Drivers and challenges for knowledge sharing in an emerging and government driven industry cluster in Saudi Arabia

摘要

Underpinned by the Saudi Arabian government's initiative to reduce the country's dependency on oil, this paper examines the drivers and challenges to knowledge sharing in an emerging and government driven industry cluster. National and regional level innovation policies identify clustering as a key enabler of competitive and economic achievement. What is not clear are the mechanisms through which actor proximity enhances value to individual cluster members. While knowledge creation has been associated with cluster effectiveness and individual actor capacity to innovate, there is still a lack of clarity on cluster influence on enabling knowledge sharing during the early development stage of a cluster. In addition, contextual cluster investigations within the Middle East, the GCC and Saudi Arabia in particular, are limited. This article contributes towards closing this gap by analysing knowledge sharing in an emerging government driven cluster in a developing economy, Saudi Arabia.