The governance of Singapore’s knowledge clusters: off shore marine business and waterhub

Based on two case studies of knowledge clusters (off shore marine/rig business and water hub) in Singapore, the paper illustrates the importance of good knowledge governance in creating robust and value-creating knowledge clusters. We begin by defining key terms used such as knowledge clusters, hubs and governance, followed by a short historical account of good knowledge governance for Singapore’s development. The two cases studies of knowledge clusters presented here include (i) the offshore oil rig business (Keppel) which we posit as an example of innovative value creation based on sophisticated fabrication methods and R&D as well as (ii) the island republic’s dynamic and rapidly emerging, global hydrohub called ‘WaterHub’. We examine the structural characteristics of both clusters, assess their progress based on the cluster lifecycle literature, highlight key governance enablers required to create and sustain such competitive hubs and draw conclusions for K4D latecomers

Informal networking: An overview of the literature and an agenda for future research

Informal inter-organizational networks provide manifold opportunities to organize the transfer of information, knowledge and technology between actors. Given their potential and their importance, the lack of theoretical discussion and empirical research on informal networks and their dynamics is surprising. The objective of this paper is twofold. It attempts to review the fragmented academic discussion of the notion of informal networking, thereby focusing on how these relationships emerge initially and what conditions (presumably) are required to make them a mutually fruitful and sustainable channel of the transfer of information and knowledge. On that groundwork, the most important empirical studies which try to confirm and disentangle the aforementioned basic mechanisms of informal exchange relationships are reviewed. Finally, we outline an agenda of future research directions that we encourage researchers to pursue in future empirical studies. Five important research gaps can be identified. -- Informelle Netzwerkstrukturen bieten vielfältige Möglichkeiten, den Transfer von Informationen, Wissen und Technologie zwischen Akteuren zu organisieren. In Anbetracht des Potentials sowie der Bedeutung informeller Netzwerke ist der bestehende Mangel an theoretischen Diskussionen wie auch empirischer Forschung überraschend. Hier setzt der Beitrag an, indem eine Bündelung der bislang lediglich in Fragmenten vorliegenden Auseinandersetzung mit dem Konzept informeller Netzwerke vorgenommen wird. Der Fokus wird dabei auf Fragen der Entstehung solcher Netzwerkstrukturen sowie auf diejenigen Faktoren gelegt, die notwendig sind, informelle Netzwerke als effektiven und beständigen Kanal des Wissens- und Technologietransfers nutzbar zu machen. In einem zweiten Teil des Beitrags wird ein Überblick über die wichtigsten, zum gegenwärtigen Zeitpunkt existierenden, Studien gegeben, die sich empirisch mit dem Konzept informeller Netzwerkstrukturen auseinandersetzen. Basierend auf dieser Aufarbeitung werden anschließend fünf wichtige Forschungsfragen formuliert, die im Fokus zukünftiger Forschungsbestrebungen stehen sollten.Informelle Netzwerke,Information trading,Wissenstransfer,Literaturüberblick

Conceptualizing clusters through the lens of networks: a critical synthesis

Clusters, as spatial concentrations of economic activity, constitute an important form of coordination with significant repercussions in the configuration of firm and territorial strategies. They are recognized, both by academics and policymakers, as a territorial pattern of economy yielding critical issues in terms of competitive advantage, innovation, and economic growth. Despite that, a rigorous and clear-cut definition of cluster is still far from being reached. In the present paper, resorting to a critical synthesis of the literature on networks and clusters, we propose a unified, encompassing, and less blurred definition of cluster.Clusters, Networks, Concepts

Regional resilience in recessionary times: a case study of the East Midlands

Purpose: Since the 1990's the fashion industry has reflected the issues generally arising in the manufacturing sector, namely rapid and deep structural changes, the development of new supply chain relationships, ICT impacts and increasing globalisation with the attendant issues of ethical sourcing, off-shoring, new emerging markets and recessionary ripples. This paper focuses on one particular aspect of the fashion industry, namely the apparel sector and in particular 'fast fashion' to explore the issues arising for the SMEs in the supply chain. Approach: The research adopts a qualitative methodology and is longitudinal in nature, spanning 5 years from August 2006. The first stage of the research is reported here, where a series of focussed interview scenarios were conducted over an eighteenth month period. The sample of 12 SMEs was a convenience one, drawn from the 30 participants who took part in a business to business event in Leicester, a geographical location which acts as a microcosm of the apparel industry. Interviews were used to elicit narrative data about was what was actually happening in these apparel supply chains. Findings: The apparel supply chain has changed significantly due to recessionary ripples and structural changes. The SMEs have had more success in managing the upstream rather than the downstream relationships and relationships between buyer and suppliers continue to be fractious. Innovation has occurred but is hampered by the relationships that persist. Culture has proved to be a key dimension

The Entrepreneur's Choice of Location: Evidence from the Life Sciences

Why do biotech firms cluster? New and established firms in biotech clusters are said to capitalize on knowledge spillovers, labor-market pooling, and other externalities. Some have even argued that such spillovers are so strong that the cluster itself, rather than the individual, is the locus of entrepreneurship. Such arguments, however, do not resolve the mechanism by which clusters might contribute to the establishment of new firms. This paper proposes a conceptual framework for analyzing the locational choices of entrepreneurial firms in the life-sciences industry. Building on both the cluster literature and the literature on entrepreneurship, we develop hypotheses about how cluster characteristics, the entrepreneurs personal characteristics, and characteristics of the business environment affect the entrepreneurs decision to establish a new firm. We argue that a key factor in the location decision is the relative mobility of the appropriate resources. Our main hypothesis is that specialized labor is less mobile than capital and other resources and that it is the base from which entrepreneurs are ultimately created. If so, new firms will emerge in areas characterized by an existing concentration of specialized labor. This labor pool may be spawned by universities and incumbent small and larger biotech (or other high-technology) companies. An alternative explanation is that entrepreneurs establish new ventures outside the cluster, then move them to the cluster to take advantage of local knowledge and other resources. Or a potential entrepreneur could conceive a business plan, then relocate to an existing cluster before founding a firm. We explain how survey data can be used to sort through these explanations.entrepreneurship, biotechnology, clusters, knowledge spillovers, agglomeration economies, Industrial Organization, L26, L65, O18, O32,

The Role of Clusters in Knowledge Creation and Diffusion – an Institutional Perspective

Clusters and networks have received renewed attention in recent years not only as a tool for regional development in general but as an institution of knowledge creation and diffusion between the knowledge infrastructure of a region and the firms within the clusters. They are therefore often regarded as geographically condensed forms of economic cooperation and knowledge exchange. The recent renaissance of interest in institutions as a factor shaping economic performance has therefore also implications for the creation and sustained existence of clusters and networks as a tool for knowledge management and as learning organisations within and across regions. This institutional perspective serves to identify additional factors influencing economic behaviour leading to cooperation. Different strands of institutional thinking –institutions as “social technologies” in the tradition of evolutionary economics, clusters as a form of Coase institution integrating positive external effects of technological knowledge, the importance of knowledge sharing in the context of the “New Institutional Economics” – emphasize that connectivity cannot be effectively coordinated by conventional markets. Clusters and networks are among the non-market devices by which firms seek to coordinate their activities with other firms and other knowledge-generating institutions. But it is also important to emphasize that clusters as coordinating institutions are not automatically just there but that they are the result of an evolving process shaped by policy activities and entrepreneurial behaviour responding to new challenges. Clusters as social technologies are co-evolving with new physical technologies and are therefore in constant need to change themselves. They can be regarded as an answer to the problems of achieving agreement and coordination in a context where there is a collective interest. They combine different additional elements that are important for regional development and economic growth.

Business for Sustainable Society Project

This three-year project's main objective was: "How can business/industry realise a sustainable society?" The two goals for achieving the main objective were: (1) to identify promising business models for realising a sustainable society and develop relevant methods to quantify their potential while proposing measures to promote such businesses, and (2) to clarify the conditions of business/industry activities and a direction of local development that are suitable for sustainable local society. "Research on Environmentally-Sound Business Models (BM Research)" and the "Research on Environmentally-Sound Local Industry System (LIS Research)" were implemented with these two goals in mind. They were reinforced with associated research to accomplish the goals based on the results of a progress review that was made on completion of the first half of the Third Phase

Knowledge Flows through Informal Contacts in Industrial Clusters Myths or Realities?

The role of informal networks in the development of regional clusters has received a lot of attention in the literature recently. Informal contact between employees in different firms is argued to be one of the main carriers of knowledge between firms in a cluster. This paper empirically examines the role of informal contacts in a specific cluster. In a recent questionnaire, we ask a sample of engineers in a regional cluster of wireless communication firms in Northern Denmark, a series of questions on informal networks. We analyze whether the engineers actually acquire valuable knowledge through these networks. We find that the engineers do share even valuable knowledge with informal contacts. This shows that informal contacts are important channels of knowledge diffusion.Informal contacts, regional clusters, communication technology