Publisher's Synopsis
The book applies Professor Michael Porter's diamond framework to Turkey, a middle-income developing country. By so doing, the author seeks to contribute towards a better understanding of the sources of international competitive advantage. Her research also presents a new approach to evaluate the competitiveness of the Turkish economy, given that alternative studies usually focus on factors like exchange rates and the cost of labour and raw materials as the determinants of competitive advantage. The author begins her book by providing an evaluation of the diamond framework linked to the debate created by the publication of The Competitive Advantage of Nations. She then identifies the pattern of advantage in Turkey by specifying the internationally competitive industries and clusters. This is followed by a detailed examination of the five Turkish industry case studies û glass, construction, leather clothes, automobile and flat steel industries. The findings are generally supportive of Porter. The results suggest, however, several major areas in the framework û especially domestic rivalry and the role of government û where one or more of the Turkish cases question Porter's hypothesises. The book ends with the implications of the study for the sources of competitive advantage in general and for the Turkish economy in particular.
