Dynamic Capacities in Promotion of Economic Development of City-regions

Traditionally policy-making in urban economic development (UED) is based on a fairly well established belief in the capabilities of policy-makers to find the correct strategies for the future by rational planning. I argue, based on series of studies focusing on UED-policies, that in a knowledge economy the nature of UED-policies are changing, the new forms of power are emerging and consequently the significance of leadership is rising. It also seems that UED-policies are often too administrative in nature and true leadership is easily lost in the jungle of old thinking, development plans, rules, etc. In Finland, in the era of building the welfare state, ?leadership? in public organisation required good administrative skills, knowledge of various statutes, and the ability to follow instructions correctly and efficiently, or could it rather be said that the System as a whole had leadership. The knowledge economy is so clearly more complex, more blurred, more dynamic and more penetrating that policy-makers are forced to learn new skills and become more skilled in leading transition and interactive processes, not only in administrating resources and formulating development programmes. I argue that there should be more emphasis on leadership both in research and in the communities of practice. In order to be able to influence events, leaders have to act in the riptide of different interests and aims, and find a totally new range of means that can be applied in different events. It should also be noted that leadership may be seen as the effect of actors on one another and it may be that the promotion of regional development has several leaders having different qualities in leading. In order to be a leader, individual or an organisation engaged in promotion of urban economic development need, in most simple terms, a) to go before or to show the way, b) to influence or to induce, c) to go head of or in advance of, d) to have the advantage over, e) to act as leader, f) to go through or pass and g) to act as guide (source: the Webster?s dictionary). But what is to lead in a complex, ambiguous and muddled process of urban economic development? How to go before or to induce or to act as guide if one does not have formal power to do it? How to go ahead of, if one has formal position but is not respected? This paper answers these questions, among others, by analysing leadership in two Finnish city-regions; Tampere and Jyväskylä. First, theoretical framework that places leadership in a wider conceptual context is scrutinised. Secondly, the development policies of Jyväskylä and Tampere focusing on knowledge economy are described, thirdly, the cases are analysed from the leadership point of view, and fourthly the modes of leadership are elaborated and the new forms of power deliberated.

Leadership and management in the development of regional innovation environments

It has been observed that the regional innovation environment (RIE) affects the innovation activities in firms. Studies focusing on innovation systems have increased our understanding of the interaction between the main actors that participate in the innovation activities and the systemic nature of these interdependent relationships. In addition to that the roles and functions of various organizations are now better identified and understood than earlier. The assumption here is that in the future the ability to manage the birth and development of regional innovation environments will become more important; the importance of leadership has always been central in the development of RIEs, but the point of departure here is that it will become even more important in the network society. The nature of power and influence is changing, affecting also the nature of leadership. Therefore the ability to understand the dynamic nature of different innovation environments, management and leadership may turn out to be crucial in the development of RIEs, as the structures and visible elements (structures, institutions etc.) do not always have significant differences between regions. Leadership and management in the creation and development of RIE differ in nature from conventional modes of leadership, because the means to influence are mainly indirect. In practice, influence builds on different forms of power, but first and foremost, on interaction and social skills. In order to be able to influence events, leaders have to act in the riptide of several different interests and aims, and find a totally new range of means that can be applied in different events. Processes can be lead for instance by creating new institutions, by creating and renewing interpretations that guide the practices of different people, by activating new actors in the networks and by improving the quality of interaction in the policy process. In order to be able to influence events, leaders have to act in the riptide of several different interests and aims, and find a totally new range of means that can be applied in different events. The objective of this paper is to identify conceptually the characteristics of leadership and management in the creation and development of innovation environment - in other words: how to manage the process between several organizations with different competencies in order to support innovation.

Economic policy from an evolutionary perspective: the case of Finland

In the last decade, the Finnish economy has shown an unprecedented recovery, after being hit by a deep crisis in the early 1990s. The paper views and interprets this successful transformation process based on ICT from an evolutionary perspective. Although the rapid pace of the restructuring of the Finnish economy suggests a break with the past, this remarkable recovery was firmly rooted in its economic history. In addition, Finnish public policy played its role in turning Finland into a knowledge economy. Although a master plan for the Finnish economy was lacking, many policies worked out quite well together over an extended period. Building on education, research and technology policy initiatives taken in the 1970s and 1980s, the deep economic crisis in the early 1990s paved the way for new policy directions, with a focus on network-facilitating innovation policies.evolutionary economics, economic geography, innovation policy, Finnish economy, Finnish policy, ICT cluster

In Search of Strategic Consciousness and Using Plans as Mirrors: The Case of Raisio Town

In Finland strategic planning has become a popular means to seek a more comprehensive view on development and futures, but if policy-makers are locked in the too instrumental view, their view on strategic planning remain rather narrow, and hence it easily turns out to be a technical exercise in which strategic planning document is the most important outcome. In this paper it is argued that one of the most important ways of managing strategically is to generate strategic consciousness in a never-ending strategy process. It is argued that strategic consciousness is a crucial precondition in a continuous process of strategy. This paper focuses on strategy process in which managers, planners and leading politicians generate shared view on the essence of the municipal organisation and communities. There may be many different ideas and arguments, but in this paper it is argued that strategic consciousness by the aid of mirroring leads to dialogue about conflicting ideas and single measures towards strategic in long run. The role and emergence of a shared strategic consciousness is highlighted using empirical evidence from the strategic management of the Town of Raisio, Finland

Leading urban and regional innovation

acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

Leadership in Promotion of Regional Development - An Empirical Analysis of Power and Influence Tactics in the Finnish Regional Development Activity

It is always easier to find out the elements of success and/or failure in retrospect than to find new development paths for the future and new modes of action in the middle of uncertain and open-ended situations. True leadership is becoming more and more important and hence there seems to be a need to direct attention also towards studying power and competences needed in promotion of economic development of regions. When aiming to bring human agency back to regional development studies, one way to do it is to ask how people engaged in promotion of regional development actually influence complex processes and networks, how they influence other actors and what kind of power they have. It might also provide us with additional analytical leverage if we understood better the consequences of the choices made and the actions taken by powerful individuals and core coalitions formed by them. The research questions discussed here are: a) what kind of sources of power are used by regional development officers; and b) how regional development officers aim to influence the course of events? The empirical research is based on data gathered a)through 41 interviews of Finnish actors responsible for the promotion of economic development in city governments, technology centres, regional development agencies, and ministries and other national bodies,and b) through internet survey of development officers at local, regional and national levels (531 respondents, response rate 51.8 % ). The survey was designed to solicit information about power, influence tactics and competences in the context of regional development. In addition various bottlenecks in the daily workwere probed. The empirical analysis shows, for example, how interpretive power and network power are more important for regional development officers than institutional and resource power, and how indirect influence tactics surpass the direct ones

Network Management and Information Systems in Promotion of Urban Economic Development: Some Reflections from CityWeb of Tampere

Partnership relations have become more important in promotion of urban economic development. Efforts have been made to create such networks by which to strive for new markets or political arenas and so to extend the resource base of the urban region. The objective in the creation of networks is the most efficient mobilisation possible of the knowhow and resources in the urban region and external to it. These observations inevitably prompt the following questions: How can the quality of cooperative processes be improved and how can networks and various development projects be managed? It seems evident that information and its conscious management play a crucial role in seeking answers to these questions. Simultaneously such questions emerge as to how network management can respond to the increasing amount of information and the demands for rapid learning. How can the vast flood of information and knowledge in the networks be managed, how can essential features be extracted, i.e. how can a sustainable basis for perception be created? One possible answer, among others, to these questions is information systems utilising modern information technology. This paper focus on the urban development networks and especially at how their efficiency can be promoted by network management and by modern information systems. The case described and tentatively analysed is the information system CityWeb of Tampere urban region, Finland