The information age is reshaping current socio-economic structures and processes and this book touches upon the nature of clusters in the fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0; I4.0). It focuses on the spatial perspective of digital business transformation and explores in natural context the interrelations between cluster and I4.0. It investigates the role of knowledge, business relations and policy in making cluster relevant for Industry 4.0 and uses the case study method and literature review to develop a conceptual framework outlining the functioning of Industry 4.0 cluster. This book argues that locally embedded knowledge accompanied by strong presence of industry and assisted by proper governance management facilitate the implementation of I4.0. The idiosyncrasies of Industry 4.0 impact also the functioning of cluster as they require more interdisciplinary integrative approach with the provision of industrial commons and development of related varieties. Natural processes of stretching of the cluster cannot be prevented, but should be harnessed for upgrading the core competences of cluster. This book can enrich existing literature on economic geography and regional studies by discussing the spatial aspects of digital transformation. It shows the cluster transformation as induced by the digital transformation, and will be of interest to researchers, academics, policymakers, and students who explore the regional and local development, competitiveness, or managerial aspects of fourth industrial revolution.

The Proceedings of the International Conference on Financial Management and the Digital Economy (ICFMDE 2023) offers an overview of research and insights into how financial management is evolving in the digital age. The book covers a broad spectrum from examining cryptocurrency trends to exploring fintech advancements. Topics also extend to digital transformation strategies, practical applications of blockchain technology, and the profound impact of digital innovations on financial markets. Through rigorous research and analysis, the proceedings offer valuable insights into the future trajectory of the global economy. Written for scholars, researchers, and industry professionals in finance, economics, and digital innovation, this collection provides valuable insights into the rapidly changing field of financial management. Readers will gain deep perspectives on how digitalization is reshaping financial landscapes worldwide.

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.

The scope of this book is to map China’s city clusters and their individual directions for the national-level strategies in line with the 2060 carbon neutrality plan. Since China announced the carbon neutrality plan in autumn 2020, no study has looked at the role of city clusters in achieving this long-term plan. Hence, this study is believed to be the first attempt to explore this important topic from the city cluster perspective. It explores the challenges, opportunities, and directions of all 19 city clusters, allowing readers to have a clear picture of China’s historical and ongoing progress, as well as the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. In a short time, China’s city clusters have helped boost regional economic development, infrastructure development, trade and business, and better urban–rural integration. With enhanced coordination of connection and transport networks in and between the city clusters, we see a growing number of initiatives beyond just the initial economic strategies. The dual approach of top-down policies and infrastructure systems and bottom-up governance and investments has helped China consider urban–rural development strategies and regional sustainable development. These factors are essential to be explored from the city cluster perspective and in line with China’s sustainable development and carbon neutrality directions. Hence, the book covers these points holistically, ensuring that regional planning and development are favored in the face of uneven urbanization trends. We anticipate this book to be a valuable resource for local governments and authorities, urban planners and practitioners, developers, and urban researchers. While the focus is on China’s city clusters, we believe there are similar examples elsewhere. Hence, lessons learnt from this book could apply to other countries, regions, and subregions. Lastly, the book aims to put regional sustainable development at the heart of longer-term strategies and plans, such as the case of China’s carbon neutrality plan.

One-size-fits-all cluster policies have been rightly criticized in the literature. One promising approach is to focus cluster policies on the specific needs of firms depending on the stage of development (emergence, growth, sustainment or decline) their cluster is in. In this highly insightful book, these stage-specific cluster policies are analysed and evaluated. Moreover, several chapters also focus on smart specialization policies to promote regional development by taking into account the emergence and adaptation of clusters and industries.

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.

Provides a comprehensive overview of what Asian industrial clusters might teach us. Based on empirical surveys and interviews conducted in China, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia and Japan, this title collects studies that were first debated at an international workshop in Lyon.

The International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management is sponsored by the Chinese Industrial Engineering Institution, CMES, which is the only national-level academic society for Industrial Engineering. The conference is held annually as the major event in this arena. Being the largest and the most authoritative international academic conference held in China, it provides an academic platform for experts and entrepreneurs in the areas of international industrial engineering and management to exchange their research findings. Many experts in various fields from China and around the world gather together at the conference to review, exchange, summarize and promote their achievements in the fields of industrial engineering and engineering management. For example, some experts pay special attention to the current state of the application of related techniques in China as well as their future prospects, such as green product design, quality control and management, supply chain and logistics management to address the need for, amongst other things low-carbon, energy-saving and emission-reduction. They also offer opinions on the outlook for the development of related techniques. The proceedings offers impressive methods and concrete applications for experts from colleges and universities, research institutions and enterprises who are engaged in theoretical research into industrial engineering and engineering management and its applications. As all the papers are of great value from both an academic and a practical point of view, they also provide research data for international scholars who are investigating Chinese style enterprises and engineering management.

This edited volume brings together a group of expert contributors to explorebthe opportunities and the challenges that Industry 4.0 (smart manufacturing) is likely to pose for regions, fi rms and jobs in Europe. Drawing on theory and empirical cases, it considers emerging issues like servitization, new innovation models for local production systems and the increase in reshoring. Industry 4.0 and Regional Transformations captures the complexity of this new manufacturing model in an accessible way and considers its implications for the future. It will be essential reading for advanced students and researchers and policy makers in regional studies, industrial policy, economic geography, innovation studies, operations management and engineering.

The concept of transformation has long been known to the sciences and has been around in the popular vocabulary for several decades. Because it has never been fully developed as a managed process and applied to our organizations, the way in which we have been trying to deal with the complex issues we face today is looking increasingly inadequate. Transformation management, argue the authors of this inspirational book, now provides the opportunity for the application of the first significant world-wide innovation in the way we manage since Drucker put management itself on the map in the 1950s. In a book that draws on seminal theses and practical examples from the four corners of the world, Ronnie Lessem and Alexander Schieffer provide leaders, students of leadership, managers and change agents with a trans-culturally tested, integrated approach to leadership and management. Only through a redefinition of what leadership, management and entrepreneurship amount to, say the authors, can organizations be transformed into sustainable enterprises capable of dealing with the burning issues of our time. Leaders are coming to realise that it is no longer possible for organizations to operate in any sort of isolation from the society and the wider world in which they exist, but paying lip service to notions of either social responsibility or globality is not good enough. From this indispensable book, those whose enterprises are to have any hope of becoming authentically socially responsible or authentically global will learn to understand and activate the process that dynamically links any organization with the society in which it is embedded and that links the local with the global. The practice of transformation management is about creating real value... for organizations, people, and society. This book, from the Transformation and Innovation Series, makes that practice possible.