Arménio Rego

[Recurso eletrónico] “When, in 1994, the high flying Harvard academic Michael E. Porter landed at Lisbon airport to offer his view on what Portugal’s economy strategic focus should be, many guessed he would favor trendier industries as the way forward. Two years earlier, the Portuguese government, along with a group of private companies, had commissioned Porter to report on how to make the Portuguese economy more efficient, but his proposal disappointed some. According to his analysis, Portugal should focus on six economic clustersiii in which it was already traditionally strong. These clusters were: wine, tourism, auto-industry, footwear, textiles, and wood products. Some of these industries had been dismissed as low-skill industries based on low labor costs and were perceived as economic dead ends. Porter (and others) disagreed: “In fact, there is no such thing as a low-tech industry. There are only low-tech companies—that is, companies that fail to use world-class technology and practices to enhance productivity and innovation. A vibrant cluster can help any company in any industry compete in the most sophisticated ways, using the most advanced, relevant skills and technologies.”
[Retirado de Sena-Dias, Pedro, Cunha, Miguel Pina e, Rego, Arménio (2014). “Back to the Footure: The Changing Portuguese Footwear Industry”. Nova School of Business and Economics, Universidade Nova de Lisboa.]