Research note: clusters vs. networks – a literature-based approach towards an integrated concept

The cluster concept has steadily increased its importance during the past years – both from practitioners' and researchers' point of view. Simultaneously, many corporate networks are established. Researchers from different areas (business management, economics social and geographical science) are trying to explain both phenomena. As a result of different disciplines' varying research objects, many definitions of clusters exist. Furthermore, the terms cluster and network are often not clearly distinguished. Some authors even merge the terms. Based on a profound literature review, this paper structures the manifold definitions, differentiating between clusters and networks and gives first practical insights on how to integrate the two concepts.