Florian Welter

Integrative Production Technology for High-wage Countries

Manufacturing companies in high-wage countries are increasingly set under pressure in international competition due the lower production costs in low-wage countries. In order to counteract this development, many manufacturing companies respond to this issue by relocating their production facilities. Due to industrial production’s high dependence on other sectors such as the services sector, this trend threatens Europe’s medium and long term prosperity since outsourcing generally leads to subsequent relocation of services as well as of research and development activities (Lau 2005). With over 40% of German employees assigned to the manufacturing sector, production plays a key role in the national economy of Germany. Consequently, relocation of production poses huge risks for the country’s future economic development (Statistisches Bundesamt 2010).

Integrative Produktionstechnik für Hochlohnländer

Produzierende Unternehmen in Hochlohnlandern werden im internationalen Verdrangungswettbewerb immer starker durch die augenscheinlich im relativen Vergleich niedrigeren Produktionskosten in Niedriglohnlandern unter Druck gesetzt. Um dem entgegenzuwirken, reagiert eine grose Anzahl produzierender Unternehmen mit einer Verlagerung der Produktionsstatten. Auf Grund der starken Abhangigkeit weiterer Wirtschaftsbereiche (wie beispielsweise der Dienstleistungsbranche) von der industriellen Produktion, gefahrdet dieser Trend mittel- und langfristig den Wohlstand in Europa. (Lau 2005) Produktionsverlagerungen fuhren in der Regel auch zu nachfolgenden Verlagerungen von Dienstleistungs-, aber auch von Forschungs- und Entwicklungstatigkeiten. Da uber 40 % der sozialversicherungspflichtigen Erwerbstatigen in Deutschland dem produzierenden Gewerbe zugerechnet werden, nimmt die Produktion eine Schlusselrolle ein und ihre Abwanderung birgt immense Risiken fur die Entwicklung der Volkswirtschaft des Landes. (Statistisches Bundesamt 2010)

Network Management for Clusters of Excellence - A Balanced-Scorecard Approach as a Performance Measurement Tool

Supplementary Cluster Activities constitute an important organisational part within the structure of the German Cluster of Excellence “Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass” at RWTH Aachen University, because they focus on the entire clusters efficient networking process and successful strategic cluster development. As research teams from different scientific fields collaborate, the strategic management of interdisciplinary processes becomes necessary to enhance scientific cooperation. Therefore, amongst other measures of cluster development, a Balanced-Scorecard-Approach is implemented to measure the performance of the entire Cluster of Excellence. With the annual implementation of the Balanced-Scorecard-Approach, crucial key performance indicators have been collected, compared and analysed for the strategic management of the Cluster of Excellence, to facilitate innovation activities through adequate measures.

Scientific Cooperation Engineering in the Cluster of Excellence Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries at RWTH Aachen University

Interdisciplinary scientific cooperation plays a decisive role for the generation of new knowledge. The augmenting dynamic and complexity of scientific forms of cooperation require new approaches for interlinking people and knowledge from different disciplines to enable people for succeeding in interdisciplinary cooperation. Concerning the case of the cluster of excellence Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries at RWTH Aachen University this challenge is addressed by cross sectional processes (CSP). CSP are supporting networking processes and strategic cluster development by means of learning and knowledge management. Through cross-sectional activities, a new method for knowledge and organizational development was identified – scientific cooperation engineering. It aspires to support the transfer of highly complex, dynamic and interdisciplinary research cooperation into sustainable and robust structures. The design of scientific cooperation engineering will be outlined in this position paper.

Enhancing Scientific Cooperation of an Interdisciplinary Cluster of Excellence via a Scientific Cooperation Portal

In the Cluster of Excellence (CoE) “Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage countries” at RWTH Aachen University, scientists from different institutions investigate interdisciplinary ways to solve the polylemma’s tradeoffs between scale and scope as well as between plan and value oriented production. Next to the CoE’s four scientific subfields – the Integrative Cluster Domains (ICDs) – there are three additional subprojects performing cross sectional research and providing means for physical and virtual cross-linkage, the Cross Sectional Processes (CSP). Scientific cooperation in such a large and diverse consortium – as a meta-structure to the structures present in the member institutes – poses many challenges. To tackle these, an online learning and collaboration platform is developed, called the “Scientific Cooperation Portal”, to optimize the cluster-wide cooperation process. Technically building on the Liferay framework, the portal provides basic features like a member list and an event calendar as well as functionalities to help cluster members to gain a deeper understanding of the CoE’s current state regarding the diversity in interdisciplinary terminology, patterns in publication relationships, knowledge management and developed technologies.

Organisation and Management of Integrative Research

There has been a tendency to march off from the rising segregation of basic research, applied research and corporate research and development (R&D) towards a more dynamic and interactive process of generating interdisciplinary knowledge during recent decades. In this context a number of clusters of excellence were set up in 2006 under the German Excellence Initiative, including the RWTH Aachen cluster “Integrative Production Technology for High Wage Countries”. The cluster brings together academics from a wide variety of disciplines, principally those of production engineering and materials science, in a common research network with the aim of researching integrative production theories. The organisational cluster structure thus represents with the Cross Sectional Processes an approach to the integrative networking of the cluster participants. The aim of Cross Sectional Processes is the academic interlinking of the integrative cluster domains and their research processes. For this reason, suitable individual measures for networking all cluster participants are being developed and implemented and unified solutions are being worked on for the management of an integrative cluster of excellence.

Making Scientific Performance Measurable - Experiences From a German Cluster of Excellence

New organizational forms of highly complex and interdisciplinary cooperation like clusters of excellence constitute a new challenge in terms of cluster management and controlling. With regard to the requirements for adequate means of operationalization and evaluation, conventional performance measurement approaches and indicators are not sufficient, because they focus mostly on monetary aspects. Within the cluster of excellence “Tailor-Made Fuels from Biomass” a performance measurement approach is implemented, focusing on quantitative as well as qualitative performance indicators. The approach bases on a Balanced Scorecard that is specified to the needs of interdisciplinary research cooperation. A mean of making various performance indicators measurable thus depicts a yearly survey among all hierarchical levels of cluster members to reflect the progress of the scientific output. The results are used as a basis of decision-making for the cluster management board. With regard to this, an operationalization and evaluation of performance indicators supports a continuous improvement process within the entire interdisciplinary cooperation. A further development of the measurement approach considers an integration of concepts like benchmarking and intellectual capital reporting to allow a more holistic form of scientific performance measurement.

Fostering Innovative Capability in Germany – The Role of Interdisciplinary Research Networks

The promotion of innovative capability is a decisive factor in the strategic orientation of global economies. The role of interdisciplinary, scientific networks in this context is of growing importance. The successful organization of these networks demands an approach to knowledge management that meets the conditions of their dynamic and complex environment. Accordingly, the Cross Sectional Processes project, which is part of the Cluster of Excellence “Integrative Production Technology for High-Wage Countries” at the RWTH Aachen University, is presented here as a case study of the research that is currently being carried out in this area. The relatively new task of managing interdisciplinary research networks makes a contribution that helps Germany along the path to the Enabling Innovation rating. On the basis of the Cross Sectional Processes case study, this article aims to describe a method of increasing innovative capability, which is rooted in interdisciplinary research networks.

CLUSTER TERMINOLOGIES FOR PROMOTING INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENTIFIC COOPERATION IN CLUSTERS OF EXCELLENCE

Scientific collaboration is getting more and more complex and interdisciplinary, which is even demanded by many research funding sources (Bryson, Studies for Innovation in a Modern Working Environment. International Monitoring, 2009). Good examples are the clusters of excellence supported by the German Research Foundation, consisting of many local institutions investigating a common research question from multidisciplinary perspectives. In such networks it is important to have structures that support the cooperation of researchers and the information exchange among them to reveal potential synergies and help exploiting those (Sydow, Management von Netzwerkorganisationen. Beitrage aus der „Managementforschung“, 2010). There are already a variety of tools available to assist collaboration in large businesses. However, there exists a lack of software, which is tailored to the specific needs of scientific cooperation structures. This demand is met by our Scientific Cooperation Platform (SCP). As part of the SCP the Cluster Terminologies application tackles the understanding between different scientific fields, i.e. differing terminologies. Our first goal is to capture the current state of terminologies in the cluster by gathering and visualizing information about which terms are used with what definition by whom in the cluster. This will raise awareness of where cooperation like interdisciplinary publications can lead to misunderstandings or the necessity to clarify a common terminology beforehand. The second step is to foster discussions about the terminology among the cluster members both in an informal manner as well as in specific workshops. Definitions for some terms will become clearer in this process, which can even lead to an ‘official’ cluster-wide definition. For other terms maybe at least an agreement among members from the same field can be achieved. However, for terms, which simply have significantly different meanings in different research fields, the main benefit in the SCP lies in the advanced understanding of the differing terminologies.

Scientific Performance Indicators – Empirical Results from Collaborative Research Centers and Clusters of Excellence in Germany

Collaborative research centers and clusters of excellence constitute public funded programs aspiring to advance research in interdisciplinary forms of collaboration throughout Germany. Due to emerging funding volumes and increasing expectations in results, concepts for performance measurement and management gain in importance. Results of an empirical study among all actively funded collaborative research centers and clusters of excellence make obvious that key performance indicators – such as the quota of publications or the number of international visiting researchers – are central. Nevertheless, holistic methods and concepts of performance measurement seem still not to be widespread among respective speakers and chief executive officers.