Clustering potantial and innovation activities of Antalya Organized Industrial Zone

In a globalized world, culture of communication and cooperation has gained importance for the competitive advantage of the companies. The fact that the firms are in coordination and in cooperation with various actors including their competitors, suppliers, customers, universities producing technology and science, research institutes is known to ease their access to labor force, markets, raw material, products, and new knowledge and technologies, thereby enhancing their skills in producing innovation and their competitiveness in the market. Clustering theory emphasizes that certain companies and establishments that get together because of their common and complementary qualities enhance their national and international competitive advantage through certain advantages resulting from the communication and cooperation among themselves. Clustering provides a suitable environment for the production of innovation. Companies that are in communication and cooperation with various actors inside the cluster can reach the factors needed for innovation creation, especially the information and knowledge, in a much shorter span of time and with less costs when compared with the companies outside the cluster.The aim of this research is to find out the potential of the companies in Antalya Organized Industrial Zone (AOIZ) for clustering and to find out with which factors affect the activities of innovation. Before analyzing the results of the research conducted in AOIZ, some literature review has been presented about clustering theory and innovation theory, which is the most important benefit of clustering. In line with the aims of the research, companies in AOIZ were divided into their activity types in accordance with NACE codes and the companies working in the same activity type were researced for their capacities for clustering. Another aim of the study is to single out the factors in play in the innovative activities of the companies. In order to find out whether the factors the companies make use of when creating innovation are intracompany factors or intercompany factors resulting from communication and cooperation between companies, an econometric estimate was undertaken by using logit model. The second aim of the study is not independent of the first aim. If there are activity zones high in clustering potential in AOIZ, it is expected that the innovative activities are high as well because of intense communication and cooperation among companies in these areas. As a result of the study, it was found out that companies that are operating in meat and meat production, which is categorized under food, drink, and tobacco production, as well as in organic and inorganic fertilizer production, which is categorized under chemical substances and artificial fibre production, have high tendencies of clustering. At the outset of the research, it was estimated that clustering might be witnessed in AOIZ and that the innovative activities would be high in activity zones in clusters. However, it was found out that the innovative activities undertaken by the companies operating in meat and meat production sectors and organic and inorganic fibre production sectors were not due to their clustering tendencies. In an effort to find out the factors affecting the innovative activities of the companies in AOIZ, an econometric estimate was undertaken through logit model and it was found out that the innovative activities of the companies were affected in a positive way by such factors as their level of support in innovative activities, know-how activities within the company, the customers, suppliers, as well as the competitors with whom they have communication and cooperation, universities producing knowledge and technology, and research institutes.Keywords: Clustering, Innovation, Competitive Advantage, Communication, Cooperation, Research and Development, Logit Model