Presentation by Evgeniya Lupova-Henry

1. CLUSTERS AS CHANGE
AGENTS IN
‘UNHOSPITABLE’
ENVIRONMENTS
Evgeniya Lupova-Henry
PhD candidate
Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland
LESSONS FROM RUSSIA AND AUSTRALIA
EVGENIYA LUPOVA-HENRY, UNINE 1

2. BACKGROUND
Clusters as “context-embedded meta-organisations”
…what does it mean?
 Clusters are deliberate actors within their environment
 Clusters are both shaped by and can shape their environment
EVGENIYA LUPOVA-HENRY, UNINE 2

3. RESEARCH QUESTION
HOW DO CLUSTERS INTERACT WITH THEIR ENVIRONMENTS TO
FOSTER INNOVATION?
EVGENIYA LUPOVA-HENRY, UNINE 3

4. RESEARCH DESIGN
Multiple case studies: 2 clusters in Australia, 2 – in Russia
In-depth interviews
 total duration ~ 20 hrs
 total participants: 18
Observations at strategic planning and peer-learning sessions
Internal and open documentation
EVGENIYA LUPOVA-HENRY, UNINE 4

5. FINDING 1: STRATEGY TYPES
5
‘PULLING IN’
- Attracting new members to reach their resources
- Attracting new members as change agents for
the institutional environment
- Seeking alignment with internal stakeholders
‘REACHING OUT’
- Tapping into global capital sources
- Tapping into global labor market
- Internationalization of local actors
STRATEGIC RESPONSES TO
UNFAVOURABLE ENVIRONMENS
EVGENIYA LUPOVA-HENRY, UNINE

6. CASE DESCRIPTION
EVGENIYA LUPOVA-HENRY, UNINE 6
REACHING OUT PULLING IN
AUS_1 RUS_1
RUS_2
AUS_2
Natural resources,
manufacturing,
food processing,
construction
Key priorities:
Finding new
business
opportunities
Internationalisatio
n
External sources
of venture capital
Natural
resources, oil &
gas,
automotive
Key priorities:
FDI attraction,
Establishing
innovation
collaborations
nation-wide
Pharma and
biotech
Key priorities:
FDI attraction
Biotech sub-
network
operates
nation-wide
Manufacturing,
sustainability,
food processing
Key priorities:
regional
stakeholder
alignment;
Identifying cluster
niches;
Building local
capabilities.

7. FINDING 2: ‘3D ALIGNMENT’
Multi-scalar nature of organization-environment interactions: national, regional
and sectoral levels
=>‘3D alignment’ with external innovation patterns to boost cluster
innovativeness
CLUSTER
STRATEGY & DESIGN
SECTOR
Organisational set-up (Distribution of the innovation activities,
knowledge base: small vs. large firms as major innovators, university
research)
Institutional set-up (e.g. sectoral regulations)
REGION
Organisational set-up (quality and quantity of actors, their
connectedness, embeddedness)
Institutional set-up (regional legislation and norms)
Resource endowment (e.g. ‘hard’ infrastructure, human capital)
NATION
Organisational set-up (major innovators, financial organisations,
research and education)
Institutional set-up (cluster and innovation policies, business
environment, culture)
Resource endowment (availability of talent, finance, research
organisations)
EVGENIYA LUPOVA-HENRY, UNINE 7

8. EVGENIYA LUPOVA-HENRY, UNINE 8
CASE EXAMPLE: PHARMA & BIOTECH CLUSTER,
RUSSIA
Cluster policies since 2007 to
support ‘innovation clusters’,
some KPIs:
- Number of member
companies
- Amount of innovative
production
Regional financial autonomy to
allocate funding to different
regional needs
Regional reputation as
‘investment-friendly’
Necessity to attract and retain
talent as new MNCs arrive
NATIONALREGIONAL
Obtaining federal government funding, legitimacy
through international certifications
Cluster growth through MNC attraction
Innovation performance as new-to-market
products
Developing infrastructure to attract MNCs
Establishing connections with a local university to
train qualified workforce for the cluster
Cluster funding laboratories at the university to
ensure appropriate training
CLUSTER STRATEGY

9. EVGENIYA LUPOVA-HENRY, UNINE 9
Innovation sources: large
corporate R&D for pharma,
fundamental research and
small firms for biotech
Codified knowledge -> global
knowledge transferability
Stringent regulations, vary
from country to country
CASE EXAMPLE: PHARMA & BIOTECH CLUSTER,
RUSSIA (contd.)
Cluster growth through MNC attraction – low-value-
added activities (production plants)
No cluster endorsement or funding for fundamental
research
No global connections with major pharma and
biotech innovation hubs
Leveraging a comparatively lower regulatory burden
(innovative drug development between local and
global players)
CLUSTER STRATEGY
SECTORAL

10. KEY TAKE-AWAYS
1. Balancing the ‘pulling in’ and ‘reaching out’ strategies to
overcome local barriers to innovation
2. A 3-dimensional alignment is needed to improve innovation
performance
National: alignment with national priorities and distribution of
innovation activities and resources
Regional: alignment among regional stakeholders and their goals
Sectoral: alignment with sectoral distribution of innovation activities,
knowledge bases and regulatory specifics
EVGENIYA LUPOVA-HENRY, UNINE 10

11. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!
QUESTIONS?
EVGENIYA LUPOVA-HENRY, UNINE 11
Elupova@gmail.
com