ORGANIZING FOR KNOWLEDGE SPILLOVERS IN INITIATED CLUSTERS OF INNOVATION

A region's competitiveness is directly related to its innovative capacity. In this context cluster initiatives have become very popular in the current public and political discussion. Unfortunately, when clusters of innovation are established, hardly any attention is paid to the organization of proximity and the resulting knowledge flows. Knowledge spillovers are an essential motivation for the establishment of a cluster of innovation and hence the support of those spillovers when initiating clusters of innovation is essential. This study is designed to support practitioners' operational work through strategic guidelines formulated in the design model. Furthermore, the findings will enable them to better understand the value creating processes in a cluster of innovation and to rearrange them in a more effective and more efficient way. Due to its general structure the design model can be used for various clusters independent of the field in which the cluster is supposed to be established.