On Wednesday, March 23 2011 Prof. Christan Ketels, PhD from Harvard Business School visits the Netherlands by invitation of The Decision Institute. We invite you to attend this free-of-cost master class.
Note: there is a limited number of places available

Program

Location

The Master class will take place at FloraHolland, Rijnsburg, Laan van Verhof 3, 2231 BZ Rijnsburg
Click the picture for the online map or click here for directions on the Flora Holland website

What is in the master class for you?

- New insights and understanding of international developments in
cluster development
- Input to develop own (policy) plans
- Exchange ideas with your peers on current dilemmas in cluster development
- Debate and discussion with experts in the field of cluster development

Audience

Are you involved in economic development in the Netherlands and want to know more about the successful implementation of cluster concepts? Then you are cordially invited to discuss with one another the successful implementation of these concepts in economic and social policy during the visit of Dr. Ketels to the Netherlands. This is the fastest way to understand the developments in the field of cluster development. Do you know of other interested parties? Feel free to direct them to this website!

Our expertise

The Decision Group has an extensive track record in cluster assessment, cluster development and microeconomics of competitiveness. The Dutch Life Sciences Outlook 2011 is our latest project, monitoring the Dutch life sciences & health cluster. Clicking the article will provide you with a full page view of the FD article on the launch of the Outlook March 10th, 2011. A copy of the Life Sciences Outlook can be ordered here
For an overview of projects, expertise, knowledge and teachings on clusters, please visit The Decision Group website. We will publish this information soon.

Background information

How can clusters be more competitive in times of shrinking budgets?

Worldwide and in Europe thousands of initiatives for economic and social development are taken through applying the cluster theories of Prof. Michael Porter and others. Industries have increasingly discovered that the application of the cluster concept stimulates growth, innovation and international competitiveness more than the more traditional approaches.
In times of declining budgets and forces the emphasis will be placed more and more on added value of the joint cluster approach as a basis for value creation and competitive economic policies. The cluster approach is a proven approach for regions, countries and industries but is frequently misunderstood or incorrectly applied.

This master class offers you the unique opportunity to get the latest insights into clusters from an internationally recognized expert in this field: Prof. Dr. Christian Ketels, PhD from Harvard Business School and Stockholm Cluster Observatory. The confrontation with Dutch experience, in particular the recent development of top areas, Green ports and Cluster-oriented industries, promises to be interesting.

In cooperation with

The Cluster event was organized in cooperation with Flora Holland andAgentschap NL contributed with a presentation

Further readings

If you are interested in readings on Cluster competitiveness, we recommend  Prof. Porters book “On Competition”