Cooperation and cluster strategies within and between technology-intensive organisations: how to enhance linkages among firms in the techno-parks


Tezin Türü: Yüksek Lisans

Tezin Yürütüldüğü Kurum: Orta Doğu Teknik Üniversitesi, İktisadi ve İdari Bilimler Fakültesi, İktisat Bölümü, Türkiye

Tezin Onay Tarihi: 2009

Öğrenci: IRENA VUCİC

Danışman: ERKAN ERDİL

Özet:

Focus of this thesis will be on the network and cluster strategies within and between technology-intensive organizations/firms and how to manage those networks in order to improve their outcome in the context of building or enhancing innovative advances, technological capabilities and/or competitiveness. World today is characterized by rapid transformations in all aspects of human’s life where innovation, technological change and technological progress play the most significant role. Therefore, technology-intensive organizations by engaging in strategic alliances, clusters and networks tend to extract maximum benefits i.e. to enable entry into the international markets and to develop core competences. Even though clusters have become a highly popular strategy, many of them fail to realize their intended goals. Thus, this thesis will attempt to explore why choosing a clustering strategy can be beneficial, as well as to provide better understanding of such cooperation and requirements for success. Main focus will be on investigating if there are inter-firm and firm-university linkages among the actors located in a particular techno-park, and to diagnose if the close proximity contributed and eased development of the networks among the firms settled in the METU Techno-park and Bilkent Cyber-park. Results of the analysis showed certain extent of firm-university relationships and low level of inter-firm interactions. This further implied necessity of the policy interventions for enhancement of those interactions if the studied techno-parks are to become successful in the sense of the theoretical techno-park model, and if the tenant firms are to extract maximum benefits associated with cluster concept in theory.