Studying the structure and function of the rice cluster in the current and optimal condition

Abstract

Industrial development through the development of business clusters is one of the alternative approaches that have been developed in different countries during the last two or three decades and are being developed, and it has been placed at the forefront of the work and policy of policymakers in the field of industry and industrial development. The implementation of industrial cluster development projects at the level of different provinces of the country is part of the measures that have been taken so far in Iran. The present research deals with the case study of rice cluster in Gilan province and evaluates the effects of industrial clusters in regional development. In this research, while taking advantage of related studies in the world and Iran, by using the basic and classic concepts of cluster literature, the subject has been investigated and evaluated. At the same time, in order to get the correct information of the senior managers of Shalikobi collections, a questionnaire including 39 5-choice questions and 2 2-choice questions with the general headings of examining the internal situation, external situation, institutional situation and cooperation situation was used. The number of 310 questioned managers answered the questions correctly. Cronbach's alpha was confirmed by using SPSS software. Assumption test was also done for each question. Finally, the statistical output analysis of questions in the real world is detailed in the fifth chapter. As a whole, the rice industrial cluster is in a more favorable condition compared to other factors in terms of internal situation. But in terms of the external situation and cooperation between the components of the cluster, there are fundamental disadvantages from the point of view of unit managers, which explains the need to pay more attention to these areas.

Introduction

Since the last decade, regional and territorial development planners have spent a significant part of their time and energy in searching for a new model for regional development (Molthart, 2003). The concepts of this "new model" of regional development, which is known as industrial clustering, go back to a series of regional success stories such as Silicon Valley, regions in Third Italy such as Emilia Romana, Baden-Württemberg in Germany and Croydor in England. These regions have been presented as superior examples of economic performance and by displaying high levels of innovation, a strong role of endogenous industrial clusters, and a networked institutional configuration at regional levels have been achieved (Legendik and Kornford, 2000; Cook and Morgan, 1993). Inspired by these successful stories, the phenomenon of industrial clustering has been repeatedly studied from different and partially overlapping approaches such as "industrial areas", "new industrial spaces", "innovative environments", "industrial clusters", "institutional environment", "learning zones", "localized learning" and "regional innovation systems" under the paradigm of "new regionalism", which seeks to understand the role of industrial clustering and its effects on Learning is innovation and competitive advantage (Henry and Pinch, 2001; Combers and McKinnon, 2004; Cable and Wilkinson, 2000). In these approaches to regional development, the formation of learning capacities is not an enterprise issue, but instead it is related to the relationships between enterprises and other actors in the regional environment. Therefore, when knowledge and technology are considered as an intra-regional issue in the endogenous approach, the learning processes and regional network relations play a prominent role in the long-term dynamics and sustainability of innovation in the region (Eraydin and Armatli-Koravghli, 2005). as a regional industrial development strategy and use it as a job-creating strategy that is able to improve the competitiveness of companies and increase their exports at the same time (Raboluti, 2013). The definition of small and medium industries is widely different among different countries and regions of the world, and the economic and industrial conditions prevailing in those countries represent the small and medium industries in them. Some of the indicators that are usually used to define small and medium industries are: the number of employees, capital, total assets, sales volume and production capacities, but the most common indicator for defining small and medium industries is the use of the number of employees (Shaghaghi and Shafiei, 2014).

Investigation of the contribution of small and medium enterprises in the amount of employment, creation of added value and gross domestic product of countries in the world indicates that more than 95% of the total employment created belongs to these enterprises (Monash, 1998). It plays a central and prominent role in the economic and industrial policies of developed countries. If the past approaches have focused more on the macro economy, now micro business, feeling responsible for increasing the competitiveness of small and medium units, improving network communication, emphasizing indirect support instead of paying subsidies, combining competition and cooperation in order to strengthen learning and innovation, improving the level of cooperation between small and large units, and strengthening the cooperation triangle of clusters, the government and the university are emphasized and paid more attention. As much as looking at solving problems from the international, national and sectoral level to the regional and local, based on the dynamic capabilities of social systems formed on the basis of natural processes, the attention to micro-business in the form of a definable communication network under the discussion of cluster development is of special importance (Mansouri, 2014). Economic development experts, considering the limitations of resources and manpower, and considering the industrial structure of the world today, as well as the capabilities and advantages of this segment of the country's industrial society, declare the development of small and medium industries to be the best model. In the development of small industries, different models have been proposed in the world today, and one of the most important of these models is the development model based on industrial clusters.

For about two decades, industrial development based on clusters has been the focus of planners and policymakers in industrialized and developing countries as a new strategy. International organizations such as UNIDO, ILO and the World Bank have also implemented and supported numerous projects through the development of industrial clusters in different countries. The industrial cluster is one of the successful patterns of organizing small and medium industries, which solves the shortcomings of small and medium industries and strengthens the various advantages of small industries such as flexibility and diversity. An industrial cluster is a collection of manufacturing and service enterprises in an industrial field, which is formed by relying on consolidated social capital in different geographical areas along with supporting institutions and through dense inter-enterprise relations.