Fraunhofer-Institut für Produktionsanlagen und Konstruktionstechnik IPK

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European standardization of innovation management: The sufficiency of the CEN/TS 16555 in the 6th generation of innovation management

2019 , Cap, J.-P. , Hinzmann, F. , Kohl, H. , Orth, R.

Although being an innovator is an important role to play for significant growth and profitability of firms to gain competitive advantages, companies struggle to find and implement an efficient and effective innovation management system and innovation process for new product development (Salomo et al. 2007). The emerge of innovations is rarely incidentally, therefore, require a systematic approach. To enhance the innovation system, companies are constrained to develop and implement the necessary framework for all innovation activity. Contrary to regular management objectives, innovation management can constrain new barriers and unknown challenges and requires therefore a different approach compared to routine functions (Granig und Perusch 2012). The CEN/TS 16555 has the objective to prescribe technical requirements to be fulfilled for the development and implementation of a sustainable innovation management system into an organisation. The centre of this innovation management model is the innovation process which starts with an idea and ends with innovation results. As organisational aspects, such as innovation supportive leadership, strategy, factors and techniques are key elements of this model, the innovation process get enriched by assessment, improvement and planning of the process itself (Technical Specification 16555-1). This paper investigates the current European standardization activity regarding the implementation of innovation management approaches to tackle the abovementioned challenge of the implementation of innovation management in reference to the in DIN Spec CEN/TS 16555 introduced in 2016 by the European Committee for Standardization (CEN). This paper will analyse the CEN/TS 16555 for its sufficiency regarding the bigger picture of innovation management by linking it to main literature and best practices. For the comparison of the specification and the innovation management requirements and purposes, this paper will specifically focus on the innovation management framework in the 6 generation of innovation management.

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Sustainable corporate development measured by intangible and tangible resources as well as targeted by safeguard subjects

2015 , Orth, R. , Scheumann, R. , Galeitzke, M. , Wolf, K. , Kohl, H. , Finkbeiner, M.

The needed shift towards sustainable development in existing business processes can be achieved through the combination of the capital based approach and the life cycle sustainability assessment. This contribution performs an analysis and selection of assessment tools and indicators regarding the resources used in organisational processes and the life cycle of the products or services to measure the potential impacts on the environment and society. The relevance of intangible capital to improve the organisational sustainability performance as well as the expansion of the traditional dimensions of sustainability with the target of the six safeguard subjects: human health, social justice, ecosystem quality, financial stability, resource availability and man-made environment are integrated into a conceptual framework. This approach allows the development and implementation of strategies towards sustainable corporate development through a recommendation-based framework.

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Support of innovation networks in manufacturing industries through identification of sustainable collaboration potential and best-practice transfer

2015 , Kohl, H. , Orth, R. , Riebartsch, O. , Galeitzke, M. , Cap, J.-P.

The increasing global competition within today's manufacturing industries is confronting organizations with interdisciplinary challenges that require intellectual expertise and innovative technological solutions in various knowledge areas. Research organizations and manufacturing companies can improve their overall performance by bundling expertise in collaborative innovation networks. For this purpose a systematic Benchmarking approach has been developed by Fraunhofer IPK to match the competencies and capacities within a pool of organizations in order to facilitate a sustainable cooperation in terms of resources, customers and R&D topics. Furthermore, a KPI-based identification of best performing network-partners allows an initiation of Best-Practice transfers to gain sustainable competitive advantages for the whole network. Based on a methodological approach, the identification of collaboration potentials and Best-Practices is supported by software tools that visualize the results in an understandable and applicable way.

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Sustainability incubators

2013 , Kohl, H. , Orth, R. , Galeitzke, M.

Combining the strength of small and medium-sized enterprises to operate and innovate in networks and the guidance of a sustainability incubator is an application-oriented solution to the described mission to progress the sustainable development from the private sector. The beneficial framework conditions for the enterprise network and the direction predetermined by the objective of the sustainability incubator are an initial step towards this imperative. Supporting the small and medium-sized enterprises of the manufacturing sector is an essential economic policy to underline the sustainable development of almost any economy. The provision of education, employment and economic added value are substantial contributions of these enterprises. The knowledge of the enterprises and thereby the capabilities of the personnel within the network are utilized to create services and products in an effective and efficient way enabling the increase of sustainability performance of the individual enterprises. The strong and innovative network that is coordinated by the sustainability incubator benefits of the systematic management of the success factors and their utilization and gains potential to increase its innovation activities in regard to environmental and social determination factors. The division corporate management of the Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology (IPK) has gathered experience in both the provision of knowledge management solutions as well as the research regarding knowledge management in networks to increase sustainability. Furthermore the development of new methodologies for the measurement and evaluation of the sustainability performance of SME is an essential aspect of its research and development activities. As part of the future research, a case study with a network of collaborating SMEs is intended that utilizes the learning about small scale enterprises and incubators, the strategic and implementation planning of science and technology parks as well as the comprehensive understanding of national innovation systems.

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Intellectual Capital-Driven Technology and Innovation Management

2017 , Galeitzke, M. , Steinhöfel, E. , Orth, R. , Kohl, H.

The significance of intangible resources with regard to business success in general has evidently increased. This paper aims to draw conclusions on a broad empirical basis with regard to internal drivers of innovation and related differences between manufacturing and service enterprises. Measures to improve the enterprises' innovation capability are studied on the basis of 38 intellectual capital statements. Furthermore, the data gained from a large scale survey among more than 1000 enterprises is analyzed with regard to product as well as process innovation. In subsequence, the results of both analyses are matched and compared.

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Intellectual capital statements as a driver for regional development

2015 , Kohl, H. , Wuscher, S. , Orth, R. , Steinhöfel, E.

The definition of Intellectual Capital (IC) and the methodology of creating Intellectual Capital Statements (ICS) in small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) as well as in larger companies and organizational networks have been adequately researched over the last years. The experience gained from more than 1.000 implementations of ICS in European companies has been utilized to derive a standard set of 15 IC factors according to the common categorization into Human Capital, Structural Capital and Relational Capital, which is stable and mainly applicable on the company-level. Since the concept of IC on the company level has been established, first investigations have started to come up with different concepts of IC and ICS on the regional level. These concepts show that both, the definition of IC and the procedure for implementing ICS on the regional level, are not adequately investigated yet though. Therefore, the requirement is to develop and test a stable regional IC concept, meaning a suitable definition of IC and an adjusted procedure for implementing ICS on the regional level. Against this background, the paper at hand seeks to illustrate a conceptual framework for determining and measuring IC on different actor levels (micro, meso and macro level). The illustration of the conceptual framework is based on a literature review of four different regional IC concepts from Germany and of further existing Intellectual Capital concepts on regional and national level. The findings indicate that the definition of IC and the procedure of implementing ICS on the regional level are not adequately investigated yet and an adapted procedure with a balanced combination of quantitative measurement and qualitative assessment of IC is required. The paper introduces a preliminary set of harmonized IC success factors for regions based on a recent survey and workshop with more than 65 representatives from the local and regional level in Germany carried out in September 2014. Furthermore, the paper discusses possible approaches of procedures for implementing Intellectual Capital Statements on the regional level, which is and will be investigated further on in current and planned research projects.

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IC future check: Greater transparency within the credit process

2014 , Wuscher, S. , Kohl, H. , Orth, R.

Field reports and surveys have shown that complementing financial data with information on intangibles can sharpen the view on creditworthiness of an organisation. Especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) are facing the challenge that the intangibles which thus far have not been taken into account are to make transparent for their respective banks. At the same time banks adopt such qualitative information in their lending decisions to optimize their risk portfolio. This paper presents the tool box "IC Future Check" which has been developed and tested in cooperation with financial institutions and businesses within a project for the German Federal Ministry of Economy and Technology. In this context it shows how the "IC Future Check" systematically supports the communication between bank and business and increases the transparency of intangibles. In a case study of a German SME the practical use of the "IC Future Check" is demonstrated in the credit lending process. The presented tool "IC Future Check" can provide significant support to the communication between SMEs and banks and to reduce existing information asymmetries. This puts SMEs in position to present their future potential in a structured way and to show the transparency regarding their intangible success factors.

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Comparative analysis of German and Brazilian innovation systems to improve binational cooperation

2017 , Melo, G. , Haunschild, J. , Orth, R. , Will, M. , Kohl, H.

Brazil is the core economy of Latin America, and Germany plays that role for the EU. Bilateral relations between Brazil and Germany are long-standing and comprehensive. For more than 140 years, Brazil and Germany have been connected by active bilateral diplomatic relations. Based on this solid relation and their economic positions, it is interesting to find means of collaboration, especially in long-term strategies as innovation. Based on broadly literature review, this study attempts to identify strength and weaknesses of each National Innovation System through a framework that comprises six different functions and three types of interactions between the actors in the system. They are policy formulation, performing R&D, financing R&D, promotion of human resource development, technology bridging, promotion of technological entrepreneurship; R&D collaboration, technology diffusion, labour mobility. This research contributes to a new perspective that is particularly interested in the differences in these structures in developing countries and countries at the frontier. Besides, the outcome of this study guides insights on how two leading economies, which have historical great relations, could better cooperate in innovation, science and technology field. This study attempts to examine, by means of a SWOT analysis, the Brazilian and German Innovation System in order to suggest improvements on each system and the binational cooperation concerning science, technology and innovation. The first step of the paper is the identification of the strengths and weakness in each National Innovation System based on library resources, articles, reports and other secondary data. In a second step, through interviews with relevant experts, the study tries to clarify the opportunities and threats on the binational cooperation.

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Strategic intellectual capital management as a driver of organisational innovation

2015 , Galeitzke, M. , Steinhöfel, E. , Orth, R. , Kohl, H.

The significance of intangible resources for business success has evidently increased. Analyses have indicated some intellectual capital factors as the most prominent and important, yet the impact on the intra- and inter-organisational innovation ecosystems has not been analysed thoroughly. This contribution seeks to close this gap and draw conclusions with regard to drivers of innovation and related differences between manufacturing and service enterprises. The analysis of the correlation between intellectual capital and innovation capabilities allows statements regarding those intellectual capital factors, onto which enterprises should focus to foster innovation. The qualitative content-related analysis of the 38 intellectual capital statements of German enterprises with regard to new and different types of innovation management methodologies allows the identification of existing gaps in intellectual capital management.

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Sustainability analysis for indicator-based benchmarking solutions

2013 , Kohl, H. , Orth, R. , Riebartsch, O.

In times of scarce resources, the concept of sustainability management has become tremendously important within today's business environment. The integration of a sustainable perspective into corporate management structures does not only satisfy the involved stakeholders, but rather prepares a company to cope with the continuously increasing challenges on the markets. The Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology (IPK) offers the BenchmarkIndex-Analysis that allows especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) to measure their business performance based on selected indicators of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC). Since the methodology and the broad dissemination of the BenchmarkIndex represent a promising opportunity for a wide application of sustainability management solutions, an analysis of existing and potential sustainability indicators was carried out to identify how an adaption of the BenchmarkIndex can consider the long-term economic, but in particular the environmental and social aspects of sustainability.

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