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Twenty years after the Porter Report for Portugal

Vítor da Conceição Gonçalves (ISEG, Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal)
Fernando Ribeiro Mendes (ISEG - School of Economics and Management, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal)
Idalina Dias Sardinha (SOCIUS, Research Centre in Economic and Organizational Sociology, ISEG, Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal)
Ricardo Rodrigues (CEGE, Centre for Management Studies, ISEG, Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa, Portugal)

Competitiveness Review

ISSN: 1059-5422

Article publication date: 19 October 2015

1017

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the contribution of the Porter Report toward increasing the competitiveness of the Portuguese economy and highlights the factors that affected its operationalization.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper considers the contributions of the Porter Report, entitled “Building the Competitive Advantages of Portugal”, presented in 1994, particularly with regard to the recommended clusters and public policies, as well as the assessment and warnings provided by Michael Porter in 2002, examining both in the present perspective.

Findings

Although Michael Porter, in 2002, made a critical judgment about the country’s evolution since the 1994 report, it is clear that, on the one hand, the recommended development model attracted high attention and had positive repercussion in academic and business circles, while on the other hand, some of the objectives were achieved, albeit at a slower pace than would have been desirable. Political and economic context and the time period are relevant for all technological and geostrategic changes, among others. The accuracy of the diagnosis and the development model proposed by Michael Porter is confirmed and the difficulty in its implementation is highlighted.

Originality/value

The analysis of the Portuguese evolution after Porter’s recommendations is instrumental in understanding the competitiveness and development challenges faced by a small peripheral economy in the European integration process. Understanding these difficulties and successes is of utmost importance in improving the definition and in the implementation of policies focused on the competitiveness of countries and regions.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge financial support from FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (Portugal) – national funding through research grant (UID/SOC/04521/2013).

Citation

Gonçalves, V.d.C., Ribeiro Mendes, F., Sardinha, I.D. and Rodrigues, R. (2015), "Twenty years after the Porter Report for Portugal", Competitiveness Review, Vol. 25 No. 5, pp. 540-554. https://doi.org/10.1108/CR-06-2015-0059

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2015, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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