How German Companies apply Roadmapping: Evidence from an Empirical Study

Roadmapping is a method able to integrate different planning levels and to allocate options within these levels, using the metaphor of guidance through the complexity of a geographic landscape. Roadmaps enable companies to explore and choose the best possible route from available options. Today, roadmapping (and strategy in general) is confronted with new challenges. Industry trends such as an increasing digitization, smart systems and the internet of things are forcing companies to consider fields in their roadmapping processes that are extending beyond traditional core competencies. The aim of the presented research is to identify current roadmapping practices applied in industrial companies in Germany. To reach this aim, characterizing parameters for roadmap design, as well as future challenges, recommendations and pitfalls were investigated with the help of practitioners from industrial companies in an internet survey.