Search

Collaborations between market incumbents and start-ups offer great benefits for both parties. However, the partner matching process presents a major challenge due to their asymmetry. Intermediaries can support the initiation of such collaborations by matchmaking events. Addressing the scarce research about matchmaking events between market incumbents and start-ups, this paper examines whether and to what extent both partners can benefit. Based on a matchmaking event in the German manufacturing industry in 2019, the paper applies a mixed-method approach. Market incumbent's perspective was investigated quantitatively via an online survey among 220 firms. The start-up perspective was analysed qualitatively by semi-structured interviews. Results show differences in the perceived benefit. Start-ups perceive their main benefit in the networking opportunity in terms of creating customer-relationships, growing the professional network, and collecting valuable feedback. Incumbents benefit in terms of initiated collaborations, network expansion, and received information about trends and new technologies in the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The food industry is currently undergoing dynamic changes due to the rising interest in plant-based food. The demand for plant-based meal alternatives is continuously rising. As the sixth most popular country for plant-based meals, Germany is leading this vegan trend, among other western countries. In view of this, this paper aims to contribute to current studies by identifying challenges and drivers which influence the adoption process of plant-based meals in Germany. Through a semi-systematic literature review and based on Rogers’ Diffusion of Innovations Theory, this paper further analyses important connections between the challenges and drivers of the adoption process as well as inter-related impacts within them. The results indicate that both challenges and drivers influence each other and can be employed by companies to accelerate the adoption of plant-based meals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this research paper is to determine whether storytelling can positively influence public acceptance of digital finance business models – fintechs – in Germany. We conducted seven structured interviews with experts from the finance and branding sectors and quantitative research on a sample of Germans. Our findings provide valuable insight into the status quo of digitalisation in the German finance sector and the importance of storytelling as a marketing tool. They highlight the strong potential of fintechs, showing that storytelling positively influences public acceptance of innovative financial service providers. Notably, however, personal contact with a traditional financial advisor is shown to still be highly important to the German respondents. This study offers valuable information for banks concerning their future positioning in the financial market as well as for fintech companies looking to enter the German financial market or increase their market share. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our paper analyses, how the interplay of actors and regulations in Germanys dual system shaped innovation and market processes in the innovation ecosystem of post-consumer plastics recycling. In our paper, we develop a model of the innovation ecosystem based on 20 expert interviews and discuss, how institutional factors influenced the system outcome. Government regulation led to the establishment of a functioning market for recycling products and triggered product and process innovations. Three recycling market segments developed that differ in respect to competition and market behaviour and market outcomes. The new packaging law established in 2019 increases the market volume but does not fully address existing problems in market development. Our results show that policy makers need a long-term approach to overcome temporary problems in establishing an innovation environment. A continuous adaption of the regulatory environment is required to avoid unwanted developments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing research shows that commodities have a high relevance in Business to Business (B2B. A study by Roland Berger proves that 63% of all 10 participating industries are affected by commodities (Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, 2014). The purpose of this paper is to create a technique to measure commodities in B2B industries. Our research is based on literature reviews and expert group interviews with German and Swiss B2B companies. The main findings were that commodity measurement is actually not researched in depth and despite of a need, not implemented in companies. A commodity measurement technique that provides a quantitative solution for measuring and evaluating commodities is still missing. The paper provides an approach for commodity measurement including relevant factors and associated indicators in order to measure commodities in B2B industries. This technique supports companies in their decisions towards product innovation by using identified critical commodity levers for product improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate how companies operating in innovation ecosystems address the challenge of integrating the dimensions of knowledge and business into innovation ecosystems. We focus on microelectronics and photonics in Germany as examples of knowledge- and research-intensive industries in which digitisation plays a significant role. In particular, we analyse the cooperation between companies and research organisations. We explore whether and to what extent companies develop different and new strategies for cooperating with research institutions within innovation ecosystems, on the basis of which we identify two ideal types of strategies. While ideal type A is mostly conventional and traditional, aiming towards obtaining specific knowledge in order to further develop a particular technology or product, ideal type B seeks to harness the new and full potential of innovation ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the evolvement of the discussion about digitization of industrial value chains (in Germany referred to as "Industrie 4.0"), the group of organizations promoting this term initiated several activities, of which the most important for the work presented here are the framework for standardization of such industrial processes (RAMI 4.0), the definition of value chains and value chain networks and of appropriate business model creation techniques (see Industrie 4.0 Platform (2016)). Model based systems engineering might be an appropriate tool to facilitate successful product development for digitized value chains and business models (Meussen (2017)). This paper takes a closer look at the question how model based systems engineering may be implemented in product development processes and how the benefit from using model based systems engineering to develop customer individualized products may be maximized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to the OECD, organizational innovation is the implementation of a new organizational method, e.g. in the firm's workplace organization, but literature suggests that it is still widely unresolved on how to innovate the knowledge work organization in companies. Based on the analysis of twenty in-depth interviews with German managers in charge of work organization in their respective companies, this paper formulates a hypothesis that for the innovation of the work organization to be successful it requires a special sequence in the introduction of new organizational practices and therefore a special innovation management approach. Specifically, results presented here suggest that technology-related aspects of organizational innovations should not lag behind human-related aspects of work organizational innovations. A concurrent innovation method - by altering both dimensions simultaneously - might be even the most promising approach to organizational innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) poses large impacts on business models (BM) of established manufacturing companies within several industries. Thus, this paper aims at analyzing the influence of the IIoT on these BMs with particular respect to differences and similarities dependent on varying industry sectors. For this purpose, we employ an exploratory multiple case study approach based on semi-structured expert interviews in 69 manufacturing companies from the five most important German industries. Owing the lack of previous research, our study contributes to the current state of management literature by revealing the following valuable insights with regard to industry-specific BM changes: The machine and plant engineering companies are mainly facing changing workforce qualifications, the electrical engineering and information and communication technology companies are particularly concerned with the importance of novel key partner networks, and automotive suppliers predominantly exploit IIoT-inherent benefits in terms of an increasing cost efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main purpose of this paper is to explore the nature of the involvement of highly qualified external employees in companies' innovation activities, and especially freelancers. For organizations, gaining new knowledge and innovative ideas from a highly qualified flexible workforce tends to be overshadowed by concerns regarding the protection of knowledge. Using a qualitative case study approach, empirical data were collected through 40 interviews from German companies coming from different industries, including automotive, heavy machinery, chemical, pharmaceutical, electronics, insurance and others. Semi-structured interviews with CEOs and top managers were conducted and analyzed using content analysis. Findings suggest that companies might by sitting on a rich source of innovative ideas they may not be aware of, and that there is still a lot to be done to maximize the innovative potential of the flexible workforce. Some implications for research and practice are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given the growing connectedness and exchange between different actors of the innovation systems, and the increasing openness of innovation processes, external sources of knowledge have become more important and are a key driver of innovations. Based on empirical data, this paper presents novel insights into the ability of non-R&D-performing firms to access external sources of innovation knowledge differentiated by type of source and different fields of innovation. The findings show that R&D-performers are not better equipped to access external knowledge than firms without R&D. Non-R&Dperforming firms succeed in drawing innovation impulses from external sources just as well as R&D-performing ones, but they are more oriented towards practical, market-based knowledge sources. On the other hand, we found that external sources appear to be less important for implementing innovations than expected. Both types of manufacturing firms have the potential to reap more benefits from exploiting external knowledge stocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation management often is confronted with complexity and uncertainties. To face these challenges firms use an Innovation Management Control system to plan, evaluate, and control their innovation activities. First studies confirm the positive effect of IMC on innovation performance. Nevertheless, managers and academics still are unsatisfied with its practical and theoretical foundation. Based on these findings, we conceptualize three distinct IMC capabilities and test their effect on innovation performance within an empirical study (n=100) conducted in Germany. We analyse how firms are supposed to be organized and structured to support IMC in unfolding its capabilities and assess the respective effects on performance. The study follows a dyadic design. Our findings show that, a satisfactory exercise of the different IMC capabilities on the levels of innovation system, portfolio and project exhibit a stronger positive influence on innovation performance than the organization itself or clearly defined processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation hubs are a promising new way to foster innovations in rural areas. However, research in this field is still at a preliminary stage. The literature neither provides a clear definition, nor a systematic overview of types and roles of these hubs. To help close this research gap, we conducted interviews with ten different innovation hubs in Germany. Based on our qualitative content analysis, we were able to identify four central roles of hubs (supporters, knowledge brokers, networkers, and physical experiment spaces) and describe their specific functioning. Further, we found indications that each of these roles has a specific influence on the development of rural areas. With these insights, our study provides a useful basis for future research as well as a successful management of innovation hubs in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to investigate whether Germany and its Silver Agers are ready for technological start-ups in the healthcare sector. Seven structured interviews were conducted with experts of the German healthcare sector, and quantitative research was performed with German Silver Agers. Our primary findings show that the necessary framework conditions for a telemedical start-up in Germany are not guaranteed due to slow progress in terms of digitisation, a lack of information technology standards, and insufficient investment in care structures. Moreover, the traditional attitude of German Silver Agers represents a further hurdle. Although they are generally positive about telemedicine technologies, German Silver Agers prefer to visit a physician in person. Therefore, this study offers a source for largescale and individual projects as well as start-up companies seeking to enter the German health sector market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fueled by the SARS-COV-2 Pandemic, hybrid business models that combine online and offline sales channels have become indispensable for the survival of retailers. Local retail in particular shows a strong need for improvement to maintain economically strong and attractive city centers in the future. In the context of a case study from Aachen, Germany we derive, combining qualitative and quantitative research methodologies, factors that influence the retailers’ intention to use multiple sales channels in a local context. We find five main factors influencing the local retailers’ intention to use multichannel tools. In addition to financial and time-related obstacles, we observe that there is a critical company size that has a negative impact on the integration of different sales channels, while a low technology anxiety as well as the degree of involvement in further digitization activities influence the usage intention positively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Academic spin-offs are an important phenomenon in developed economies to foster growth. They are supported by many institutions such as incubators, hubs or science parks. Still, academic spin-offs account only for a fraction of startup companies in Germany. Particularly high-tech spin-offs appear to be struggling due to higher infrastructure costs and research-intensity. Prior research already identified different phases in the academic spin-off process and attributed certain characteristics and challenges to them. We used a phase model based on research on natural sciences and technological spin-offs to examine potential and established founders as well as institutional incubation managers from the German photonic branch. We found that there are indeed phase-specific challenges and subsequent needs and offers that might meet them such as workshops or mentoring. However, founders might only be aware of them in retro-perspective or through incubation managers. We only found this effect in the first two phases. Possibly, due to the fact that our sample only included potential and recently established founders. We also found iterating processes and phase overlaps, which suggests applying a more dynamic model in future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovations are increasingly emerging from networks in which different competencies can be bundled with the help of the Open Innovation (OI) paradigm. The present first of its kind case study examined the knowledge and dissemination of Open Innovation among German SMEs from the traditional industry of technical textiles with the help of an online questionnaire and personal interviews. In this way, it can make a significant contribution to the understanding of opportunities, risks and concerns regarding OI in SMEs. So far, this understanding only existed for larger companies and corporations. In this examination approximately 20% of the whole industry participated. The results of the study show that Open Innovation is seen as a great potential for improving innovation activities in SMEs. It is widespread among these enterprises but at the same time lacking behind the number of larger corporations that are active in the field of Open Innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interdisciplinary research approaches are becoming more and more relevant, particularly in order to address the increasingly complex challenges of our time. To transfer important technological knowledge from this field of research, university-technology-transfer (UTT) represents an important way to strengthen economic growth and development of local regions. However, related UTT policies show weaknesses in support of the transfer process as well as in adapting appropriately to particular disciplines and local peculiarities. The aim of this article is therefore to examine the suitability and improvement opportunities of UTT policies on meeting specific needs of interdisciplinary research within the transfer process. We endeavour to achieve this goal by drawing on the case of German battery research within a qualitatively explorative approach by referring to 30 interviewees’ expert knowledge. New perspectives on the interdependency of research management and UTT policies to support transfer activities in interdisciplinary settings are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SMEs in German industry are known for being naturally innovative and active in networking activities for innovation. Due to the benefits of networks for innovation, measures have been taken by German policy to implement additional top-down innovation networks. It has been however acknowledged that networks implanted by policy from a top-down approach have a higher failure rate when compared to networks solely supported by the network partners. The purpose of this work is to analyze seven top-down networks that were funded by policy-incentives over a period of three years. After this period the network either collapsed or evolved to a sustained form, supported by committed network partners. The focus of the study is on how these networks, which resulted in either committed or uncommitted partners, were created and managed over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technology transfer is on the agenda of every policy maker in the world. However, according to our literature review, current research is quite anemic with regard to technology transfer from developed to less developed countries in general, and to success factors and performance indicators of such transfer in particular. In response, we deployed a qualitative case study design and investigate success factors of transnational technology from Germany to Brazil. We identified a set of known and quite new factors that should be taken into account when aiming at making technology transfer more efficient. The final goal of this research is to develop a system of Key Performance Indicators (KPI) to be able to better monitor future technology transfer projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Effectuation" is a relatively new concept of entrepreneurial decision-making based on research of the U.S. most successful entrepreneurs. The concept has gained international attention in the media and in the field of entrepreneurship research and education. Instead of starting a new venture by detailed business planning to reach predefined goals, experienced entrepreneurs rather follow an emergent way of actions by (1) creating a project through actions, (2) starting with their means, (3) building partnerships, (4) investing only what they can afford to lose and (5) their openness for contingencies. This is the first study, which examined if effectuation is a cross-cultural concept based on research with Germany's most successful entrepreneurs. It turned out that German entrepreneurs follow less the effectual approach than their U.S. colleagues, however it plays still an important role for them. This study is a starting point in order to do research in more countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This empirical study provides insights into the status, dynamics and benefits of German companies' usage of digital platforms and open innovation approaches in their innovation processes. The sample consists of 193 German Value Creation Champions (VCC) that perform a lot of in-house value-added and place relatively little emphasis on outsourcing. Digital innovation platforms to support innovation work are used by about half of those surveyed. However, only 15% of the companies surveyed use an open IT platform that gives external parties access to the innovation process. The most important benefit of IT-based innovation platforms is seen in a better organisation and transparency of the idea generation and innovation process (61%) and its acceleration (55%). Most companies, on the other hand, are rather cautious in their assessment that the use of such platforms also leads to more radical solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decade, many organisations started relying on design activities to tackle product, service, and also strategic innovation challenges as well as to envision possible futures for their industries - most prominent in this regard is 'Design Thinking' (DT). The German automotive industry faces unprecedented pressure to transform into a mobility service provider due to the emergence of electro mobility, autonomous driving, car sharing and disruptors like Google Car and Tesla. This situation sets the groundwork for new practices such as DT. Nevertheless, successfully utilizing DT for innovation has not yet been exploited to its full strategic potential. This paper discusses the current application of DT as a tool in the German automotive industry, reveals current obstacles and highlights the unexploited potential to create sustainable innovation by elevating DT to a 'strategic art' rather than a tool or problemsolving methodology (Augsten et al. 2016; Bruce and Bessant 2002; Carlgren et al. 2016; Johansson-Sköldberg et al. 2013; Junginger 2016; Kimbell 2009; Saviranta and Elorante 2015). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The German automotive industry succeeds by technological leadership. Several circumstances like politics of global warming or increased global competition force the whole industry to break new ground for new kinds of collaborative research and development. ARENA2036 represents such a new cooperation form that hosts diverse scientific and industrial partners in one campus in order to research innovative production and light-weight construction topics. The diversity of the partners in ARENA2036 challenges the new product development process (NPDP). In this case study the individual processes of the partners are analysed and a NPDP system is developed. The analysis bases on interviews covering all partners. The NPDP system supports the needs of the interdisciplinary and cross-company partners. It is characterized by a layered structure in order to preserve flexibility for research topics combined with institutionalized parts to manage interfaces. The final NPDP system is evaluated by the partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]