I've been working with #clusters as innovative communities & multi-stakeholder #collaboration in the past years. Planning to write a series of articles on how to build cluster organizations from my experiences. Started with an introduction. Here's a summary.

A thread

1 / A cluster emerges. If there is no cluster a cluster organization makes little sense. If there is a cluster, a cluster organization can help to improve performance or close gaps through stewarding collaborative action.

2 / Cluster Development is foremost a relational challenge. Start engaging with the "who". What are the needs, challenges, existing assets & capab., and aspirations of the cluster stakeholders? It's a genuine listening exercise.

3 / Develop together with a core group of public, private and academic organizations a shared mission that resonates with everyone.

#mission #vision #multistakeholder

4 / Make a plan how to get there. Develop jointly the guiding policy for actions, and a portfolio of actions and initiatives towards the mission.

#strategy #portfolio

5 / There are different types of models to organize collaboration. So, there is no on-fits-all organizational model for cluster organization. It depends how well you answered the basic questions.

#organization #organizationaldevelopment #collaboration

6 / The financing and business model of clusters benefit from making use of the diversity of perspectives present in clusters, e.g. different needs call for different activities & services, which open the conversation for diverse revenue streams.

#finance #businessmodel

7 / Communicate the value proposition and how the cluster organization creates value to your members and the cluster stakeholders. This helps to build additional momentum for the cluster organization.

#communication

8 / Measure and learn. Establish a mechanism to learn what works and what not in terms of the cluster organizations, as well as a learning engine between the cluster stakeholders.

I started with a summary of these steps as an introduction to a series on cluster development. I hope it resonates. I'd love the conversation with you and would appreciate your comments. https://bit.ly/31YnkVb