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As presented in [link] and [link] (theme mapping and tools&approaches) the primary thrust of the interviews was exploration of governance in establishing and developing regional knowledge based clusters. Prior to commencement of the study Dr. Malcolm Gillis, the former President of Rice University, Houston, Texas and Chair of the Texas/United Kingdom Collaborative was interviewed at length. The purpose of this interview was to gain an in-depth understanding of both the history and reasons for establishing the collaborative and the aspirations held by the stakeholders for the collaborative in particular the interview focused on the key question” what would success look like?” in the opinion of the chairman of a major international knowledge based collaborative.
Following the desk-based and questionnaire study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals who played a leading role in the Collaborative. Six key participants were interviewed in Texas and 6 from Wales. The purpose of these interviews was twofold; firstly to validate conclusions derived from the harvested data and clarify issues of ambiguity and detail; and secondly to tease out opinions related to issues of governance. Many of these governance issues are sensitive in nature and can be political with both a big P and small p. These governance issues are arguably even more important in a small community of Wales where politicians and opinion formers are very accessible. This offers both strengths and weaknesses and the questionnaires had identified strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the context of issues related to governance.
The approach taken to structure these interviews involved consideration of three stakeholder groups within each region: “Political” Observer, Academic Facilitator, and Coalface Researcher. The nature of these roles and rationale for this breakdown is shown in [link] .
| Stakeholder | Nature | Rationale |
|---|---|---|
| Political Observer | Stakeholder involved in the knowledge life of the region, providing strategic influence across regional actors, though with no institutional ties. | To explore the governance issues affecting strategic development of the regional cluster. |
| Academic Facilitator | Senior institutional stakeholder capable of influencing strategic direction of the research agenda, though with no/limited individual academic activity | To explore issues of aligning institutional imperatives and operational delivery with regional objectives. |
| Coalface Researcher | The individual academic involved within the activities delivering discreet projects, though may have some institutional influence and responsibility for research group(s). | Explore the boundaries of institutional facilitation and hindrance. |
As described in star [link] particular aspects of the thesis were the focus of individual studies in the context of the five components. The following figure explains how and where sub-hypothesis was tested.
| Components | Sub - Hypothesis | Primary Research Approach | Questions TX/UK&Control Group | KTN Questionnaire |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Science | Science is Multidisciplinary | Questionnaire/RAE | Graph C | NONE |
| Science | There has to be World Class Science | Questionnaires | Graph A | Q4, Q10j, Q14a, Q17b |
| Science | Facilities are both relevant to Science&Industry | Questionnaires | Graph G | Q7a, Q7b, Q7d, Q7e, Q7f,Q7i, Q7n, Q7o |
| Science | Relevance | Questionnaires | Graph D | Q7h, Q9a, Q9e, Q10a |
| People | Openness to academic and commercial domains (Openness) | Questionnaires | Graph D, E, I, P | Q7i, Q10d, Q10i, Q12-All |
| People | Need to be themselves collaborative (Collaborative) | Questionnaires | Graph D, E, I, P | Q 9b |
| People | Do they work in networks (Local, National, International) (Global) | Questionnaires | Graph H, L | Q7j, Q10j, Q17a |
| People | Need to engage&Value Multidisciplinary work. (Multidisciplinary) | Questionnaires | Graph C, I, P | Q 9c, Q9d |
| People | Supply of Talent | Questionnaires | Graph A, Q | Q7c, Q7g, Q10e |
| Culture | Research Environment supports and values Multi-disciplinarily | Questionnaires | Graph C, I , N | Q9h, Q11-All, Q13-All |
| Culture | Colleagues recognize mutual beneficial collaboration (Institution&Away) | Questionnaires | Graph F, H, N, O | Q9d, Q9e, Q10d |
| Culture | Within the Institution the opportunity in the Wider World is Recognized | Questionnaires | Graph G, J, N | Q7j, Q9f, Q9j, Q17a |
| Economics | Science is in Growth Sector | KTNQ/Interview | Graph B | Q5, Q7m, Q10a, Q20 |
| Economics | Chrysalis of Regional Sectoral Activity (Deal Flow) | KTNQ/Interview | None | Q1,Q2,Q3,Q6 |
| Economics | Strategic Governmental Support | KTNQ/Interview | None | Q7k, Q10k |
| Economics | Access to Markets | KTNQ/Interview | None | Q3,Q4, Q7l, Q10f |
| Governance | Regional coherence (Access to Player) | Interviews/Questionnaires | Graph L | Q10f, Q14g, Q15 |
| Governance | Institutional Responsiveness and ability to evolve | Interviews/Questionnaires | Graph J | Q10a, Q10c, Q10g, Q10h, |
| Governance | Embedded in Institutional Strategic Plan | Interviews/Questionnaires | Graph E | Q14b-f, Q15, Q9k |
The five components were broken down into sub-hypothesis then the primary research approach was identified i.e., Knowledge Transfer Questionnaire (KTNQ), the Texas/United Kingdom Questionnaire, Control Questionnaire, or interviews then tagged to the relevant data collected.
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