Identification of SME Clusters based on the Quality in Business Management and Information Management. Excellence Profile, Strategic Alignment of the Clusters, and Balanced Scorecard

This work has been developed in the framework of a research programme that forms part of the initiatives of the ITIO group (Integration of Information Technologies in Organisations) of the Department of Business Organisation, Financial Economy and Accounting at the Polytechnic University of Valencia. In this paper, the identification of different SME clusters, with regard to the variables surrounding the quality of trade management and information management, is proposed. The research, carried out as a part of a doctoral thesis developed in the department (Gonzalez Sanchez, 2003), allowed the identification of the different approaches and strategic alignments for each of the business clusters obtained, as well as the different orientations towards one of the four perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC). The fieldwork has been carried out using a sample of 97 enterprises, 60 of which belong to the furniture sector, which, in turn, facilitated the detection of some differences with regard to management practices between that sector and the other sample enterprises.