Creative Precarious Decision-Making in the Crises of Our Time :

1. Creative Precarious Decision-Making in the Crises of Our Time: Emergence of creative cluster-development initiatives by Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Samos Eirini Skouta, Patrick Humphreys

2. The Setting • The story is about an initiative taking place in the islands of Samos,Ikaria and Fournoi. • Samos is 200 nautical miles east of Athens andonly one mile from Asia Minor, while Ikaria and Fournoi are close toSamos to the West.

3. The Setting

4. The islands’ economy relies primarily on tourism and agriculture, buttransport of goods and people to and from the islands is difficult. • Ferries from the islands to Athens take 15 hours each way. Their onlyairport is on Samos: most air passengers have to fly viaAthens. Although package tour airplanes fly directly to Samos, there has beena reduction of 50% in flights over the past 2 years

5. The Problems The cluster is brought together due to SMEs’ motivation to cope with: • Lack of infrastructure; for transport, for water supply • Neglect • Corruption • Financial and social crisis (cuts in income and financing for both the public and private sector). • Need for survival It has to find collaborative and innovative solutions.

6. SME Cluster Overview • Cluster focuses on initiatives to promote tourism – especially alternatives to the “standard” package tourism: support for individual travelers, ecotourism, agro-tourism, etc. • involves service providers as well as producers • Cluster formation started bottom-up in Spring 2011

7. Business focus of the Cluster SMEs Products follow Services lead

8. SME Cluster Initiation • Needs: • Many motivators required to foster collaboration • Essential role for cluster coordinator: Get SMEs to consider collaborative advantage and overcome co-opetition anxiety • Even bottom-up cluster building starts with the mayor • But, all resources for cluster building have to come from the SMEs themselves rather than the municipality. Obstacles: • Greeks typically don’t like working in teams. • Harsh competition as the way to do business. • Everything the SME does, needs to be approved and accepted by the municipality. • Up until recently, businesses expected the active help and support of the local authorities, but nowadays the mayors have no resources for this.

9. SME Cluster Initiation Agent Independent agent to facilitate the cluster initiation process:BioEnersis, a SME focusing on consulting, training of rrofessionals and Event planning Goals: Developing a cluster of enterprises in the Aegean region and Greece. Planning and attaining innovations for the development of entrepreneurship.

10. BioEnersis’ SME Clustering Process

11. SME Clustering: meeting cycle • Meeting with all SMEs that want to be involved. • ideas for initiatives gaining collaborative advantage?? • an event which could realise most of these ideas?? • Talk to and gain the approval of the local authority. • Meeting with Cluster SMEs to plan the event event collectively. • Identify possible problems: e.g. communication or co-opetition anxiety problems. • Identify SMEs that should be invited to join cluster • Meetings withindividual SMEs to work on problems identified in the collective meeting. • Meeting with the whole SME group: • all agree that previously identified problems have been resolved?? • new problems arising?? • if issues still need to be resolved, continue cycle of individual and collective meetings with SMEs.

12. BioEnersis’ SME Clustering Process Discussing with local authorities and cluster representative. Collective cluster meetings. ... and collectively. Addressing issues individually...

13. An example: Fourniada Fourniada is an annual 3-day sports event promoting Greek-Turkish friendship since 2003. However, thanks to BioEnersis’ contribution, and the Cluster SMEs activities, in 2011 the event has been very successful, compared to the past.

14. Fourniada: The Outcome The successful outcome of Fourniada enhanced the SMEs’ commitment to the cluster and strengthened their relationships and trust. BUT it provoked negative reactions from the side of the local municipality that felt excluded and regarded the cluster’s actions as competitive. As a result, until recently, the cluster SMEs founded and operating in Fournoi, felt potentially threatened by the municipality and their willingness on producing similar events in the area, diminished due to the sense of insecurity transmitted by the local authorities’ reactions.

15. A New Strategy for Cluster Events • BioEnersis viewed this incident as an opportunity to reassess both the situation and the circumstances leading to it, as to avoid similar problems in the future. • Therefore, in the first part of 2012 BioEnersis continued the individual and collective meeting cycle in order to: • re-establish lost trust between SMEs and local authorities, • motivate the SMEs to look past the authorities’ impending response, where this is possible, • find a strategy that will enable the cluster to produce events without causing the potential negative response of the authorities and finally, • find a strategy that will not allow municipalities to view cluster activities as competitive ones.

16. New strategy good in practice? • Video Case Study in progress: • Completion in August 2012 and available for distribution to • those interested. Sign up for your copy!