Managing innovation in regional supply networks: a Dutch case of "knowledge industry clustering"

This paper presents a case study on the collaboration between Oce, a large Dutch manufacturer of copiers and printers, and several of its lead suppliers within the so-called "knowledge industry clustering" (KIC) project. In 1993 Oce initiated this project to enable innovation by creating inter-organizational teams and new combinations based on the knowledge and skills of different suppliers. Based on data collected from 28 interviews with respondents that were involved at both the M and supplier side of ten different "knowledge clusters", it is concluded that the critical success factors primarily point at the importance of creating trust in such inter-organizational teams.