The aim of this article is to systemize the most important concepts defining determinants of functioning of cluster structures. The achievement of such formulated goal required carrying out a thorough review of both Polish and foreign literature on the issue of bunches. Due to the volume restrictions of this article, there were presented only the selected, according to the author most interesting, concepts associated with the issues of success factors of bunches. The author’s attention was focussed on the analysis of the factors determining the success of any cluster at the stage of its creation (the determinants of the emergence and creation of bunches) and of its development (determinants of functioning). It is in the article that the theoretical problems related to the issues of bunches of enterprises were discussed. In the first part of the article, there were presented endogenous and exogenous factors determining the formation of cluster structures. It is later in this article that the factors determining the development of bunches were described with particular emphasis on the sources of the competitive edge of the location. It is at the end of the article, further to the deliberations carried out, that conclusions and recommendations for the best ways of supporting cluster structures were presented