managerial Mechanisms -- 2.2.4. Case Study -- 2.3. Science Parks in Greece / S. Agoti, C. Stylios, P. Groumpos -- 2.3.1. STEPA Characteristics -- 2.3.2. Science Park Institution -- 2.3.3. Present Situation -- 2.4. Outsourcing Networks in Ireland / C. Heavey, P. Liston, P. J. Byrne -- 2.4.1. Electronics Manufacturing Field Study -- 2.4.2. Network Creation: The RFx Process -- 2.4.3. Case 1: Contract Manufacturer -- 2.4.4. Case 2: Supplier Sourcing Company -- 2.4.5. Case 3: Virtual Breeding Environment Supply Network -- 2.4.6. Summary -- 2.5. Industrial Districts in Italy / M. Salvador, S. Salvador -- 2.5.1. Basic Features and Figures of Industrial Districts -- 2.5.2. SMEs Clusters and Institutional Support: the FVG Case Study -- References -- 3. Promote Aggregation of SMEs: Suggestions and Actions -- 3.1. Strengthening SME Network Governance / A. Villa, D. Antonelli -- 3.1.1. A Short Catalogue of Graph Models of SME Networks -- 3.1.2. Justifying Necessity of SME Network Governance -- 3.1.3. Benefits from Cooperative Management in Enterprise Networks -- 3.2. Addressing Collaboration in Industrial Networks / B. Caroleo -- 3.2.1. Collaboration -- 3.2.2. Reasons for Addressing Collaboration -- 3.2.3. Examples of Collaborative Networks -- 3.3. Improving SMEs from a Supply Chain Perspective: a QFD-Based Approach / M. Barad -- 3.3.1. The SME Situation in Israel Motivating the QFD-Based Approach -- 3.3.2. Scientific Contributions to SCM Knowledge in a Nut Shell -- 3.3.3. Methodology -- 3.3.4. Findings -- 3.3.5. Discussion of Results and Further Empirical Research -- 3.4. SMEs in Supply Chain Networks: Cooperation and Competition / J. C. Hennet -- 3.4.1. The SCM Perspective -- 3.4.2. The SME Perspective -- 3.5. Trust in Demand and Supply Networks / T. Potinecke, T. Rogowski -- 3.6. Training Networks in Ireland / D. Whelan, C. Heavey -- 3.6.1. Development of Training Strategy in Ireland -- 3.6.2. Skillnets Training Networks -- 3.6.3. Case Study 1: Renewable Energy Skills -- 3.6.4. Case Study 2: First Polymer Training -- 3.6.5. Some Concluding Remarks -- 3.7. SME Networks for Car Recycling in Hungary: an Agent-Based Approach / G. L. Kovacs, G. Haidegger -- 3.7.1. The E-Mult Project Approach -- 3.7.2. Two Project Test Sites -- 3.7.3. Governance and Managerial Mechanisms -- 3.7.4. Some Details on the E-Mult Project -- 3.7.5. A Few Remarks to Conclude -- References -- 4. The CODESNET Approach to SME Networks Analysis -- 4.1. A Model to Represent SME Networks: Structure, Governance and Interactions with Markets / A. Villa, D. Antonelli -- 4.2. A SME Networks Model for Performance Analysis Through Comparison / D. Antonelli, A. Villa -- 4.3. A Formal Model for SME Networks Performance Understanding / D. Antonelli, A. Villa -- 4.4. An Example of Cluster Analysis / B. Caroleo, T. Taurino -- 4.4.1. Basic Concepts for SME Network Performance Analysis -- 4.5. The SME Network Analysis Methodology / D. Antonelli, B. Caroleo, T. Taurino -- References -- 5. The CODESNET Website: a Portal Supporting SME Network Innovation -- 5.1. The CODESNET Website Structure / T. Taurino -- 5.1.1. The CODESNET Web Portal -- 5.1.2. Virtual Laboratory -- 5.1.3. Virtual Library -- 5.2. CODESNET: a Bridge Between Academia and Industry / B. Caroleo, T. Taurino -- 5.3. Analysing and Comparing SME Networks Through the CODESNET Website / D. Antonelli, T. Taurino -- 5.3.1. SWOT Analysis of the Networks -- 5.3.2. Principal Component Analysis of the Innovation Level Inside SME Networks -- References -- Authors -- Index. Publisher Marketing: A significant development in Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) can no longer be postponed in the European industrial world. Although this need has been recognised for several years, recent recommendations from the European Commission have recalled the urgency of promoting new and more robust SME organisations, owing to two critical factors: the rise of enormous global markets and the emergence of a new industrial system originating from the distinctly different business culture of the Far East. Globalisation forces enterprises to maintain a recognisable impact on markets in both the Old and New Worlds, but this requires efforts sustainable only by either large enterprises or agglomerations of SMEs. On the other hand, the industrial systems of the Far East enjoy a competitive advantage based on very low wages, which can be only be counteracted by the use of newer and newer technologies, requiring investments too heavy for SMEs. These two issues have caused deep crises in several industrial sectors across Europe. A "road map" for the survival of SMEs in Europe would have to be based on an accurate analysis of the most significant causes behind the weaknesses of SMEs. Several recently published research projects concluded that SMEs must join together to create "networks." Responding to this, many "industrial districts" arose in Italy, along with "poles of competitiveness" in France, and "networks of competence" in Germany. Yet the majority of these networks suffer from a lack of real coordination: it is clear that a method for analysing the governance of the network and its collaboration efficiency is essential for assuring effective performance. A Road Map to the Development of European SME Networks: Towards Collaborative Innovation addresses this task: describing the method of analysis, allowing comparisons to be made between SME networks in different European countries, and providing information on a supporting web site.