Erasmus Research Centre for
Media, Communication and Culture
CICI
Cultures of Innovation in small scale
creative clusters
Erik Hitters, Pawan Bhansing, Yosha Wijngaarden
Erasmus University Rotterdam
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Outline
1. The project
2. First (preliminary)
findings
3. Sub project 1
4. Sub project 2
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5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Sub project 3
Sub project 4
Sub project 5
Sub project 6
What’s next
The Project (1)
• RQ: how do cultures of innovation develop in co-located
creative industries (creative business centres)?
1. the development of and interrelationships between
companies, markets, networks and the places where they
are located (CBC’s) and
2. the effects of their co-location on the companies
themselves, their competitiveness, innovative capacities,
collaborations, and their environment.
• Collaboration of Erasmus University Rotterdam and Dutch
Creative Residency Netwerk
• Financed by NWO
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The Project (2)
• Factors influencing innovation in a creative business centre
Market
acceptance
Idea
Creative business centre
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The Project (3)
• Comparative research on 10 locations in NL
• Focus on social and cultural factors in the innovation
process
• The micro-level of: “What actually happens”
• Interdisciplinary approach informed by
– urban and cultural sociology (Granovetter, DiMaggio,
Bourdieu, Jacobs)
– urban and regional geography (Amin & Thrift, Scott,
Storper, Pratt)
– Economics (Marshall, Porter)
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First findings (1)
• 9 open interviews with
cluster managers
• +-20 open interviews with
creative firms
• +-10 open interviews with
stakeholders and experts
• Coding interviews > sub
projects
• Data collection under
construction
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First findings (2)
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Passion – inspiration, motivation
Identity – creativity, innovation
Inspiration – heritage, visual qualities
Interaction – cooperation, innovation, community
Knowledge exchange – mutual help, buzz, milieux
Management CBC – selection, rents, exploitation
Sub project 1 (1)
Passion, Inspiration and Motivation
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Sub project 1 (2)
Passion, Inspiration and Motivation
• Passion: the heart of entrepreneurship
(Cardon et al., 2013)
• Driver of entrepreneurial action (Brännback
et al., 2006; Amabile & Fisher, 2000)
• Contagious (Cardon, 2005)
• Inspiration (Thrash et al., 2004)
• Motivation (Deci, 1972)
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Sub project 1 (3)
Passion, Inspiration and Motivation
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Sub project 2 (1)
Creativity, Innovation, Identity
Creativity versus Innovation.
“I don’t really think
about being innovative.
I have my own vision;
I want to make this
happen.”
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Sub project 2 (2)
Creativity, Innovation, Identity
• Creative process
(Scott, 2000)
≠
Innovation process
Intrinsic Identity factors:
passion (Cardon et al.,
2013), inspiration (Thrash
et al., 2004), autonomy
(Liu et al., 2011)
Extrinsic Identity factors:
market, expert and peer
orientation / competition
(Bhansing et al., 2012)
Seeking legitimacy
Seeking reputation
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Sub project 2 (3)
Creativity, Innovation, Identity
Stage 2
life cycle
Stage 1
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Sub project 3 (1)
Heritage and inspiration
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Sub project 3 (2)
Heritage and inspiration
• What is the influence of industrial
heritage workspaces on creative
workers and their products?
• Social meanings of buildings
(Markus, 1993); Historical
continuity of place (Hutton, 2006);
Production and consumption in CI
(Pratt, 2004); Neo-Bohemia
(Lloyd, 2002); Locality and
aesthetic creativity (Drake, 2003).
• 60 interviews
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“Everything is large here,
it allows me to think big.”
“People feel that this is
an exiting place, if there
is an international
meeting… they feel this
energy too. There is
something, something
happens here.”
Sub project 3 (3)
Heritage and inspiration
Buildings/workspace
History, historical
atmosphere
Consumption of
visual features
Inspiration
Innovative product(ion)
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Possibilities of
The building
Sub project 3 (3)
Heritage and inspiration
Buildings’
traits
Creativity
of idea
Creative workers’
traits
Inspiration
Creative product
Based on Thrash, Maruskin,
Cassidy, Fryer & Ryan (2010)
Sub project 4 (1)
Interaction and cooperation
• How do everyday informal interaction
and cooperation among creative firms
occur, and how is this facilitated by the
CBC’s (public) space?
• Clustering theories (Porter, 2000),
Face-to-face contact (Storper &
Venables, 2003), importance of
‘community’ (Pratt, 2000), Trust
(Turok, 2003), network theory and
importance of micro-interactions.
Limited cooperation (Ebbers, 2014)
• Participant observation in +-4 CBC’s, 60
interviews.
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“We only help each other only
superficially. For example, if
someone needs a colourfan.
Yes, then we talk about
colours for a while. We help
each other out in a practical
way, but we do not help each
other with new projects or
things like that.”
“We have a shared space with
other firms. We cooperate in
the decoration and things like
that, but it’s very informal.”
Sub project 4 (2)
Interaction and cooperation
Informal
cooperation
Use of
“public space”
Formal
cooperation
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Informal
meetings
Interaction
Social
behaviour
Formal
meetings
Sub project 5
Knowledge exchange and innovative milieux
• RQ: How do clusters become
“Creativity is like a rash”
innovative milieux, what
(Landry, 2005, p. 1).
happens on the micro level of
people and organisations? What
is the role of knowledge in such
creative and innovative clusters?
• Based on both qualitative and
quantitative data
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Argument
Generally assumed that clustering enhances production
efficiency by agglomeration benefits (Marshall, Porter etc.)
Do clusters also offer better circumstances for content
innovation?
Clusters offer information and knowledge advantages through
face-to-face interaction (see Marshall (1927): “industrial
atmosphere”; DiMaggio & Powell (1983) “Isomorphism”;
Grabher (2002): “noise”; Storper & Venables (2004): “buzz”)
similar interpretation schemes, shared understanding,
local institutions, tacit knowledge, habits, traditions.
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Sub project 6
Intermediairies in creative business centres
• RQ: What is the role of
intermediairies in the innovation
process in creative business
centres (focus on institutional,
organisational and financial
arrangements, incubator
leadership)
• Methodology: based on both
qualitative and quantitative data
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“sometimes I feel like a
campsite manager”
(manager Bink36, The
Hague)
Sub project 6 (2)
Theoretically:
• Path-dependence of
historical development
(Kloosterman 2004)
• Cluster lifecycle (Menzel &
Fornahl 2010)
• Knowledge exchange
process (Pratt 2004,
Storper 2004)
• Management styles
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Interviews show importance of :
• Selection of CI firms
• Theme of site
• Activities organised
• Ownership / operation /
financing
• Perception of added value
• Influence of local municipality
What’s next
• Semi-structured
interviews (n=60) with
managers and firms
• Survey (n=250) of
representative sample
of creative companies
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What’s next
When?
What?
Spring 2014
Finalizing research design
Preparation of survey and interview questions
Summer –
autumn 2014
Survey
First round of interviews
Participant observation
Winter 2014 –
spring 2015
Analyzing data
Writing articles on sub projects: 1. Passion, 4. Interaction,
6. Management.
Summer 2015
Second round of interviews
Autumn winter 2015
Analyzing data
Writing articles on sub projects: 2. Identity, 3. Interaction,
5. Knowledge exchange
Winter 2015
Final conference CICI project
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Collaboration
DCR Network
1. Bink 36 - Den Haag;
2. De Creative Factory Rotterdam;
3. De Gruyterfabriek Den Bosch;
4. De Vasim - Nijmegen;
5. Suri - Haarlem.
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6. Dutch Game Garden Utrecht;
7. Hazemeijer - Hengelo;
8. Honig Fabriek - Koog
aan de Zaan;
9. Stijp S - Eindhoven
10. Klein Haarlem –
Haarlem.
Definition Creative Industries
• “Those industries which have
their origin in individual
creativity, skill and talent
through the generation and
exploitation of intellectual
property” (DCMS, 1998)
• “Creative industries can be
defined as the area of
overlap between cultural and
commercial activities”
(Turok, 2003, p. 552-553).
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• Advertising, architecture, art
and antiques market, crafts,
design, designer fashion, film
and video, interactive leisure
software, music, performing
arts, publishing, software and
computer services, television
and radio (British Council,
2010).
• In CICI: all firms located
within CBC, except for
secondary services (sports,
internet, etc.)
Definition creative and innovative
milieu
“A creative milieu is a place that contains the necessary requirements in
terms of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ infrastructure to generate a flow of ideas and
inventions. A milieu can be a building, a street of an area […].” (Landry,
2005, p. 4).
An innovative milieu situation is a situation characterized by the existence
of (a) a specific technical-productive system and (b) a specific governance
system and (c) a specific collective (internal and external) representations
system, endorsing a specific milieu in that territorial system, propitious to
cultural activities (allowing an offer of specificity which converts in a strong
competitive advantage to that territory).” (Costa 2008, p. 187).
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