De la coordination au leadership : le rôle de l’animateur de cluster

?The purpose of this article is to clarify the functions and competencies of cluster facilitators by building on strategic and human resource management concepts and tools. ? Unlike self-organized bottom-up clusters, such as Italian industrial districts, the operation of cluster initiatives encouraged by governments requires specific coordination mechanisms, usually embodied in individuals, or small teams, called ?facilitators?, whose functions have little been studied in the literature. Leadership theory gives facilitators their place as a cornerstone of cluster initiatives: they federate stakeholders in confidence, manage knowledge and skills, and fin act as transformational change leaders. We illustrate our analysis with three examples of Belgian clusters in the green construction sector.