Fraunhofer-Institut für Produktionsanlagen und Konstruktionstechnik IPK

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A contribution to the interpretation of organizational resilience (Or) based on the analysis of key drivers and conceptual elements

2021 , Hecklau, Fabian , Kidschun, Florian , Kohl, Holger , Hizal, Gamze Gül

Organizations are increasingly confronted with unexpected events, which can occur within or outside the organization and relate to various dimensions or aspects. The significance and extent of its impact on the organization can be quite surprising (Duchek 2020). Despite the fact that academic interest in this subject area has grown steadily in recent years, its conceptualization is not yet fully developed. There is no consensus on the meaning of resilience and the elements it contains. This paper contributes to the understanding and need for organizational resilience (OR) and also reveals gaps in its conceptualization. Resilience is understood as the ability of an organization to repel, prepare for, consider, absorb, recover from and adapt ever more successfully to actual or potential adverse events. Those events are either catastrophes or processes of change with catastrophic outcome which can have human, technical or natural causes.(Thoma 2014) In order to survive in an uncertain environment and promote future success, organizations must be able to deal with all these manifestations of the unexpected and catapult themselves out of the crisis. They have to develop a capacity for resilience that enables them to react appropriately to unexpected events and to make capital from events that could potentially threaten the survival of an organization (Lengnick-Hall et al. 2011; Duchek 2020; Denyer 2017; Aguilar 1967). In literature and practice, there are various approaches to OR, which consist of phase models that also allow an assessment of an organization as resilience using a maturity model. From the examined methods in this paper it follows that the resilience capability is questioned only after occurrence of an adverse event and no "preparation phase" according to the Fraunhofer resilience cycle exists. This ex post approach endangers not only the competitive position, but also the existence of an organization.

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Analyzing the role of research and technology organizations (RTOs) in national innovation systems (NIS)

2020 , Hecklau, Fabian , Kidschun, Florian , Kohl, Holger , Tominaj, S.

This paper conducts an extensive literature review to derive the role and positioning of Research and Technology Organizations (RTOs) in National Innovation Systems (NIS). Special attention is paid to the identification of main actors and the structure of a national innovation system in order to define the term ""applied research organizations"" and to analyse research and development, as they enable to describe the structure of innovation systems. The innovative performance of a country depends on the functionality of its national innovation systems, the active interaction of the involved actors and the technological maturity of the NIS (OECD 1997). NIS are defined as networks of institutions in the private and public sector that interact with each other to develop, modify and transform new technologies. They take over different activities and functions between basic research and market maturity. (Freeman 1995) In a NIS, different actors are active in promoting innovation. In general, a corporate sector generates the demand for innovation and a network of organizations consisting of universities, laboratories and political institutions acts as a supporting part. Together, they contribute to advancements in their fields. (Teubal 2002). Thus, the analysis of NIS represents a possible approach for the identification of actors, their field of actuation and especially of the role of RTOs. For these purposes, one of the best-known structuring approaches is the triple helix model of innovation, which focuses on the three main actors: science, industry and government. (Etzkowitz and Leydesdorff 1995; Ranga and Etzkowitz 2013) When analyzing the main actors of this system, it becomes clear that RTOs play a significant role for national innovation systems. RTOs are driving forces of digital transformation and economic growth as they increase innovation-related capabilities in industry and develop state-of-the-art technologies. As intermediaries between universities and private organizations, RTOs act as connecting organizations in the innovation system and pursue innovation for economy, society and governments.

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Generic process model for the structured analysis of methods: A method engineering approach for the analysis of RTO capability methodologies

2020 , Hecklau, Fabian , Kidschun, Florian , Kohl, Holger , Tominaj, Sokol

This paper derives and describes a generic process model for the structured analysis of methods used in the context of the capability of Research and Technology Organizations (RTOs). A literature review is conducted in diverse knowledge areas in order to identify existing process models for selecting, adapting, and developing new methods for given research interests - which is herein referred to as method engineering. The core aspects of the analyzed models are consolidated in a general, holistic model that substantiates decision-making throughout the method engineering process. Application possibilities and limitations of the model are discussed.

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Innovation through network management. A method for determining collaboration potential

2016 , Cap, Jan-Patrick , Blaich, Erik , Pavim, Alberto Xaver , Will, Markus , Kohl, Holger , Orth, Ronald

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Development of a Conceptual Understanding of the term Technological Capability

2021 , Hecklau, Fabian , Kidschun, Florian , Kohl, Holger , Hizal, Gamze Gül

The term "technological capability" has been studied for almost 40 years. It is an important component of technology strategy that contributes to the success and strengthening of organizations competitiveness. There are numerous attempts to define the term in the literature, but it is always used in different contexts. Thus, the definition of technological capability varies depending on the researcher's perspective and objectives. Therefore, the main objective of this research is to develop an own definition and interpretation of the term technological capability. To this end, an extensive literature review will be conducted to examine the basic concepts and management areas of technological capability and to analyze the individual definitions of the term. The subsequent goal is to derive an understanding of what technological capability is in terms of research and technology organizations.

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Literature review: Impact assessment of research and technology organizations

2020 , Kidschun, Florian , Hecklau, Fabian , Kohl, Holger , Sarikaya, B.

Due to their ability to bridge the gap between knowledge created by basic research and market requirements, Research and Technology Organizations (RTOs) play a major role in countries' innovation systems. Their R&D results should lead to innovations, which in turn generate the economic output of public investment in research and development. Moreover, they should support the foundation of new companies and industrial innovations. Given the continuing pressures of growing challenges, such as the digital transformation with its significant impact on organizations of all sectors, the changing behavior of customers and the rise of new business models, there is a higher demand for evaluating the actual contribution of RTOs in national innovation systems. It becomes essential for policy makers to gain a transparent insight into relevant and comprehensive performance metrics showing the impact of RTOs from a micro- and macroeconomic perspective. This is complemented by the increase of interest and funding in research and innovation in both public and private sectors. Governments and other clients seek to determine the value of their investments in applied R&D. Simply stating assumptions of achieving a positive impact is not enough anymore, RTOs must provide robust evidence that this impact is actually being accomplished by their research and innovation activities. Yet, the definition of impact and its operationalization in specific performance indicators seem to differ across literature. Against this background, this contribution aims to review impact assessment studies to address the challenge of a missing standard of impact assessment methods for RTOs. Therefore, existing impact studies of RTOs are to be analyzed and compared according to their overall approaches, frameworks and metrics. Therewith, possible limitations among the different assessment strands will be identified. Moreover, further methodological development possibilities for the impact assessment of RTOs will be discussed.

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Agile competence management for flexible production systems

2016 , Oertwig, Nicole , Galeitzke, Mila , Hecklau, Fabian , Kohl, Holger

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Structured analysis of methodologies for the assessment of the technological capability of RTOs - Using a method engineering approach

2020 , Hecklau, Fabian , Kidschun, Florian , Kohl, Holger , Tominaj, S.

New state-of-the-art technologies in evolving markets enable organizations to lead the competition and gain advantages over their competitors. The constantly changing technological developments and market demands not only affect industrial companies but also Research and Technology Organizations (RTOs). As RTOs are situated between universities and organizations that pursue fundamental research on the one hand, and business entities on the other, they are strongly influenced by changing economical environments. Hence, to generate value for their customers, RTOs need to use state-of-the-art technologies in order to be able to provide high-quality products and services to their customers. In consequence, regular analysis and assessment of the technological capability of RTOs is an important strategy to ensure progress and success. In previous research work a generic process model for the structured analysis of methods used in the context of the technological capability of Research and Technology Organizations has been developed. Therefore, method engineering approaches have been used as a basis to create a holistic model that can be used as a structured approach for the analysis of methodologies. Building on this, this paper uses the approach to analyze different methodologies. The generic process model of method engineering will be applied to analyze existing methodologies for the assessment of technological capabilities of RTOs in a structured way. Therefore, a literature review is conducted to identify existing methodologies in the context of the technological capabilities of organizations with a special interest in RTOs. Furthermore, the identified methodologies are assessed using the method engineering approach. In a final step, limitations and further developments of methodologies for the assessment of technological capabilities are discussed.

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Learning Environment for Introduction in Discrete-Event Simulation for Design and Improvement of New and Existing Material Flow Systems

2020 , Schumacher, Bastian C. , Kohl, Holger

In this paper, ways are shown how students can be familiarized with executing simulation studies for the design and improvement of new and existing material flow systems using flexible discrete-event simulation (DES) tools. The prototypical app "Production Simulation Application" is described. It combines learning-conducive components that are used to familiarize users with objects, the graphical model buildup, and the use of programming language. Game elements such as levels, badges, and points are shaped to motivate learners to interact frequently. They enable immediate feedback. A test shows that the app has been used repeatedly at short intervals beyond the course. A procedure for experience-based learning for conducting simulation studies is developed, in which a so-called learning factory enables learners to complete a simulation study. It is shown that the developments can contribute to the dissemination of DES and to increasing the planning quality in times of rising complexity of production systems.

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Inter-organizational network management in an innovation context: Combining ego and whole network perspective

2016 , Cap, Jan-Patrick , Blaich, Erik , Kohl, Holger , Raesfeld, Ariane von , Harms, Rainer , Will, Markus

Although there is growing interest into the research field of inter-organizational innovation networks, few attempts have been made to develop systematic methods for the active management of such networks. This is especially true for approaches combining the view of single actors and the network as a whole. In response to this gap, this research presents a new method for the management of inter-organizational networks that can help to increase innovation outcome. The introduced approach accomplishes two goals. Firstly, it provides guidance for the measurement of the current collaboration status of a network, its optimal future collaboration status and the gap between them. Secondly, it provides systematics for the development of clear network management strategies for each network actor for closing this collaboration gap. As a result, better exploitation of existing collaboration potential is expected to increase innovation output. The method builds upon work by Kohl et al. (2015) who approached network management on a whole network level providing a solution for the management of entire networks and Ojasalo (2004) who suggested a network management method taking the perspective of a single network actor on the so called ego level. The novelty value of the presented method lies in the demonstration of how these different levels of network management can be combined. The two levels of analysis are linked through reliance on the same data set. The developed method is demonstrated through a case study. The analysis builds upon a questionnaire asking network actors for an estimation of the current collaboration status and a future collaboration potential amongst them. Social network analysis software was used to calculate network measures such as the level of density and to visualize the network graphically. As a result customized strategies for improving collaboration within the investigated network are presented.

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