This thesis has applied a holistic approach in order to investigate how CLEAN as a cleantech cluster influences internationalisation for three cleantech SMEs. This has allowed for a conclusion regarding the effect that the context has on the three SMEs’, as well as how CLEAN influences their capabilities for internationalisation. Ultimately, the generalisability of the case study will be addressed to explain how these findings can be valuable in a broader perspective.
Firstly, based on the findings regarding macro level influence, it can be concluded that the three SMEs are heavily influenced by their context. The Danish innovation system exhibits significant strength within cleantech, and a key element of this institutional infrastructure is the presence of CLEAN as a mediator between triple helix actors. Moreover, the strong and generalised Danish industrial identity provides an institutional advantage for the three SMEs. However, the SMEs also face a range of barriers residing from their context including the legislative environment, path dependency, long innovation cycles, long required lead times and on a more foundational level large capital requirements. Through the assessment of the SMEs’ individual approaches to internationalisation, it has been identified that
they all employ a network strategy to overcome the liability of smallness and that CLEAN positively contributes to this approach, suggesting that it is beneficial for these firms to be part of the cluster.
Secondly, it has been possible to identify several areas where CLEAN contributes to the O advantages of the SMEs through primarily; Extension of networks, opportunity identification, learning and knowledge sharing which in turn affect the SME’s potential for internationalisation. While these areas in many cases overlap, the findings suggest a range of contributions from the cluster within each area.
The key contributions within extension of networks is CLEAN’s ability to connect the SMEs to potential private or public partners as well as buyers looking for solutions to sustainability challenges domestically and abroad. This enables CLEAN to reduce the liability of outsidership for the SMEs by integrating them into foreign networks. Within opportunity identification, CLEAN contributes to exploratory development processes by identifying opportunities for SMEs to participate in project based collaboration with knowledge institutions. These projects contribute to the SMEs’ innovative capabilities and the financial support granted to participants in the projects reduces the associated risk.
Such projects can reinforce path dependency in cases where the aim of the project is to integrate the SME’s technology into the established industry standard, and where participation is limited to firms that contribute to the existing trajectory. CLEAN also contributes to the identification of international projects by providing predefined project opportunities abroad and thereby minimising the SMEs’ need for market research. In these international projects, CLEAN facilitates collaborations and consortia establishment and thereby enables SMEs to collaborate with a broad set of actors, which in turn reduces the risk of participation. CLEAN has furthermore shown to influence the implementation of newly developed technologies by providing SMEs with opportunities to partake in the establishment of new international standards through C40 projects. This can in turn contribute to mitigation of path dependency. The focus on exploration in the development phases as well as implementation of new standards shows that CLEAN can contribute to mitigating path dependency. The contribution in terms of learning is evident in the initiatives for accessing capital, as well as the international activities which increase the SMEs’ experience and knowledge about new markets. While the data shows no examples of firm-to-firm knowledge sharing, CLEAN has facilitated knowledge spillovers between governments, academia and the three SMEs. This illustrates that CLEAN facilitates an institutional infrastructure between the actors and thus functions as a mediator.
CLEAN’s contribution in terms of expansion of networks, opportunity identification and learning affects the initial asset creation stages of the internationalisation processes. The cluster’s focus is thus to improve the firms’ foundation for undertaking international activities. This means that the value of the cluster’s contribution is highly dependent upon the individual firm’s ability to translate the initiatives into concrete O-advantages and international activities. The individual O advantages of the
firms are furthermore also determining for the way that the SMEs choose to utilise the cluster, as firms seek support from the cluster in areas where they lack O advantages, and refrain from doing so in areas where they are already strong. Moreover, this indirect and relatively weak causality from the cluster on the meso level to the firms on the micro level means that while the opportunities provided by the cluster in some instances change the timing of entry and influence the decision regarding which markets to explore, it does not have a direct effect on the overall internationalisation strategy employed by the SMEs.
Lastly, these findings regarding the indirect and but beneficial effects that CLEAN has on the internationalisation of the SMEs can be valuable in a broader perspective. Namely, other cleantech SMEs may experience similar effects from membership in other strategically developed cleantech clusters. Specifically, other clusters with these characteristics may also function as important institutions given their role as mediators between triple helix actors. Similarly, they may also support SMEs in improving their capabilities to internationalise their cleantech solutions. Given the instrumental role of cleantech in the green transition, the collaborative and international approach identified in the case of CLEAN shows how clusters can be important actors in addressing the grand challenge of climate change. However, due to the interconnected barriers in the industry, clusters need to employ a broad scope including a focus on access to capital in their initiatives in order to support the internationalisation of the innovative potential that lies in SMEs. Moreover, the value of clusters also relies on the macro environment in which they are positioned as well as how the SMEs utilise them.
This illustrates the need to employ a holistic approach, like the one present in this thesis, in order to understand the interconnecting dynamics between macro, meso and micro levels.