Inaugural lecture: Innovative cooperation is to multiply - Ferry Koster

On January 15, Prof. Dr. Ferry Koster will give his inaugural lecture in Tilburg. Koster is a distinguished professor on the Mr. Dr. B.J.M. Van Spaendonck Chair in Innovative Cooperation and attached to the GovernanceLAB of TIAS School for Business and Society. In his inaugural lecture he will discuss the current and future research into the various forms of cooperation which involves innovation.

The starting point for the research is the question of how small entities (SMBs) work together to achieve innovation. Koster: "The idea is that SMBs find it harder to innovate than large companies and that they need each other to do that. But do they really need each other? And is innovation really easier for larger companies?"

Koster notes that while the need to cooperate increases, the conditions for successful cooperation diminish. For example, the contexts in which we need to cooperate are becoming more and more diverse in composition and the shared knowledge becomes less tangible. Koster: "The knowledge required for innovation cannot be found in manuals or procedures. Instead, it is stored in individuals or in the way in which people interact with each other."

To obtain this knowledge, the parties may enter the market or cooperate in formal and informal contexts. Trust plays an important role in informal contexts. One of the research questions will therefore be how trust – as well as other informal aspects – can be incorporated into the conventional models of cooperation. 
Koster will carry out further research at the ICOON Knowledge Center (innovation, cooperation, and entrepreneurship) in cooperation with the TIAS GovernanceLAB, to which he is attached. 

Van Spaendonck focuses both directly and indirectly on the interests of entrepreneurs at the social and the economic level. Firstly, by providing services and advice to industry and professional organizations. Secondly, by offering direct services to entrepreneurs.

The ICOON Knowledge Center focuses on the collection, initiation, development, and dissemination of knowledge about partnerships between businesses, industries, and occupations. Emphasis is placed on new partnerships where the generated knowledge provides insight into the performance, value, and future of these partnerships. The ICOON Knowledge Center is funded by Van Spaendonck.