Abstract

Although best practice transfer methodologies have become an increasingly common instrument
in enterprise policy development, barriers to the exchange and dissemination of knowledge may
limit their effectiveness. Using START, an EC-funded network of regional agencies, as a case
this paper explores the dynamics of experience exchange in regional enterprise policy. Working
closely with the START partnership, the authors developed a detailed account of how the
network communicated and disseminated cases and instances of regional start-up policy and
practice between themselves. Partners in START were more likely to adapt abstracted
principles, concepts and ideas that informed changes to their own practices than to adopt
specific initiatives from other regions. This suggests a need to re-focus best practice transfer
methodologies away from the transplantation of established practices towards encouraging
interactive and collaborative learning based on the sharing of experience.