trust, collective learning, and smooth exchange of knowledge. Clusters play a particularly important role in compensating for the resource constraints SMES face
or extra-cluster ties (ECTS), are important gateways of critical knowledge and information (Giuliani & Bell, 2005).
ECTS complement them by bringing in diverse, novel knowledge inputs. 4 From a resource based view (RBV) the network encompassing ICTS and ECTS of a firm can be seen as its resource pool, contributing to the firm s technical know-how, trade contacts,
and capital (Wernerfelt, 1984). In addition, network ties provide legitimacy, increasing a firm s odds of forming partnerships with highly valuable potential partners (Eisenhardt & Schoonhoven, 1996).
This is particularly true for ECTS because assimilating knowledge elements from non-local partners requires distinct capabilities to those required for assimilating knowledge from partners within a firm s own cluster.
and maintain ECTS, to take chances with these ties, and to proactively uncover new opportunities (Covin & Miles, 1999).
and examine their specific roles in generating innovative gains through ICTS and ECTS. Proactiveness represents a first mover orientation of the firm,
We propose that proactiveness exerts only an indirect effect on innovation through ICTS and ECTS,
Such ties (ECTS) not only bring new insights to a firm, but also enable it to think out of the box such that the firm is able to adopt new technologies faster than would be otherwise possible.
In spite of these risks, a firm that nurtures its ties through the necessary investments in relationship building and knowledge sharing might stand to benefit more from its linkages than a firm that makes little investments in its ECTS.
While both ICTS and ECTS carry risks, the risks associated with the latter are likely to be higher due to the relatively higher differences in business practices,
On the other hand, the pay offs to 6 risk taking may also be higher in respect to ECTS, given the potentially novel and non-redundant information that such ties bring about.
Intra-and Extra-Cluster Ties An extensive body of research has highlighted that interactions within a regional cluster provide an effective platform for learning and innovation (Feldman, 1993;
and cooperation, contributing to collective learning, synergies and smooth exchange of knowledge. It therefore creates an informal network of organizations as proximity increases visibility
We now distinguish among intra cluster ties (ICTS) and extra cluster ties (ECTS. We argue that ICTS
and ECTS can be the sources of distinct knowledge. Therefore, we see that ICT and ECT development should be treated as an investment that enhances innovation.
Research has demonstrated that firms that maintain ECTS are looked upon for advice and up to date knowledge by fellow firms who do not maintain such ties (Giuliani,
and most of their knowledge comes from learning from others (Tsui-Auch, 2003). The above arguments suggest that
Therefore, an SME s sustained innovative performance and long run competitive advantage hinges on its ability to complement the intense exchange of knowledge associated with its ICTS with ECTS that bring in information and knowledge that is locally not available (Bathelt, 2004;
Interplay of ICTS and ECTS with Entrepreneurial Orientation To be successful, a firm must possess a certain ability to continually build
In this paper therefore we attempt to integrate the theories related to geographical clusters that emphasize the importance of ICTS and ECTS (Giuliani & Bell, 2005) and the literature on EO that stresses the role of an organization s entrepreneurial culture for firm
and risk taking in relation to a firm s ICTS and ECTS. However, prior literature does emphasize how a firm s absorptive capacity (Larrañeta, Zahra,
and risk taking on a firm s network ties (ICTS and ECTS) in the specific context of an emerging-economy,
and ECTS We argue that proactiveness contributes to a firm s innovative performance indirectly through the firm s ICTS
and ECTS because firms with high levels of proactiveness find opportunities, anticipate future developments, and identify new trends and available niches faster than their competitors (Lumpkin & Dess, 1996).
The resulting ICTS and ECTS therefore represent an important resource for the firm (Eisenhardt & Schoonhoven, 1996),
we propose that proactive orientation enhances innovative performance through its effect on ICTS and ECTS:
How Does Risk Taking Moderate the Effect ICTS and ECTS on Innovative performance? Establishing network ties do not necessarily mean that a firm is fully tapping into the resources available to it through such ties.
This suggests that some level of risk taking is essential for effective use of firms ICTS and ECTS.
When ICTS and ECTS are supported by an adequate degree of risk taking though investment of time, money,
The interplay between risk taking on the one hand and ICTS and ECTS on the other can contribute to innovation, right from the discovery of an opportunity or the conception of an idea to its planning and implementation.
we suggest that the extent to which risk taking is essential can vary for ICTS and ECTS.
Greater trust and the threat of sanction can make risk taking less salient for ICTS compared to for ECTS.
A firm's risk-taking orientation positively moderates the positive impact of its network ties (both ICTS and ECTS) on innovative performance.
A firm's risk-taking orientation has a greater moderating effect on the impact of its ECTS,
ECTS, proactiveness and risk taking affects innovation. Figure 1 Innovative performance and the interplay between ICTS, ECTS,
Proactiveness and Risk-Taking METHODS Proactiveness Intra-cluster ties Extra-cluster ties Innovation Risk taking H1a H1b H1a H1b H2b H2a
so ICTS and ECTS constitute key resources for the firms (Biggs & Messerschmidt, 2005). Research Design and Data Collection We collected the data in 2012 based on an extensive survey in this cluster,
and ECTS by determining the number of partners with which the producers interact (Giuliani & Bell, 2005).
We constructed ICTS and ECTS variables as the number of a firm s diverse set of partners, such as suppliers, distributors,
while that of ECTS is much smaller at about 5. Correlation coefficients are all within acceptable limits, further confirming the absence of multicollinearity.
while ECTS may be mediating the effect of proactiveness on innovative performance, ICTS may not be playing such a role.
n s.).This confirms that ECTS fully mediates the effect of proactiveness on innovative performance, in support of our hypothesis 1b.
to test whether risk taking moderates the effect of ICTS and ECTS on innovative performance,
which stated that a firm s risk-taking orientation has a greater moderating effect on the impact of the firm s ECTS,
Figure 2 The Moderating Effect of Risk-Taking on the Relationship between ECTS and Innovative Performance 18 From figure 2 we can better understand the extent to which risk taking moderates the effect of ECTS on innovative performance.
It shows the predicted innovative performance across a range (from low to high) of ECTS for high-and low-risk taking firms.
The horizontal axis measures the number of ECTS, and the dotted and solid lines respectively represent firms with high and low risk taking.
Both lines have a positive slope indicating the positive effect of ECTS on innovative performance.
underscoring that risk taking substantially moderates the impact of ECTS on innovative performance. This suggests that firms that are greater risk takers benefit the most from increasing the number of their ECTS.
Robustness checks In addition to the tests described earlier, we conducted further tests to conclude that the assumption of BLUE (Best Linier Unbiased Estimator) of OLS is satisfied (Gujarati, 2003).
while the literature on innovation in regional clusters stresses the importance of ICTS and, more importantly, ECTS (Giuliani & Bell, 2005).
and proactiveness interact differently with a firm s ICTS and ECTS. On the one hand, proactiveness is likely to influence innovative performance indirectly through the creation of a firm s ICTS and ECTS.
Risk taking on the other hand positively moderates the impact of ICTS and ECTS. We empirically tested our conjectures on a sample of 120 SMES in a creative-industry manufacturing cluster in an emerging economy, Indonesia.
Our analysis, based on primary data collected through interviews and questionnaires, provided mixed support for our hypotheses.
We found that ECTS mediate the proactive orientation of firms. A proactive-oriented firm is particularly adept at seeking resources from outside its cluster
and therefore may engage actively in search of new ideas outside of their cluster, though ECTS.
We found that risk taking strengthens the relationship between ECTS and innovative performance. For SMES in particular, external knowledge is a key source of innovation (Jacob & Szirmai, 2007;
) In this context, firms that take calculated risk are able to invest resources in their ECTS such that they are able to draw potentially valuable external resources.
Fourth, it was beyond the scope of this study to account for the heterogeneity of a firm s network of ICTS and ECTS
learning versus collective learning processes. Regional Studies, 33 (4), 353-365. Chen, C.-J, . & Huang, J.-W. 2009).
a new perspective on learning and innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 35 (1), 128-152. Covin, J,
The micro-determinants of meso-level learning and innovation: evidence from a Chilean wine cluster. doi:
Network location and learning: the influence of network resources and firm capabilities on alliance formation.
Entrepreneurial Orientation and Organizational Learning: The Impact of Network Range and Network Closure. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 35,1025-1050.
A Comparative Study of Two Suppliers in Singapore Management Learning, 34 (2), 201-220. Uzzi, B. 1997.
45 Learning models...46 CHAPTER III: THE CONTRIBUTION OF RESEARCH ORGANISATIONS...55 Introduction...55 Policy issues...
72 Learning models...74 CHAPTER IV: ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND START-UPS...83 Introduction...83 Policy issues...83 Assessment of the region...
95 Learning models...98 CHAPTER V: SME DEVELOPMENT IN ANDALUSIA...106 Introduction...106 Policy issues...
113 Learning models...115 CONCLUSIONS...127 Human capital and labour market...128 Contribution of research organisations...
and the EU. The quality of universities needs to be enhanced The university system 10 public universities with a total of approximately 230 000 students depends on the Regional Ministry of Economy,
which offers young college graduates financial support for their graduate work at top international universities, on the condition that they return to the region to work for at least four years.
Attendance of vocational training is on the rise In Andalusia a total of nearly 95 000 students attend vocational training,
Vocational training has been very successful in the last decade in placing students in a job. That has resulted in an increased number of students during the 1990s
and 2000s just as the number of university students in Spain has been decreasing and the number of dropouts increasing.
There is a schism between economic development and workforce development Andalusia experiences a chronic schism between economic
The OTRIS also actively support university students, faculty and researchers who want to create their own companies,
It designates that the ownership of discoveries made by university professors during their period of contract with the university and
Professors have the right to share in the benefits that flow to the university from the use of the intellectual property rights derived from their inventions,
It could also be facilitated by more focused forms of cooperative education programs ensuring that the students being trained in the universities are familiar with the kinds of technical problems that local firms must overcome.
Both envisage attracting both talent (students, researchers, skilled workers, etc. and investment (national and foreign. Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurial culture is improving in the region There is a low but growing level of entrepreneurial culture in the region.
whether their=clustering‘has fostered a more collaborative culture of learning and knowledge exchange. While in technology parks there is a relatively high level of collaboration with universities
ii) the work of ICT literacy of SMES; iii) the survey of the innovative needs of local small firms.
Establish cooperative education programmes engaging university students in alternating work terms with study terms throughout their undergraduate degrees.
This will include involvement in future cooperative education programmes and retention of talented foreign students from local universities in technology parks.
The gaps in current policies and how these gaps could be filled with appropriate references to good practice learning models implemented in other OECD countries;
or grow absorptive learning capacities to make best use of the factors individually and collectively in networks,
and experiential forms of learning by doing. The propensity of firms to be innovative through technological development is inevitably dependent on the skills levels of its employees and its owner-managers.
including learning by researching, learning by interacting and learning by doing, and not always at beginning in terms of early stage, blue-sky research activities.
international'learning model'programmes addressing the policy recommendations. A final chapter summarises main conclusions and policy messages on entrepreneurship promotion and SME development for the region of Andalusia.
In particular, the share of university graduates has shrunk significantly by 3 percentage points from 14.7%in 1998 to 11.7%in 2009,
The percentage of students leaving education with the lowest compulsory degree is also among the highest in the country (38%.
Industry-university relationships With its nine public universities, 17 000 teaching and research staff and 250 000 students, higher education institutions (HEIS) take the lion‘s share in the R&d system (Fig
unfolding entrepreneurship programmes aimed at specific social groups (e g. women, youth, university graduates, disadvantaged people, etc.),
the chapter concludes with recommendations illustrated by three international learning models. Policy issues A rich literature debates the role of human capital formation and labour market dynamics in fostering entrepreneurship and innovation.
Grado (4 year undergraduate degree), Master (1 or 2 year graduate education) and Doctorado (3-4 year postmaster graduate education.
The idea is to adopt a system of easily comparable university degrees that would allow overcoming the current bureaucratic obstacles to the recognition of degrees and movement of students, researchers, faculty and staff within European universities.
%and among those with just a high school diploma, the unemployment rate stood at 56%(Instituto Estadístico de Andalucía, 2010).
At the same time, as discussed further below, the last decade has seen students increasingly selecting traditional vocational training rather than university education (Junta de Andalucía, 2009.
In a decade (1999-2009), Andalusian universities lost 46 852 students. Still, there are returns to higher education:
college graduates constitute 29%of the employed population in Andalusia, but just 15%of the unemployed (Laurent, Periáñez and Petit de Gabriel, 2010).
The immigrant population includes a substantial increase in the number of foreign university students coming to Andalusian universities for undergraduate studies (EU/Erasmus and Moroccan students) and for graduate studies (from Latin america, EU and North africa.
the quality of life of Andalusia seems to be attracting foreign students. In fact, the share of immigrants from the EU-15 that hold a college degree (42%)is more than double that among Andalusian residents (20%)(Instituto Estadístico de Andalucía, 2010.
The university system There are currently 10 public universities in Andalusia with a total of approximately 230 000 students.
The Universities of Seville and Granada dominate enrolment, with 57 000 and 56 000 students, respectively;
the University of Malaga is a distant third, with 33 000 students, and the others are substantially smaller. 2 Decreto del Presidente 11/2004, de 24 de abril, sobre reestructuración de Consejerías,
available at www. juntadeandalucia. es/boja/boletines/2004/996/d/updf/d1. pdf 3 Professor Manuel Castells‘s work on the network society was
Traditionally, student mobility was very weak in Spain and geographic proximity rather than reputation was the criteria by
which students chose their university. However the Bologna process and the new plans of the regional government to increase the specialization of universities is expected to bring more competition for student recruiting
and make Andalusia universities more specialized than generalist. This is also trying to stop the=brain drain‘of Andalusia students going to private university institutions
and business schools in Madrid and Barcelona to get their graduate degrees. In general terms, Spanish universities do not rank well in international quality rankings,
which are skewed reputedly towards larger and English-speaking universities. The 2009 Academic ranking of world universities, elaborated by the Institute of Higher education of Shanghai
which the regional government offers young college graduates financial support for their graduate work at top international universities,
At the same time, despite the lagging position of Spanish universities in quality rankings, they are the favourite destination for Erasmus exchange students:
and the University of Malaga number 34.5 Graduate programs also attract an increasing number of foreign students to Andalusia universities:
The universities of Granada, Seville and Malaga have become a magnet for attracting international students
5 Erasmus is the EU flagship higher education program enabling 200 000 European students to study in a university from another member country each year.
Vocational training (Formación Profesional or FP) serves young people as a professional alternative to the Baccalaureate and university education.
it includes skills training of one-two years for youth unable to graduate high school, high school graduates,
or older students with some college education or a degree. Vocational training for employment (Formación Profesional para el Empleo or FPE) serves either dislocated or incumbent workers.
In Andalusia, a total of 94 710 students attend vocational training less than half the number that attend the public universities.
Vocational training has been very successful in the last decade in placing students in a job. That has resulted in an increased number of students during the 1990s
and 2000s just as the number of university students in Spain has been decreasing and number of dropouts increasing (Laurent, Periáñez and Petit de Gabriel, 2010).
For the 2009-10 course, the number of students at technical and vocational schools in Spain increased 9. 3%compared to 3. 2%of Baccalaureate students. 7 Opportunities in the landscape This overview of the landscape of education
and training in Andalusia suggests several opportunities to build upon. First, the reorganization of the system into three ministries presents an opportunity particularly for high-tech innovation.
For instance, in 2009 they took part in an initiative of the Regional Ministry of Employment to train more than 1 000 students, workers and redundant workers of the aeronautic sector. 7 Spanish Minister of Education discourse in the Congress
Increasing specialization, particularly in the flagship universities of Granada and Seville, should help attract even more foreign exchange students for the region.
This is an elective course that all university students can take, although only 200 students took and most of them came from the Economics department.
This figure is compared small to the approximately 33 000 UMA students. UMA recognizes the poor participation rates in these courses
and is trying to expand them to other departments such as ICT and applied scientific research. On the other hand
the University of Seville, in collaboration with its OTRI (Technology Transfer Office), supports entrepreneurs involved in the creation of university spin-offs by paying part of the fees of an MBA PROGRAM.
Andalusia has lacked high quality education in business and entrepreneurship and even more so at the graduate level.
but not official degree programmes. 8 Technology Transfer Offices (OTRIS) Andalusia Technology Transfer Offices (OTRIS) have seen their responsibilities
OTRIS are increasingly paying attention to promote entrepreneurial activity among students as a way to increase the number of companies originated in the university.
but it also targets students (in high school, vocational training schools and universities) and women. ANDALUCIA EMPRENDE has more than 200 business incubators (Centros de Apoyo al Desarrollo Empresarial,
high schools, baccalaureate programs, and vocational training schools, teaching students how to create and manage cooperative firms.
For the highest level of vocational training students, ANDALUCIA EMPRENDE offers a business plan competition in which the winners spend three days training in the business incubators.
In collaboration with EXTENDA, they offer four training programs: a course on how to internationalize a company for new entrepreneurs;
Many of the region‘s public universities are engaged already in entrepreneurship education, from special workshops to support for MBA PROGRAMS to internship programs at the technology parks.
Innovation and Science, there is only one vocational training diploma in Andalusia included under the Energy and Water professional family.
The diploma, Superior Technical Degree in Energy efficiency and Solar-Thermal Energy, was established only very recently in 2008.9 Yet,
including the commitment of regional stakeholders to improving the innovation system, the enthusiasm of foreign students for the region,
and talent seem to be focused in improving sending Andalusian students to top universities abroad (as in the Talentia program),
there is also a remarkable opportunity to retain the large number of foreign students that are attracted to Andalusian universities every year.
The Universities of Granada and Sevilla alone received over 3 000 exchange students in 2007-08, placing Andalucia ahead even of Barcelona in popularity.
RETA might work as an intermediary to facilitate a longer stay in the region for these students,
and elsewhere might be expanded to better link students with businesses. The regional government seems to be supporting this approach already,
which are supported by the learning models in the final section. 10 For instance, it recently started the Andalucía Lab,
Refocus entrepreneurship training Refocus entrepreneurship training along the models of the best business schools, with a particular focus on attracting immigrant exchange students (though retaining immigrant entrepreneurs remains out of the region‘s purview.
they have the benefit of location in a region attractive to students from many other countries.
Learning models East Bay Green Corridor Partnership: Linking workforce and economic development in the regional green economy The East Bay Green Corridor Partnership in the San francisco bay Area provides an example of linking workforce and economic development,
and hire graduates of the youth program. Though too recent to evaluate systematically, local stakeholders argue that the Partnership has created a friendlier business climate for green businesses
as well as the concentration of foreign students and immigrant entrepreneurs, there may be potential to expand the offerings at the university level.
, the project-based learning model (Rasmussen & Sørheim, 2006. Programs at both the Chalmers School and the School of economics and Commercial law at the University of Gothenburg are highly selective. 12 A small class of students engage in the entrepreneurship process,
from idea development, team building, and venture capital attraction, to actual firm setup. Local business entrepreneurs serve on the start-up firm‘s board of directors.
but send students out into the world with their own start-up business. Although there are significant attempts at regional coordination among the public universities in Andalusia,
specifically a new learning-by-doing program as has been so successful in Gothenburg, at one of the biggest universities.
the attraction of students and tourists to the region, the need for internationalization, and the lack of web and IT expertise among traditional businesses.
Self evaluation Report. Paris: OECD Directorate for Education Programme on Institutional Management in Higher education. Madsen, H.,Neergaard, H,
Three international learning models are described which complement the key policy recommendations in the chapter and provide some insight into how they can be implemented.
and that students often provide the most effective means for strengthening the linkages in the innovation system.
The third generation of innovation approaches focuses on the role of shared knowledge and learning processes and the importance of building relationships and social capital between key actors and institutions.
through the provision of skilled graduates who become key players in local industry; through the conduct of long-term fundamental research that contributes to the science base
using and interacting (DUI) that draws primarily upon experiencebased learning (Jensen, Johnson, Lorenz, et al.,2004).
involves a process of learning-by-interacting and is much more local in nature (closer to the synthetic knowledge base).
and especially to students involved in generating that research. Two of the most low-cost and effective mechanisms to facilitate this kind of knowledge transfer especially in industries that draw more on synthetic knowledge bases
and engage in the DUI mode of innovation are through faculty consulting and student placements or exchanges with industry.
and a 28 percent increase in the number of students enrolled and a corresponding increase in the teaching staff of the universities.
however, the recent self evaluation report prepared for the OECD review of higher education in the region notes that the relation between the universities‘research priorities
The self evaluation report concludes that this shows that the universities do not have their own research strategies,
The OTRIS actively support university students, faculty and researchers who want to create their own companies, especially in the case of spin-offs derived from university research.
they are increasingly paying attention to promoting entrepreneurial activity among students as a way to increase the number of companies originated in the university.
It designates that the ownership of discoveries made by university professors during their period of contract with the university,
Professors have the right to share in the benefits that flow to the university from the use of the intellectual property rights derived from their inventions
It has 2 300 professors on staff and 40 000 students. The university has 270 active research groups,
They also have some programs that provide academic credits to students for working on company research projects.
as well as providing support services to facilitate work experience for its students in enterprises and the Foundation.
The university is endowed well with professors and administrators but they also perceive the need for a category of people who do not do research,
Professors cannot leave the university and go to work for a start up company with any assurance that they will be able to return from that employment to their university position.
which has 4 000 researchers and approximately 70 000 students. The OTRI has just twelve people.
which could ensure that the students being trained in the universities are familiar with the kinds of technical problems that these firms must overcome.
RED-OTRI could use the results of the survey to begin to identify the faculty members on the various research teams at the individual universities with skill sets in demand by the second tier of innovative companies that RETA works with.
The Study Mission heard that there currently exist a number of different programs in the region to provide training spaces for university students in private firms.
It should be noted that a formal cooperative education program goes beyond merely placing student trainees with firms for a limited period.
A cooperative education program usually involves engaging university students in alternating work study terms throughout the course of their undergraduate or first degrees.
which indicates that that the coop students themselves provide a highly effective conduit for transferring research
and specialized knowledge into the private firms and also for bringing the=real world‘perspective of the firms back from their work terms into the university classroom.
This example is discussed in further detail in one of the learning models. The introduction of a full-fledged co-op program at several of the regional universities would require some additional public support,
but it could make use of RETA‘s contacts with the group of innovative firms in the region as the basis for finding job placements for university students in the small and medium-sized enterprises that RETA services.
and expanding university coop programs is the high cost incurred by the university administrations in locating work placements for their students.
The high cost of this task could be overcome to some degree by using RETA‘s existing network of contacts with innovative firms in the region to locate the placements for the university students.
It would require RETA to work closely with both the firms located in the technology parks as well as firms distributed more broadly throughout the region to identify the firms that would be interested in providing work placements for students in a cooperative education program.
It could improve the quality of human capital working in the firms by providing them with technically trained university students;
it could provide students with more real life work experience as part of their formal education; and it could use the students as a conduit for feeding problems and concerns of small and medium-sized enterprises back into the teaching activities of the university faculty.
There is also some evidence from the North american experience that coop students can create a demand-pull mechanism to pull technical knowledge out of universities to provide assistance to firms (Bramwell and Wolfe, 2008.
Consider the creation of a‘virtual technology park'The third recommendation involves alternative ways for RETA to work more closely with the tier of innovative firms located in the technology parks as well as those located outside
or to physically locate the parks on a university campus, as is the case with the new PTA-University of Malaga Campus. However,
Learning models This part of the chapter presents evidence from three learning modules largely from North america, that provides further support for the policy recommendations set out above.
The Industrial Research Assistance program/National Research Council Description of the Approach The first learning model explores the relevance of Canada‘s Industrial Research Assistance program (IRAP.
learning model provides more details about the University of Waterloo‘s cooperative education program and particularly, the crucial role that it plays in the local innovation system.
The University of Waterloo currently has the largest cooperative education program in the world, with over 11 000 students (60 percent of the student body) and 3 000 employers, 281 of them local, involved
15 per cent of its current employees are Waterloo co-op students, and more than half of their Waterloo staff consists of former co-op students.
Rationale for the Intervention The Waterloo Region in Ontario, located about 100 km west of Toronto,
especially in the sciences and engineering by giving the students hands-on experience working in firms to complement their classroom time;
what was initially a very constrained physical plant by ensuring that classrooms were being used fully through all three semesters of the year.
The rotation of students to industry and back to the classroom helped solidify tight relations with local industry.
while industry support of the program funds the acquisition of technology to enhance classroom learning.
As a result Waterloo became one of the first universities in Canada to enable students to actively explore
and 1970s The exposure that students had to the early days of computer technology laid the foundations for a technological leap that shaped the industrial development of the region from the 1970s onward.
Of particular significance, is the finding that the university performs a critical intermediary function in facilitating the transfer of knowledge between students and local and non-local industry through the Cooperative Education Program (Nelles, Bramwell and Wolfe, 2005.
because firms know that the students have work experience, and they get an opportunity to evaluate their performance in the workplace before hiring them.
and recent graduates provide=fresh eyes‘:‘new ideas, new minds, younger talent in the company.
Second, co-op students act as an important transfer mechanism for tacit knowledge and know-how; they also act as a critical source of knowledge circulation within the local high-technology cluster,
Not only are trained graduates well within the university, they also come with practical experience gained through co-op placements, both in local firms and in firms all over North america.
Waterloo co-op students have an international reputation for being of high quality, and as a result, local firms have to compete with global ones to attract the best students,
though they retain the benefit of location. For instance, in a recent speech at the university during his Microsoft 2005 Tour, Bill gates referred to Waterloo as a special relationship for us.
Most years, we hire more students out of Waterloo than any other university in the world.
Co-op students also act as an important conduit between local firms and the teaching faculty at the university.
At the same time, student-driven technology transfer is critical specifically to the commercialization process. One firms reported that:
students come off co-op terms and co-opt entrepreneurial faculty to develop a company...They play a big role in spin-offs and technology transfer.
which enables students to start their own venture in lieu of doing a co-op placement with an established firm,
and maintaining the placement positions for the student body. The university invests a considerable amount of its own resources in financing
and the university‘s students enjoy, which makes it easier to find firms willing to take the students on work placement.
Relevance to Andalusia The key lesson to be drawn from this experience is that the patient investment of resources in a program such as this can pay incredible dividends to the local economy over a long period of time.
or introducing a full coop education initiative in finding the work placements for students. For further information http://www. cecs. uwaterloo. ca/about Future Trends in Science and Technology Parks Description of the approach The third learning model corresponds to the third policy recommendation in that it draws
upon the evolving trend of science and technology parks towards a more virtual format also referred to as regional knowledge ecosytems.
In this respect, the learning model is more prospective in pointing to work that has recently been carried out on the future evolution of technology parks.
Self evaluation Report. OECD Reviews of Higher education in City and Regional Development. Seville: General Secretariat for Universities, Research and Technology, Regional Ministry for Innovation, Science and Enterprise, Junta de Andalusia.
The chapter concludes with a set of international=learning models‘which are designed to illustrate what is being done in other regions to face up to the entrepreneurship and start-up challenges
Learning models This part of the chapter will provide evidence from three learning models from EU countries that can provide further illustration
www. arbeitsagentur. de Application of Business Incubation using European Best Practice Description of the approach Unlike the preceding two examples this learning model is not based on a concrete best practice.
It makes a number of policy recommendations regarding improving the support environment for the different types of SME before proposing a number of learning models that may offer important lessons for Andalusia.
most are recent graduates from an engineering or science background who might have the technical competences
whether their=clustering‘has fostered a more collaborative culture of learning and knowledge exchange. A recent study that explored the type
There are limitations to how much of a collaborative learning culture can be instilled on SMES from top-down initiatives imposed by regional government agencies
) At the same time, regions that have been most successful in inculcating a better collective learning culture tend to be those that have developed sectorally based support organisations that can provide knowledge,
‘forms of collective learning, characteristic of the industrial districts model cited above. At a general level, SME policy should differentiate more between the different types of firm and the potential for innovation and internationalisation.
More effort could be extended in developing linkages between smaller SMES and larger firms building more effective collective learning networks both within but also outside the region.
and organisations that already exist to promote collective learning activities, though these are seen often as remote from most SMES because of their overt focus upon higher level forms of knowledge creation.
and more=negotiated‘set of collective learning relationships where SME sectoral representatives play a greater part in defining
Sonninor@cardiff. ac. uk Professor Gianluca Brunori, Department of Agronomy and Management of the Agro-ecosystem, Group of Agricultural and Environmental Economics, University of Pisa, Via del
the Scottish universities have produced generations of well-trained graduates to service the life sciences labour market: indeed Scotland produces a proportionately larger number of graduates from its universities than other parts of the UK.
The public health service has also been an important consumer for new and innovative medical products,
Consequently the loss of Scottish graduates to other places need not be a problem, and as many return to Scotland later in their careers, can be seen as an important part of the global flows through which knowledge is transferred into the local cluster helping in the regeneration of the scientific knowledge base.
Cumbers, A. Mackinnon, D. Chapman, K. 2003) Innovation, collaboration and learning in regional clusters: a study of SMES in the Aberdeen oil complex.
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%Despite this improvement, Andalusia universities have lost nearly 50 000 students over the 1999-2009 decade.
College graduates make up 29%of the employed population in the region, but only 15%of the unemployed.
Conversely, unemployment among young adults (aged 16-24) with just a high school diploma stood at stunning 56%at the end of 2009.
Business consulting, private research contracts, collaborative research, training of human resources and supervision of graduates are also important modes of knowledge transfer that OTRIS should consider more than has done so far.
Through less R&d-intensive forms of industry-university collaboration, the regional technology transfer offices will be able to reach out to a wider number of both faculty members and enterprises,
whether=clustering‘has fostered a more collaborative culture of learning and knowledge exchange. Indeed few firms appear to develop collaborations with other firms co-located in the same park.
and could indeed be matched with another database collecting the skills of university faculty members so as to ease knowledge transfer between HEIS and firms, including of small size.
Students still tend to go outside of the Andalusian public university system for advanced business-related training,
yet there is only one vocational training diploma in Andalusia included under the Energy and Water professional family.
and problem-solving or learning-oriented activities centred round the need for upgrading existing sectors could be given equal priority.
The enhanced capabilities for university research can lead to regional universities being able to attract talent, both students and faculty, from elsewhere.
However, closer scrutiny shows that some of the essential softer aspects of SME development (e g. collaborative learning
Together with a diverse student body and the identification of entrepreneurial talent in that community, much could be achieved by way of creating a globally connected high value economic region.
Establish cooperative education programmes engaging university students in alternating work terms with study terms throughout their undergraduate degrees.
This will include involvement in future cooperative education programmes and retention of talented foreign students from local universities in technology parks.
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