- Title
- Responding to global warming mitigation policies: the Hunter Valley construction and engineering cluster
- Creator
- Collins, David; Bray, Mark; Burgess, John
- Relation
- Resources and Competitive Advantage in Clusters p. 113-131
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1688/9783866189652
- Publisher
- Rainer Hampp Verlag
- Resource Type
- book chapter
- Date
- 2013
- Description
- This chapter examines the changes and challenges that are occurring in manufacturing and engineering workplaces in the Hunter Valley of Australia. Workplaces are aware that changes are inevitable, but many are either not prepared for change or are not sure of the nature and extent of changes that are required. While employer associations and trade unions are advocates for change in the workplace, the federal government has to date been contradictory in its policy stance. Indeed, the absence of clear policy direction on climate change is seen as an obstacle to implementing change to production processes, product design, and energy use and generation. This chapter reviews the type and range of responses that are emerging in the manufacturing sector. Not surprisingly we observe an uneven response and a great deal of confusion, and this has not been helped by a lack of clear policy direction. Using the VAW (Brown et al., 2007) and work on knowledge transfer and the role of specialists in facilitating knowledge development in clusters (Mitchell, Burgess and Waterhouse, 2011) we demonstrate that the challenges associated with industry adjustment to climate change will require the development of formal and informal clustering arrangements that will not only facilitate structural adjustment but also provide firms with enhanced capability to improve competitive positioning.
- Subject
- Hunter Valley (N.S.W.); employment; coal; engineering; manufacturing; global warming
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1345597
- Identifier
- uon:29680
- Identifier
- ISBN:9783866188655
- Language
- eng
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