Clusters are individuals - VDI/VDE-IT

Against the backdrop of the other key findings the difference
can be explained by the specific nature of the different
types of clusters with regard to the source of funding of the
cluster management and the agenda setters, but also with
regard to the size:
• The more a cluster management organization depends
on private funding, the more it has to respond to the
interests of their financiers, which are mostly businesses
that have a pronounced expectation of a return of investment.
• The more cluster members are interested in making
business instead of R&D, the more they are interested in
receiving corresponding services from the cluster management.
Therefore, it is not very surprising that R&Ddriven
clusters, whose members are rather interested in
R&D than in sales and marketing, feature a cluster management
that provides fewer services for business support
because there is no or only limited demand for it.
• The size of a cluster matters in so far that the larger a
cluster is in terms of numbers of members the more the
demand for coordination activities arises from the cluster
members. The cluster management organization has to
respond to this through offering corresponding services.
2.4 KEY DETERMINANTS FOR THE IMPACT OF
A CLUSTER ON BUSINESS ACTIVITIES OF
CLUSTER MEMBERS
The results of the benchmarking suggest that several key determinants
matter in terms of a cluster’s impact on the business
activities of its members; this applies in particular to the
impact on business activities of SME. Structural factors such
as size, age, governance and the share of private funding in
the total budget of the cluster management organization as
well as the type of agenda setter (industry or research stakeholders)
have an effect on the spectrum and intensity of services
provided by the cluster management organization and
thus on the development of business activities of SME.
Figure 19 displays the causal relationship of structural factors
and agenda setters, services and impacts: The impact of
a cluster in terms of SME business activities depends on the
spectrum and intensity of services provided by the cluster
management organization which in turn depends on specific
characteristics of the structural factors and agenda setters
as displayed in the figure, which might be influenced by the
specific characteristics of the technology area the cluster is
operating in.
Structural factors
Size
Age
Governance
Share of private funding in the total
budget of the cluster management
organization
Agenda setters
Industry- or research-driven
Spectrum and intensity of
services provided by the
cluster management
organization
Impact on
business activities
of SME
Technology area of the cluster
Figure 19: Key determinants for impact on business activities of cluster members
Although these determinants are general findings whose
relevance may depend on the individual context of a cluster,
particularly on the technology field the cluster is operating
in, they provide guidance for the development of cluster programs.
From a general perspective the conclusion of the cluster
management organization benchmarking in this regard
is: the more matured in terms of age and institution alization,
the larger in terms of size of membership, the more industrydriven
a cluster is and the more active its cluster management
organization is in terms of spectrum and intensity of service
offer, the higher its impact on economic development is. This
is a key message for policy makers and program owners.
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