Source

This exercise can be found on page 26 in “Toolbox 2.0 for Strategic Leadership of Innovative Networks”. You can download a PDF version of the toolbox here.

In the “Cases” dropdown there is an example of how the hedgehog model was used to analyse the tourism industry in Jostedalen.

Exercise

For more information see the “cases” dropdown here

Exercise 2: Relationship to the public sector – Does the public sector have specific interest in the network? Does the network address areas that are part of the strategic plans in the municipality/county?

• If the network is important for the region’s development, the public sector may take on an important role in the formative phase and the restructuring phase, which is illustrated by the shaded areas in figure 6 (in the “Cases” dropdown). In rural regions like Sogn og Fjordane, the public sector is an important stakeholder, which may lend weight and dynamism to initiatives, such as in the Toyota example below.

• Among others, Innovation Norway has a program to support the establishment of business networks. The Norwegian Research Council also grants funding to network establishment through its Innovation Project program.

Figure 6. For more information see the “cases” dropdown here.

Connections to other tools

The lifecycle may be combined with other tools. The six elements in the functional analysis may be prioritized differently in different phases. And the tool for building legitimacy may be important to uncover problems in the transition between different phases.

There is no promise that networks live forever, so in some cases disassembling the network is the right thing to do. The hedgehog principle may be a device to figure out if the network is still viable. If there is no desire to disassemble the network, the leaders and participants, especially in mature networks, have to think the situation through: Will restructuring be necessary? Are changes required to achieve new growth?

You have completed:

2.4 – Lifecycle analysis

What’s next:

Chapter 3 – Tools for running/maintaining networks

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