Sustainability-Oriented Transition in Clusters: A Multilevel Framework from Induction

Aurora Carneiro Zen, Bruno Anicet Bittencourt, Jose-Luis Hervas-Oliver and Ronald Rojas-Alvarado
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Aurora Carneiro Zen: School of Management, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Washington Luiz, 855, Porto Alegre 90010-460, Brazil
Bruno Anicet Bittencourt: Business School, Unisinos University, Av. Nilo Peçanha, 1600, Porto Alegre 91330-002, Brazil
Jose-Luis Hervas-Oliver: Management-DOE, Universitat Politècnica de València, 46022 Valencia, Spain
Ronald Rojas-Alvarado: Departamento de Gestión Organizacional, Universidad ICESI, Cali 760031, Colombia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 7, 1-19

Abstract: The aim of this paper is based on understanding how sustainability-oriented transition occurs in clusters. This study focuses on both drivers and actors of that transition. Empirical results based on induction, using mixed-methods on the Serra Gaucha wine cluster in the South of Brazil, suggest that, at the micro-level, the mobility and adoption of knowledge about sustainability and individual awareness will support sustainability-oriented strategies as a new source of competitive advantage. Then, at the meso-level, collective actors’ efforts towards sustainability in the cluster legitimize, disseminate and facilitate the adoption of new sustainable-oriented practices, creating a new cluster sub-identity (sustainability) compatible with the existing one. These actors utilize leading local firms in order to disseminate new practices and signal change in the territory. Lastly, macro-level governmental regulations, market pressures, and other environmental changes facilitate that clusters develop a collective-minded strategy towards sustainability.

Keywords: sustainability; clusters; collective actors; networks (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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