INFLUÊNCIA DOS RECURSOS DO CLUSTER NO DESEMPENHO INOVADOR DE EMPRESAS TÊXTEIS

Abstract

The aim of the study was to identify the influence of the cluster resources on innovation performance of the companies in the textile hub of Ilhota/SC. Innovative performance was approached through the perspectives of the Effectiveness and Efficiency proposed by Alegre et al. (2006). The research was a causal and quantitative survey. We surveyed 47 companies in the textile polo of Ilhota/SC. The Data was analyzed by structural equations. It was found that the efficiency dimension of the innovation process showed a higher correlation with Innovative Performance, indicating greater importance given by the defendant manufacturers’ procedures for obtaining the results, as the consumption of resources, cost and product development time than the financial return provided by innovations. Externalities and Cooperation were not significant, indicating little relation to the Innovative Performance. Studies on innovation can bring a lot of information about opportunities and barriers that permeate the management of organizations and make some more prone industries or regions to innovation than others. In the case of textile polo of Ilhota, the results contribute to realize the importance of the use of externalities, such as the increased flow of customers, access to skilled labor and availability of suppliers. These advantages, currently untapped, could improve the innovation performance of the companies involved. Similarly, the lack of trust among businesses could be mitigated with a strong governance system, favoring partnerships and joint projects. Keywords : cluster, innovation performance, externalities, cooperation, sources of innovation.