Mads Bruun Ingstrup

Cluster Facilitation from a Cluster Life Cycle Perspective

Clusters influence the way firms cooperate, organize and compete, but clusters and their related benefits rarely come spontaneously in a straight line of expansion. It is argued that clusters typically develop in accordance with a life cycle, which includes an evolutionary sequence of steps where actors from the private and public sectors are engaged and where one or more cluster facilitators are coordinating and promoting the process. In the literature, the role of cluster facilitators has almost exclusively been described as static, leaving a research gap about how this particular role changes during the life cycle of clusters. Inspired by that research gap, this paper contributes to the understanding of the relationship between cluster development and cluster facilitation. It brings forward a framework for describing and discussing the exact changes taking place in the role of cluster facilitators, including the facilitation focus, competencies and tasks that they make use of along the cluster life cycle. This investigation is based on a multiple case study consisting of nine different clusters located in Denmark.

The role of cluster facilitators

Clusters are everywhere. Companies join clusters in order to profit from a number of benefits. However, these benefits do not come spontaneously. It takes time to build the platform and trust necessary to foster these advantages, and in this process, the cluster facilitator plays an important role. This paper shows that the role of cluster facilitators is highly neglected in cluster and management literature and that there is no existing framework for describing and analysing this particular role. At worst, this can lead to incorrect, simple generalisations regarding cluster facilitators and the context in which they act. Based on a literature review and a case study, the purpose of this paper is to provide a framework for identifying and categorising the specific role of cluster facilitators.

Cluster evolution and the change of knowledge bases: the development of a design cluster

ABSTRACT Most studies portray cluster knowledge bases as a given resource, tied to specific industries and locations. However, this paper challenges that view and uncovers their dynamic nature by identifying endogenous and exogenous triggering events that influence and change the cluster knowledge base mix over time. This is done by building on the theoretical concepts of pre-existing conditions, triggering events and knowledge bases and by drawing on a case study of the design cluster located in the Triangle Area of Denmark. The paper concludes that the design cluster has changed its mix of knowledge bases several times during its evolution. Starting out as a firm-driven cluster with a dominant synthetic knowledge base, it then evolved into an artistic and creative cluster with a prevailing symbolic knowledge base. In the last few years, the cluster has increasingly adopted an analytical knowledge base at the expense of other knowledge bases. These developments have caused numerous changes in both knowledge building and the sources of knowledge in and around the cluster. These findings have implications for the framing of cluster knowledge bases, considering how they emerge, change and combine, as well as how that affects clusters’ composition of actors, activities and resources.

Transformation of cluster specialization in the wake of globalization

Abstract In the light of increasing globalization and the rising spatial distribution of production activities, different scenarios for geographical agglomerations, such as clusters, are discussed. Nonetheless, the literature provides only scant knowledge about how cluster specialization transforms due to the globalization of production activities. The paper addresses this research gap based on a comparative case study of two Danish clusters, and by applying the literature on the global division of labour, global value chains and clusters. The main conclusion is that the specialization of clusters either changes or deepens in response to the globalization of production activities. However, which of these two outcomes it will be depends on the prioritization and localization of specific production activities in relation to the current cluster specialization, and on the governance executed by cluster lead firms.

When Firms Take the Lead in Facilitating Clusters

Abstract This paper focuses on the role of lead firms and their efforts to facilitate the development of clusters. Several clusters are known for the location of the lead firms that create and shape them, for example, by increasing their skill base, attracting suppliers and creating entrepreneurial activity. However, the literature suffers from insufficient dialogue on the role of lead firms as facilitators of clusters and on how the developmental differences in clusters affect the facilitation performed, and thus the benefits delivered, by lead firms. A key question then is how does the facilitation by lead firms differ in a top-down cluster from that in a bottom-up cluster? The paper is based on a comparative case study investigating the facilitating role of a lead firm within two clusters: Medicon Valley (top-down) and Mechatronics Cluster Denmark (bottom-up). The main conclusion reached is that lead firms in top-down clusters and in bottom-up clusters contribute with quite similar and overlapping cluster benefits, but the way in which these benefits are delivered differs greatly.

Understanding the Process of Empirical Business Studies: The Influence of Methodological Approaches

This chapter provides an understanding of the consequences for empirical research projects, resulting from the methodological approach taken by researchers, and therefore serves as inspiration for researchers when planning, executing and reporting on such projects. In order to achieve that end, the chapter first sets out to offer an overview of different methodological approaches and how they impact researchers’ interaction with the business world throughout the various phases of the research process. Second, some of the challenges and research roles arising from empirical research projects are discussed, taking into account how they influence researchers when interacting with the business world and working within different methodological approaches.

Coopetition Segments in a Public-Sector Context: Insights from a Business Region

ABSTRACT The concept of coopetition is well-known in a private-sector context, but it is greatly neglected in a public-sector context. In continuation of this, the article sets out to explore and further position coopetition in the public sector. This is achieved through a study of coopetition among seven municipalities located in a Danish business region named the Triangle Region. The article concludes by identifying and describing four public-sector coopetition segments, and by providing a segmentation model to categorize and discuss different coopetition initiatives. Furthermore, the model can help public servants and politicians to prioritize coopetition initiatives and visualize their complexity.

Family firms and homeland production: reasoning from agency theory and socio-emotional wealth theory

Agency theory and socio-emotional wealth theory are central when explaining family firm advantages. However, research has not uncovered the extent to which reasoning from these two theories can also explain family firm advantages linked to the homeland production mode. This paper addresses this issue, building on the above-mentioned theories through an illustrative single case study of the family firm Weibel Scientific. The case study stresses that characteristics of family firms can be exploited in the homeland production mode and lead to reduced agency costs and social capital benefits. Furthermore, the case study highlights that there are important aspects to consider regarding the way in which these characteristics affect agency costs and social capital, and how these effects are influenced by the production locational mode. From this, it is concluded that arguments from agency theory and socio-emotional wealth theory can explain family firm advantages associated with the homeland production mode.