The influence of food industry clusterization on the lithuanian competitive ability

Under an intensive competition, trading enterprises unite into clusters in order to remain in market to get profit. Clusters are geographic concentrations of interconnected companies, specialized suppliers, service providers, firms in related industries, and associated institutions in a particular field that compete but also cooperate. The aim of the work is to ascertain the influence of clusters of food industry on competitiveness in the country. The object of the work is food industry enterprises. The methods of research are the analysis of science literature, comparative analysis, reconnaissance research, the analysis of statistic data and documents, interview, the analysis of the company documents. The research was carried out in September 2004 and it lasted till the May of 2006. The work consists of three parts. The first part defines the concept of competitiveness and explores the factors which cause competition. Clusters as a strong stimulus to country competition is analyzed in the second part. The third part carries out a research how food industrial enterprise clusters influences the country competitiveness. At the end of work the significant conclusion is made. Clusters have an effect on competitiveness in these ways: increase the productivity of companies forming a cluster, encourage innovations and hasten their rate of origin, encourage the origin of new trades. And in this expands the limits and influence of a cluster. Grain and its foodstuffs production cluster is a binding link, which unites all food industry into a macro cluster. The cluster of grain and food industry sector of food industry influences in the productivity of the enterprises belonging to it. AB “Kauno grūdai” belonging to a cluster causes the following advantages: competitive security in the market, competitive superiority over “non–clusterised” organizations, specialization in essential abilities, great growing opportunities. The work consists of 76 pages, including 7 tables and 20 pictures and there are 70 sources in the list of literature