María-Isabel Encinar

Evolving Capabilities and Innovative Intentionality: Some Reflections on the Role of Intention Within Innovation Processes

Summary We may argue that individual and organisational dynamic capabilities evolve through the interaction of intentions and action goals. Capabilities are renewed and reshaped by the appearance of new action goals. A feedback process between capabilities and goals opens up new possibilities of action. This may happen when agents (organisations and individuals) act towards their goals, transforming capabilities and renewing the spaces where actions are conceived and deployed. Moreover, agents’ goals vary not only in the sense that they are different but also because they are characterised by different transforming intensities. The concept of innovative intentionality synthesizes this idea. Innovative intentionality is defined as the will to conceive or imagine realities which differ from the perceived realities, with the purpose of making them effective. This concept appears to be useful for addressing the divergence of innovative dynamics among organisations and societies.

Firms' connections and cluster opportunity: The case of biotechnology in the Community of Madrid

Much of the Spanish biotechnology industry activity operates in the Community of Madrid (CM). Regional and local authorities are very interested in constituting a biotechnology cluster in the Community. All the necessary elements can be found in the region: as shown, there exists the opportunity for the emergence of a biotechnology cluster in CM. However, at the present time no biotechnology cluster can be said to exist as such in the region; there is only a cluster opportunity. In order to demonstrate this proposition, we provide an overview of the biotechnology industry, focusing on the firms that operate in Madrid and their connections between themselves and the other actors in the system. Any cluster strategy that aims to develop a biotechnology cluster in Madrid should consider the form of these connections.