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Creative destruction and creative resilience: Restructuring of the Nokia dominated high‐tech sector in the Oulu region
Author(s) -
Simonen Jaakko,
Herala Johannes,
Svento Rauli
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
regional science policy and practice
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.342
H-Index - 8
ISSN - 1757-7802
DOI - 10.1111/rsp3.12267
Subject(s) - restructuring , resilience (materials science) , creative destruction , shock (circulatory) , element (criminal law) , process (computing) , entrepreneurship , psychological resilience , creativity , business , economic geography , crowdsourcing , knowledge management , political science , process management , economic system , computer science , economics , market economy , psychology , world wide web , medicine , physics , law , psychotherapist , thermodynamics , finance , operating system
Abstract The Oulu region, a globally recognized hub of mobile technology development in Northern Finland, provides a textbook example of how the various features of an innovation ecosystem can cause serious problems for regional development when a region faces a shock. The Oulu region is also an interesting example of how the effects of shock can be alleviated through creative actions and effective regional policy. In this paper, we develop a framework for analysing resilience using creativeness as the key element. We contribute to the literature by showing how this framework can be used in the operation and management of the regions hit by creative destruction types of shocks. We argue that the dynamic process that Oulu has gone through, in which obsolete and unproductive business activities have been replaced by new fields of technology and knowledge, can clearly be compared in many ways with Schumpeter's description of “creative destruction.” We call this dynamic process creative resilience. We identify three elements as the core of creative resilience; knowledge creation, entrepreneurship and community spirit. Our paper will show how they materialized in the Oulu region.