Cooperation and competition in Information Technology Business: Case of ICT firms in Konya

Cooperation and competition in Information Technology Business: Case of ICT firms in Konya

M. Atilla , Aricioğlu

The notion of clusters has been attracted increasing interest from academics and business practitioners for two decades. The theory and research emphasize their strong and positive influence in promoting industrial development, innovation, and competitiveness and economic growth. Thus clusters, become a useful policy instrument in regional innovation systems (RIS) aiming to promote sustainable regional growth. Related literature suggests that competitive clusters provide a fertile and conducive business environment for companies to collaborate with research institutions, suppliers, customers and competitors located in the same geographical area. They are becoming powerful engines of economic development and drivers. Not all industries can create opportunities for employment, but of which share knowledge and transfer technology both directly and through upstream and downstream linkages with other relevant sectors. Not only they move their production facilities, they also intend to transfer their research and development units from those favorable regions which have relatively higher stage of development than the others in terms of infrastructure facilities, education and training institutions, stable incentives, subsidiary potential, and the presence of other multinational enterprises. The informatics sector can provide a foundation for the growth of industrial activity in a developing economy. Therefore, as an example of high-tech clusters and potentially highvalue added sectors in developing countries, in-depth analysis of the informatics sector with its hardware suppliers as a whole can shed light on the question of how a developing country can structure its strategies to be able to upgrade and be competitive over time. In recent years, Turkey has made an effort as a major player in the global informatics sector. Owing to its skilled labor/brain force, rapid growth and market potential, Turkey has gained tremendous attention of the informatics sector since 1980s. According to a survey of a city of Konya sample, innovation attitudes the company managers operating in the IT sector has been measured. In line with this purpose survey of firms in Konya Teknokent has been conducted. Keywords: Cluster, Innovation, Konya, IT, Competition

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2012-05-31

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