Emerging interorganizational structures in the Australian wine industry: implications for SMEs

This paper discusses the globalization of the wine industry in terms of such issues as global production, distribution, technology transfer and branding. It also examines the increasing focus on localization and cluster development in light of the industry’s current rationalization. The paper argues that with such reconfiguration, ‘New’ and ‘Old World’ distinctions are blurring and may disappear. Furthermore, as the wine landscape evolves, regional cluster-based interorganizational domains are forming, along with the emergence of regional branding and the decline of a homogeneous Australian level industry. It is contended that these domains are essential in securing an ongoing role for SMEs.