11 December 2017
San Sebastian Campus
Javier Ruiz and Carla Cordova, students on the Master’s degree in Competitiveness and Innovation, together with Mercedes Oleaga, researcher at Orkestra. and Iñaki Ganzarain, Project manager of Innobasque, are the members of the prize-winning team.
Their study on the value chain of high tech cluster providers of electronic components and subsystems won second prize out of all the works done at over 100 universities.
The Microeconomics of Competitiveness course (MOC) at Harvard University, which Orkestra has organised in recent years within the Master's degree in Competitiveness and Innovation (MUCI) at Deusto Business School, is to be congratulated. A group of students on the 2016 programme received second prize for the study conducted on an online course, networking with over 100 universities around the world. "High-Tech supply chain of electronics and subsystem cluster's value chain” is the title of the study, which, as its name indicates, examines the value chain of electronic components and subsystems in high-tech provider clusters.
Mikel Navarro, MOC coordinator, described the study as “complex and sophisticated”, highlighting the team’s capacity for detailed analysis and making the key value chain components and the challenges they raise easy to understand.
They remarked that the study had been hard and plagued with ups and downs, but was finally very rewarding.
How does it feel to be recognised with this award at Harvard?
It is an honour. It is recognition of a study that we gave our all. It was great news that Orkestra had chosen our study for the competition, but actually winning in an international event, over groups from other universities from all over the world has been truly unforgettable. We would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the competitors and particularly the other winning teams.
Based on your work and experience, what do you think an MOC project needs to shine at a university like Harvard?
We think the key factor was hard work, in addition to using all that we had learned during the Microeconomics of Competitiveness course. In addition, having a professional background was a key aspect. This enabled us to start out with complete rigorous analyses to draw conclusions. It was also important to realise that the analysis was not the end in itself but was a means to draw conclusions to help in decision-making. These conclusions also have to be based on reliable evidence and developed. We had to adjust to what Harvard was expecting, which was what would really contribute value to the cluster being studied. On the other hand, we chose the right cluster as it enabled us to know and analyse a highly intensive area in innovation that managed to turn around a very difficult situation through innovation.
