engleski

“Triple Helix“ Model – Why It Is Not Easy To Implement? Case Of Grow Your Business Programme In Croatia

Triple Helix is a metaphor which is used to describe the interconnection and operation of three forces (actors) in the society: university, business sector and government. These three institutional spheres are interconnected in a spiral, and connections between them are occurring at different levels and stages of the innovation process. Mere forming of partnership between university, business sector and government does not lead to the achievement of set objectives, and in two-thirds of cases such partnerships end in failure because of different organisational structures between partners, and differences in the nature of their work. However, when it is successful, collaboration leads to synergistic effects, which are described by the Triple Helix Model. The Triple Helix Model can be applied to the micro, meso and macro level. The micro level of this model refers to university teachers who are becoming entrepreneurs using their knowledge as a basis for entrepreneurial activity ; to entrepreneurs who work in university laboratories ; scientists who, from time to time, work in private companies ; university and industry researchers who together define and implement regional development programmes. At the meso level, the Triple Helix Model refers to the institutions of the model themselves and their efforts to contribute to the creation of innovations through creation of various organisational modalities: university spin-offs, joint companies established by the university, science parks, mutual cooperation and coordination to create innovation by all the institutions of the model, etc. The macro level of the model entails that laws and regulations are the result of previous collaboration and negotiations between all the spheres of the model. This paper, on the example of educational-consultancy programme Grow Your Business, describes an attempt to implement the Triple Helix Model (at the meso level) and states the reasons for its failure. Grow Your Business is an educational programme intended for growing companies, which was developed in 2000 in a partnership of Faculty of Economics in Osijek, J. J. Strossmayer University of Osijek, Centre for Entrepreneurship Osijek and CEPOR - SMEs and Entrepreneurship Policy Center, financed by the The Ministry of Crafts, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, the European Training Foundation (ETF), and the Open Society Institute. In developing this programme, the experience (through consultant and expert assistance) of Durham Business School from United Kingdom and Curtin Business School from Perth, Australia, which have been implementing and developing this programme for many years, was used. In its development phase, the Programme was an example of good cooperation and synergy between all three institutional spheres of the Triple Helix model (Government co-financing, research and development of the Programme by the University and articulation of the needs of the business sector), which disappeared in the implementation stage of this Programme. One of the major reasons for the failure of this project (and thus of the Triple Helix concept) lies in prevailing and accepting of interests of individual groups, while neglecting the long-term goals set out at the onset of the Programme.

Triple Helix; growing SMEs; educational program for SMEs

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