This issue of Notes on Globalization and Strategy is special for two reasons. For the first time, our publication is edited solely in electronic format, making it much more agile and sustainable. Our aim is the same: to be a key resource on globalization and trends in internationalization strategies.
Moreover, in this edition we pay homage to IESE professor Eduardo Ballarín, who died a few months ago and to whom we already paid tribute in the last edition. On this occasion, we focus on clusters, an area in which Prof. Ballarín - along with Prof. Josep Faus - was a pioneer in Spain. Both worked side by side with Michael Porter, a Harvard Business School professor, who was the first to define the concept of the cluster as we understand it at IESE: a group of companies located in a specific geographical area that carries out interrelated economic activities and whose objective is to increase the competitive advantages of the group. Since they knew him well, we have invited Professors Porter and Faus to reflect upon Prof. Ballarín’s contributions in their articles.
To delve deeper into the subject of clusters, this edition features two additional articles: Prof. Antoni Subirà explores the theoretical concept of clusters, understood as tools for competitiveness, while Emiliano Duch considers the issue from a strategic and practical point of view.
We believe that in this issue of Notes on Globalization and Strategy - as with clusters, as they are defined - the resulting whole is greater than the sum of its parts. These four articles clearly explain how we understand and study clusters at IESE, a concept which is often employed incorrectly. The true essence of clusters is simple - merely increasing competitiveness through efficiency.
Pedro Videla
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