Porter's Diamond of National advantages

Transit Stud Rev (2008) 15:303–319
DOI 10.1007/s11300-008-0017-2
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT

Cutting Porter’s Last Diamond: Competitive and Comparative (Dis)advantages in the Dutch Flower
Cluster
Ernesto Tavoletti Æ Robbin te Velde

Received: 14 March 2008 / Accepted: 13 April 2008 / Published online: 10 July 2008
Ó Springer-Verlag 2008

Abstract The Dutch are the world’s leaders in the flower business even though they seem to lack comparative advantage in the traditional sense. Comparative advantages played a role in the history of the Dutch flower cluster and they still have a role today. Based on a critic of Porter’s theories, the investigation suggests that the exploitation of comparative advantages is allowed only to those firms and clusters that already possess a competitive advantage, based on technology, logistics infrastructure, innovation and human skills. So that comparative advantages and competitive advantages join in a sort of helix process based on social innovation and collective learning.
Keywords Dutch flower cluster Á Comparative advantages Á
Competitive advantages Á District Á Innovation Á Cluster
JEL Classification

Q17 Á M16 Á L26

Introduction
The present article is an exploratory case study of the Dutch flower cluster and it is intended to forecast opportunities and threats for its future. The Dutch flower cluster has gone through significant success for decades but recent development in the international markets has raised questions about its competitiveness and environ-

E. Tavoletti (&)
University of Macerata, Macerata, Italy e-mail: [e-mail]
R. te Velde
Dialogic Innovation and Interaction, The Hague, The Netherlands e-mail: [e-mail]

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E. Tavoletti, R. te Velde

mental sustainability. Is the Dutch flower cluster going to survive the competition from developing countries with cheap labour, superior climate and increasing long
distance

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