ABSTRACT

Temporary uses of economic spaces in the construction of firm’s value added chain. The case of Grifone S. A.

Ana Vera and Montserrat Pallares-Barbera

Over the past half-century, the development of Internet and information technologies in production has driven a revolution in economic spaces. Since information technologies are broadly available, implicated partners with almost full knowledge of the trading goods can perform economic transactions in places scattered around the world. Meetings are quicker, and with low entry costs of renting a temporary use of material spaces, firms can increase face-to-face transactions, and move quickly to the next far away meeting point. In this strategy, firm diminishes cost and increases profits. The objective of this paper is to discuss how local leading and innovative firms use temporary economic spaces to achieve their competitive advantage over its competitors and by offering greater quality product to its clients.

The structural question of this paper is how firms use temporal spaces to organize their value added chain: invention, production and distribution. Firms use physical spaces to interact with other firms, suppliers and clients, for a short period of time; also they use temporary physical spaces to test the quality of their products; and make use of exhibition places to show and sell their products. Firm’s best result is a complex strategy where different locations and diverse times are chosen to interact between agents. In this paper we analyze the patterns of interaction in the use of temporary spaces of a highly innovative mountain gear firm, Grifone S.A., where since 1993, its R&D and distribution departments are located in a remote mountain area of the Pyrenees (Spain). Production centers are located in Portugal, Hungary, Morocco, China and Vietnam. Grifone S.A. sells by Internet and ground face-to-face 157 international selling points. This firm bases its communication and interaction with other firms: suppliers and clients, through national and international fairs, and sponsoring local and international sporting events.

Key words: transient spaces, innovative firms, temporary physical spaces.