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The role of networking in the competitiveness profile of Spanish firms.

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2005
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ICEI
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Two main forces coincide nowadays in the characterisation of productive systems. On the one hand, the internationalisation of markets and economic activities has resulted in an increasing competition worldwide and a new and more global division of labour. On the other, the greater complexity of technology makes innovation a key factor in manufacturing firms’ competitiveness. Cooperative network relationships seem to be important in both processes. This paper aims to explore this aspect in the competitiveness behaviour of four Spanish manufacturing industries: food, chemicals, electronics and vehicles. Data has been obtained from a survey conducted specifically for this purpose at the firm level. Findings from the empirical analysis, based on the application of the Polytomus Logit Universal Model (PLUM), confirm the positive effects of the ability to network on company performance, particularly, intra-firm cooperation, cooperation between competitors and user-producer relationships.
La internacionalización de mercados, de actividades económicas y la creciente competencia global son algunos de los factores que caracterizan los sistemas productivos actuales. A ello se suma una intensa complejidad tecnológica que afecta tanto a productos como a procesos productivos, concediéndole a la innovación un papel clave en la competitividad de las empresas manufactureras. En ambos procesos, las relaciones de cooperación empresarial se erigen como forma organizativa de creciente importancia. En este documento se explora la relación entre cooperación y comportamiento competitivo en cuatro industrias manufactureras: alimentación, química, electrónica y automóviles. La información estadística se ha obtenido a partir de una encuesta realizada a nivel microeconómico y diseñada específicamente con este fin en España. Los resultados que se derivan del análisis empírico, basados en la aplicación de un modelo Logit Universal (PLUM), confirman los efectos positivos de las relaciones cooperativas en los resultados empresariales, concretamente las relaciones intra-empresa, la cooperación entre competidores y las relaciones usuario-proveedor.
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