Optimising models for cluster organisations: learnings from Denmark

Based on the experience of the European Union’s top innovator Denmark, this chapter profiles six different types of organisational structures that can support collaboration in clusters. Three of these structure types are described as innovation networks. They are further differentiated according to the nature of the organisation that plays the central role as a network node: The authors describe cases where either a university, a research organisation or a cluster organisation takes on this function. The other three structure types are described as clusters. Here the authors differentiate further by the geographic scope of the cluster, describing national, regional and local cluster organisations. For all six organisational types, particular strengths and weaknesses are identified based on interviews with practitioners. The chapter embeds this typology of networks and clusters into a broader description of the evolution of Danish cluster policy in recent years. Policy makers have put a strong emphasis on the consolidation of the Danish landscape of support organisations to create fewer but stronger organisations with higher capacity for impact. The authors note that local communities have responded by creating again their own smaller network and cluster structures to serve more specific needs of local clusters.