Bachelor thesis

Abstract

The notion of cross-organizational collaboration has started to play a central role in the global business world since the start of the 21st century. It is important for organizations within business clusters to establish strong cross-boundary networks. These networks can serve as a platform where knowledge and expertise can easily be shared and transferred between the members. Our aim with this research paper is to understand how organizations collaborate within cluster communities, both by utilizing various theories and practical findings from the real world. We have therefore decided to examine the following research question: “How do the members of a business cluster participate in cross-organizational collaboration?” The business cluster that this paper is going to analyze and study deeper is GCE Ocean Technology – a Norwegian subsea cluster located on the West Coast of Norway. We will be utilizing cluster theory from Michael E. Porter (professor at Harvard Business School) and Torger Reve (professor at BI Norwegian Business School) to analyze our research question. We will also apply theory from various journal articles to get a wider perspective on the topic. Our primary data is collected using qualitative analysis, where we have utilized a structured interview approach. This gave us the ability to have some clear preformulated questions to ask the interviewees. Our interview sample consists of three current cluster members – company A, company B and company C. The interview guide is under attachments at the end of this research paper. The results from our theoretical framework and practical findings show that there are high levels of cross-organizational collaboration within GCE Ocean Technology. Our discussion implies that there are several factors for participation in cross-organizational collaboration. Some of the most important factors for our three interviewees were organizational size (big versus small), close relationships and organizational development opportunities and networking. They did also feel that all of the cluster members played a significant role in creating synergy effects and that the business cluster is a strong collective unit that can strengthen visibility and reputation on the market.