Value generation
- The greater “productivity” of
promiscuous collaborators is a stark example of a cluster providing a
“whole is greater than the sum of its parts” (Porter 2000).
Governance
Governance is responsible for facilitating the strategic direction of an organisation. It establishes and maintains corporate values and seeks to ensure that they are embedded in the culture. Governance allows the executive to deliver the agreed vision. This study has identified that there is a culture in Wales that tends to see governance as a necessary evil; an inconvenience and a distraction. This view seems to be endemic and is in need of urgent attention. In addition there seems to be a total disconnect between the governance of different organisations, particularly those in the public sector. HE governance structures seem to have little shared vision and there is limited strategic dialogue both within and across areas of the public sector. Divisions of WAG, the HE sector, the NHS and local authorities seem to compete rather than collaborate. Whilst this view might seem controversial, it is certainly the opinion often held by business in Wales. The advantage of being a small nation that should be ‘joined up’ seems to be being lost. However, as identified during the study, green shoots of optimism can be seen as the benefits of partnerships such as the Texas/UK Collaborative draw together collaboration amongst the HE, Health, and broader public sectors, together with industry.
Take for example the comparison between Wales and Ireland in terms of alumni and diaspora. The Irish have exploited their diaspora to great economic and social effect. Virtually every city and region of the US has an Irish society and this is used effectively to establish networks and partnerships. The Welsh on the other hand do not even have a developed data base of university alumni a resource that could be very valuable in the context of the knowledge economy. The individual universities refuse to share information with each other or with government regarding their alumni. This means that each separate organisation has an under resourced alumni infrastructure leaving a valuable asset neglected. Diaspora and alumni networks can be of great value to a knowledge economy cluster in terms of partnership development, recruitment and retention of key individuals and in building the reputation of the region globally. If the executive functions of the region fail to collaborate in the common good then it is only a strong and integrated governance process that can force change.
Another identified barrier to the development and implementation of a knowledge economy cluster strategy in the South West Wales region is the ability of key actors to be commercially flexible. IP policies in particular are key to the agenda, it is they that can facilitate or conversely be a barrier to open innovation.
Perspectives from the study underpinning this are described below.
Regional coherence
- Both the stakeholder interviews and Collaborative questionnaire highlight the importance of regional cohesiveness to establish strong and effective linkages across clusters. While strategies such as the Science Policy for Wales (2006) aim to achieve this, it is clear from stakeholder interviews that much remains to be done.
- The role of government in providing facilitation through good governance and provision of resource was acknowledged by all interview respondents. The role of commercial value creation should be left to the private sector. However, where other value can be delivered, e.g. within the Public/Education sectors, it could be considered that Academics and Civil Servants may also be considered as a variation of Schumpeter’s Entrepreneur.
- The institutional perspective of cohesiveness shows that those engaged in collaboration are more positive about alignments with external partners. This suggests a virtuous circle of collaboration spawning collaboration. Further data underpins this, demonstrating a greater scale of collaborative activity amongst those already engages in the TX/UK Collaborative.
Strategic imperatives
- Embedding a collaborative culture, developing collaborative human capital, and realizing World Class multidisciplinary research collaborations are seen by all interview respondents as strategic imperatives. Respondents at all levels were aligned in this observation.
- The recognition of mutual value generation is a key emerging theme from the responses of all stakeholders interviewed in the study. This includes consideration of academic, commercial, and economic development outputs. However some respondents draw attention to some institutions being more focused on collaboration rather than the outcomes of collaboration. This sits interestingly with the observation by Faster Cures (2010) in discussing the need for more outcome focused collaborative research activities.
Bibliography
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