Clusters are not formed thanks to officials
Attempts to create a man-made cluster usually turn into a waste of billions
Elena Evgrafova, Forbes.ru
The author is the editor—in-chief of the Harvard Business Review Russia magazine and the United Press book publishing house/Alpina Business Books
A month ago, a professor from America asked me to share with him my opinion about the Skolkovo Foundation. I understood that my skepticism would probably be attributed to a typical Russian lack of positive thinking, so before the meeting, to test my arguments, I went to the Innograd website. And I immediately found a reason for sarcasm there: in the vacancies section there was an ad about hiring a "cluster manager". They lack a sense of the comic, I thought, or they have not read Michael Porter and do not understand well what exactly the Harvard professor meant by clusters.
The main argument against any attempt to create a man-made cluster is that so far no one has succeeded, including the Americans. Every new attempt turns into a waste of billions of dollars. "In reality, clusters are usually formed independently of the actions of officials — sometimes even in spite of them, wrote Michael Porter. — They grow themselves: where there are any advantages. It is justified to invest in the development of a cluster only when it, even in its rudimentary form, has already passed the test of the market ...". Just in case, I once again asked several professors to recall at least one successful cluster created from scratch by the efforts of officials. Alas.
"Hardly any country does not dream of its own Silicon Valley. And nothing but disappointments and failures comes out of it," writes Babson College professor Daniel Eisenberg in the article "The Revolution of Entrepreneurs." "Looking at how the German government is trying to create biotech clusters of the same level as in California, Insead experts came to the conclusion that, in fact, Germany has thrown $20 billion to the wind, and now Singapore is racing along the same road at full speed. After assessing the efforts of Singapore, which has spent more than one billion to create a "biopolis", the World Bank estimated that the chances of success are 50-50. And someone, perhaps, will give even less," wrote The Economist magazine.
However, my skepticism is not limited to this. About a year ago, a friend called me and asked if I was familiar with Chubais? It turned out that his friend, an entrepreneur, is looking for exits to the highest ranks in "Nanotechnology", because he has a rather strong invention that he successfully uses in his company and has already earned several million on it. The technology can be used in oil pipelines, and then the economic effect will reach hundreds of millions of dollars. The man wanted to get guarantees at the highest level of "Nano", because he was sure that if he went the usual way, the technology would certainly be stolen and it would be good if he himself was not put away so as not to get in the way. Following this conversation, the editors of HBR conducted a survey of experts, and they unanimously declared that if a businessman is not a fool, then it is necessary to sell the technology to the West — here, in Russia, they will surely steal it. This is the level of business confidence in the government and the oligarchs loyal to it. How is Skolkovo going to overcome this obstacle?
Viktor Vekselberg is a typical representative of those interest groups that determine the course of today's Russia, besides him, Vagit Alekperov and Vladislav Surkov are listed in the top management structures of Innograd. Why do these powerful people need modernization, which clearly contradicts their class interests? Or do they understand modernization as something of their own, "sovereign"?
Independent-minded people have little faith in motivating phrases spoken from the stands or into the lens of television cameras, they draw conclusions based on metatext, which does not depend on the professionalism of PR specialists. For example, the car accident on Leninsky Prospekt and all subsequent events told much more about Lukoil's corporate culture than the most detailed analytical note could tell. And the company's culture is always a reflection of the personality of its founder. So any sane entrepreneur with a strong innovative idea should run away from the structures somehow connected with the name of the founder of Lukoil, so as not to accidentally get in the way of an omnipotent and ruthless machine.
Viktor Vekselberg recently gave an interview to the opposition magazine The New Times, in which, by the way, he mentioned the intention to install changing tables not only in women's, but also in men's toilets. This, obviously, was supposed to impress the enlightened readers of the magazine. And it would have, if not for the context.
I have no doubt that Vekselberg is a good manager and changing tables in men's toilets will really be installed. I also have no doubt that the budget money will be mastered, and business processes will be debugged. Respectable Skolkovo employees in expensive suits will effectively hold meetings and organize webinars, make presentations, travel abroad and organize forums under the motto "Russia, forward!". I just don't believe that there will be any benefit to society from all this activity.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru16.02.2011