This document summarizes research on how corporate foresight and innovation management can help companies adapt to the transition to a knowledge-based economy. It first discusses how information and knowledge are becoming more important resources, and how this changes industry competition. It then reviews literature establishing corporate foresight and innovation management as key ways for companies to gain competitive advantages. Specifically, it looks at how futures research methods can contribute to the innovation process. Finally, it discusses how the concept of foresight has evolved and is now seen as a broader activity than just futures studies.
This document summarizes a working paper that examines the impact of innovation activities on productivity and firm growth in Brazil. The paper uses microdata from Brazilian manufacturing firms between 2000-2002. It finds that activities like organizational change, cooperation with clients, human capital development, ICT usage, product innovation and learning by exporting were associated with higher productivity levels, with an R&D effect only in the long run. It also finds that while the intensity of innovation activities varies by sector, such activities were important for explaining sales growth differences across firms in all sectors.
Corporate venturing is on the rise. The growing intensity of corporate venturing activities presents extraordinary opportunities for corporations to redefine their innovation and investment practices. While corporate venturing has received considerable research attention, previous studies have often insufficiently captured the evolution of corporate venturing activities. This article presents the key insights of a global study of leading corporate venture units and offers a benchmark against which to compare current and future corporate venturing initiatives. We discuss the state of corporate venturing activities and practices at leading global corporations and outline the distinctive features of today’s venture landscape.
The document summarizes recent developments in strategic management research over the past 25 years. Some of the key areas that have seen significant research include the resource-based view of the firm, competitive strategy, international strategy, strategic leadership, and corporate governance. Emerging areas of research include strategic entrepreneurship, strategy processes, and network strategies. The document also discusses specific topics within these areas that have been a focus of recent research, such as international mergers and acquisitions, emerging markets, innovation, and strategic decision-making processes.
Inter-firm alliances have been regarded as an effective mechanism for acquiring specialized complementary assets and achieving synergies. Although previous literatures have provided important insights on inter-firm technology alliances, few scholars have paid attention to the impact of types of R&D alliances, business similarity and relative size on the value creation for focal firms. Taking the listed firms involved in technological alliances in China’s IT industry as the sample, the article empirically investigated the impact of technological alliance announcements, and characteristics inter-firm technological alliances on the abnormal returns for focal firms is empirically discussed. The results show that technological alliance announcements may increase the abnormal returns for focal firms, and technological alliance announcements by relatively smaller firms can significantly increase their abnormal returns. While the declaration of the technological alliances of firms in similar industries have a significant impact on abnormal returns, while the declaration of dissimilar firms has an insignificant impact on abnormal returns.
Think with me, or think for me on the future role of artificial intelligenc...Ying wei (Joe) Chou
This document discusses the potential role of artificial intelligence in marketing strategy formulation. It finds that:
1) AI is increasingly being used to process large amounts of data and translate it into usable information that can inform marketing strategies.
2) While AI is commonly used for tactical marketing tasks, it also shows promise for aiding strategic decision making by systematically processing data and identifying strategic options.
3) A key consideration is moving beyond using AI just for rational decision making and exploring its potential for more creative strategic thinking through a "creative-possibility perspective."
Critical Factors for New Product Developments in SMEs Virtual TeamNader Ale Ebrahim
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered as an engine for economic growth all over the world and especially for developing countries. During the past decade, new product development (NPD) has increasingly been recognized as a critical factor in ensuring the continued survival of SMEs. On the other hand, the rapid rate of market and technological changes has accelerated in the past decade, so this turbulent environment requires new methods and techniques to bring successful new products to the marketplace. Virtual team can be a solution to answer the requested demand. However, literature have shown no significant differences between traditional NPD and virtual NPD in general, whereas NPD in SME’s virtual team has not been systematically investigated in developing countries. This paper aims to bridge this gap by first reviewing the NPD and its relationship with virtuality and then identifies the critical factors of NPD in virtual teams. The statistical method was utilized to perform the required analysis of data from the survey. The results were achieved through factor analysis at the perspective of NPD in some Malaysian and Iranian manufacturing firms (N = 191). The 20 new product development factors were grouped into five higher level constructs. It gives valuable insight and guidelines, which hopefully will help managers of firms in developing countries to consider the main factors in NPD.
This document discusses a study conducted by Frost & Sullivan on collaboration in global enterprises. The study surveyed decision makers in Europe, Asia, and North America across various industries. It developed a Collaboration Index to measure how collaborative companies are and how collaboration impacts business performance. The study found that collaboration has a significant positive impact on business performance, more so than strategic orientation or market turbulence. Specifically, collaboration improves profitability, profit growth, sales growth, customer satisfaction, labor productivity, product quality, product development, and innovation. The document concludes collaboration is important for meeting both personal and enterprise needs, and is a key driver of business success.
Contribution to Collaborative Innovation Studies: Cases of SMES Moroccan Auto...IJAEMSJORNAL
The aim of this work is to study how collaborative innovation succeeds between a large enterprise and SME relationship (Manufacturer-Equipment) in automotive supply chain using case studies. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with managers in nine firms. The main intention was to understand how these companies engaged collaborative innovation and what the factors were to make it successful. The study adopted a qualitative approach in the study of these factors. The results show the importance of the internal capacities of SMEs (management style, innovation capacities, knowledge management ...) in the success and valorization of such a project. The study provides important lessons on how these relationships can impact the way businesses operate and how they innovate.
This document summarizes a working paper that examines the impact of innovation activities on productivity and firm growth in Brazil. The paper uses microdata from Brazilian manufacturing firms between 2000-2002. It finds that activities like organizational change, cooperation with clients, human capital development, ICT usage, product innovation and learning by exporting were associated with higher productivity levels, with an R&D effect only in the long run. It also finds that while the intensity of innovation activities varies by sector, such activities were important for explaining sales growth differences across firms in all sectors.
Corporate venturing is on the rise. The growing intensity of corporate venturing activities presents extraordinary opportunities for corporations to redefine their innovation and investment practices. While corporate venturing has received considerable research attention, previous studies have often insufficiently captured the evolution of corporate venturing activities. This article presents the key insights of a global study of leading corporate venture units and offers a benchmark against which to compare current and future corporate venturing initiatives. We discuss the state of corporate venturing activities and practices at leading global corporations and outline the distinctive features of today’s venture landscape.
The document summarizes recent developments in strategic management research over the past 25 years. Some of the key areas that have seen significant research include the resource-based view of the firm, competitive strategy, international strategy, strategic leadership, and corporate governance. Emerging areas of research include strategic entrepreneurship, strategy processes, and network strategies. The document also discusses specific topics within these areas that have been a focus of recent research, such as international mergers and acquisitions, emerging markets, innovation, and strategic decision-making processes.
Inter-firm alliances have been regarded as an effective mechanism for acquiring specialized complementary assets and achieving synergies. Although previous literatures have provided important insights on inter-firm technology alliances, few scholars have paid attention to the impact of types of R&D alliances, business similarity and relative size on the value creation for focal firms. Taking the listed firms involved in technological alliances in China’s IT industry as the sample, the article empirically investigated the impact of technological alliance announcements, and characteristics inter-firm technological alliances on the abnormal returns for focal firms is empirically discussed. The results show that technological alliance announcements may increase the abnormal returns for focal firms, and technological alliance announcements by relatively smaller firms can significantly increase their abnormal returns. While the declaration of the technological alliances of firms in similar industries have a significant impact on abnormal returns, while the declaration of dissimilar firms has an insignificant impact on abnormal returns.
Think with me, or think for me on the future role of artificial intelligenc...Ying wei (Joe) Chou
This document discusses the potential role of artificial intelligence in marketing strategy formulation. It finds that:
1) AI is increasingly being used to process large amounts of data and translate it into usable information that can inform marketing strategies.
2) While AI is commonly used for tactical marketing tasks, it also shows promise for aiding strategic decision making by systematically processing data and identifying strategic options.
3) A key consideration is moving beyond using AI just for rational decision making and exploring its potential for more creative strategic thinking through a "creative-possibility perspective."
Critical Factors for New Product Developments in SMEs Virtual TeamNader Ale Ebrahim
Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are considered as an engine for economic growth all over the world and especially for developing countries. During the past decade, new product development (NPD) has increasingly been recognized as a critical factor in ensuring the continued survival of SMEs. On the other hand, the rapid rate of market and technological changes has accelerated in the past decade, so this turbulent environment requires new methods and techniques to bring successful new products to the marketplace. Virtual team can be a solution to answer the requested demand. However, literature have shown no significant differences between traditional NPD and virtual NPD in general, whereas NPD in SME’s virtual team has not been systematically investigated in developing countries. This paper aims to bridge this gap by first reviewing the NPD and its relationship with virtuality and then identifies the critical factors of NPD in virtual teams. The statistical method was utilized to perform the required analysis of data from the survey. The results were achieved through factor analysis at the perspective of NPD in some Malaysian and Iranian manufacturing firms (N = 191). The 20 new product development factors were grouped into five higher level constructs. It gives valuable insight and guidelines, which hopefully will help managers of firms in developing countries to consider the main factors in NPD.
This document discusses a study conducted by Frost & Sullivan on collaboration in global enterprises. The study surveyed decision makers in Europe, Asia, and North America across various industries. It developed a Collaboration Index to measure how collaborative companies are and how collaboration impacts business performance. The study found that collaboration has a significant positive impact on business performance, more so than strategic orientation or market turbulence. Specifically, collaboration improves profitability, profit growth, sales growth, customer satisfaction, labor productivity, product quality, product development, and innovation. The document concludes collaboration is important for meeting both personal and enterprise needs, and is a key driver of business success.
Contribution to Collaborative Innovation Studies: Cases of SMES Moroccan Auto...IJAEMSJORNAL
The aim of this work is to study how collaborative innovation succeeds between a large enterprise and SME relationship (Manufacturer-Equipment) in automotive supply chain using case studies. Data were collected from semi-structured interviews with managers in nine firms. The main intention was to understand how these companies engaged collaborative innovation and what the factors were to make it successful. The study adopted a qualitative approach in the study of these factors. The results show the importance of the internal capacities of SMEs (management style, innovation capacities, knowledge management ...) in the success and valorization of such a project. The study provides important lessons on how these relationships can impact the way businesses operate and how they innovate.
This document discusses financing sources for start-up companies. It begins by defining start-ups and outlining their typical development stages. Early stages are often funded by founders, friends and family, while later stages involve venture capital, angel investors, and other formal sources. The document then examines different types of start-ups and the financing most suitable for each at various stages of growth. Finally, it explores both traditional and newer methods of financing start-ups in Croatia, investigating whether the country has shifted towards modern approaches.
Internationalization and Sustainable Operations: A Broad Investigation of Chi...Scientific Review SR
We investigate if internationalization behaviors encourage sustainable operations of China’s manufacturing firms due to their substantial impact on climate change and special governance modes, and organize a heterogeneity test to clarify what kind of internationalization behaviors can robustly influence such operations. We find that firms with abundant assets and heavy-polluting feature are more committed to sustainable operations. Getting close to international sustainability standards, international auditing standards, and international business all improve sustainable operations. Heterogeneity test further shows that compared with international standards, the positive impact of international business on sustainable operation lacks a robustness, which responds to an argument that for one country, international business acts as a double-edged sword. Overall, this paper reveals internationalization as a key indicator significantly influencing economic, ecological, and social spheres in manufacturing sectors of emerging markets, and complying with well-accepted international standards can be significantly embodied in a more optimistic sustainable operations. However, how to deal with international business in a right manner is a research highlight worthy of ongoing discussion. We focus on different types of internationalization behaviors, and this indicator can theoretically inspire future study to dialectically evaluate the role of internationalization in addressing sustainability problems in emerging markets’ pillar industries.
Publisher capabilities and online innovationsMiia Kosonen
This document discusses publishers' capabilities and online innovations. It explores the relationship between publishers' market and technology capabilities and their online innovations. The study focuses on four publishing companies through comparative case studies. The results show vast differences in publishers' capability portfolios, generally reflecting stronger market than technology capabilities. Publishers tend to build on their strongest capabilities and focus on leveraging those rather than experimenting in weaker areas. Publishers have been able to leverage market capabilities through online experimentation but have not developed technology capabilities in the same way. The study provides an empirical contribution to understanding capability portfolios and the relationship between capabilities and online innovations in publishing companies.
Online dating apps as a marketing channel a generational approachYing wei (Joe) Chou
This document discusses using online dating apps as marketing channels and how different generations perceive marketing on these platforms.
The study analyzed reactions from 411 users of the dating app Tinder after a marketing campaign. It found generally positive acceptance of the campaign, especially among Generation Z users. However, statistical analysis showed no significant differences in reactions between Generations X, Y and Z.
The document reviews literature on social media marketing and how different generations respond to online ads. Younger generations are more receptive due to being "digital natives" but can be suspicious of marketing tactics. The study aims to provide insights into using dating apps for marketing and whether audience generation affects acceptance of such ads.
Cross Industry Collaboration: Creating the enablers for disruptive modelswimdecraene
Information technologies, mature markets, relentless demand for innovation, environmental concerns and the uncertain economy are combining to drive the emergence of new growth scenarios, which are spurring companies to fundamentally rethink their growth strategies.
The vision of an economy as a set of independent industries –each serving its own customers, with its own suppliers and its own innovation chain—is in many ways outmoded. New collaborations are emerging that stretch well beyond historical industrial boundaries, nurtured by mobility, payment systems, open information, energy management and infrastructure development. This new breed of cooperation is all about unlocking synergies and exploring fresh opportunities.
Although in recent years numerous factors have combined to encourage cross-collaboration among different industries, this trend has yet to gain any real traction. The main question is which enablers are missing to spur the development of new cross-industry ecosystems?
M M Bagali, PhD, Research paper, MBA Faculty, HRM, HR, HRD, PhD in HR and Man...dr m m bagali, phd in hr
This document discusses establishing skills supremacy as a strategy for sustaining competitive advantage. It suggests that companies build a sizable skills inventory that can be reskilled quickly to achieve growth objectives. Having only one competitive factor like technology or design is not a sustainable long-term strategy, as seen with companies like Blackberry and Nokia. The document reviews literature supporting the link between workforce skills and organizational performance, finding that higher skilled employees increase productivity and qualifications serve as a proxy for skills. It proposes that developing a skills-centric culture and translating skills dominance into market dominance can help companies achieve long-run market leadership.
Cross Industry Collaboration - How to Boost Innovation CapabilityEric Thunberg
This document summarizes a master's thesis that explores how firms use cross-industry collaboration to boost innovation capabilities. The thesis involved interviews with 17 respondents from 15 firms with experience in cross-industry collaboration. The results showed that firms collaborate across industries for different reasons, such as accessing new technologies, exploring new values, or gaining access to new markets. The conclusions indicate that Swedish firms can develop strategies to maximize the effects of cross-industry collaboration on innovation capabilities.
This document provides an abstract for a master's thesis that examines the relationship between country development factors, firm innovation, and the moderating roles of outsourcing and employee training. The study uses multilevel modeling on firm-level data from 27 countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia to test the effects of financial market development and higher education system development on firm innovation. Preliminary results indicate financial market development has an insignificant impact on firm innovation, while higher education development has a positive significant impact. Outsourcing is found to negatively moderate both relationships, while employee training positively moderates the impact of higher education development but not financial market development. The findings provide a more complex understanding of multilevel factors' influence on firm innovation in emerging markets
Solutions for Creating Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Small Businessesijtsrd
In the globalization stage, all bussinesses exist for some purpose or goal, and managers have the responsibility for combining and using organizational resources to ensure that the organizations achieve their purpose. Strategic Management is a complex concept which has to do with an organization's scope and direction of activities, matching the activities with the environment and resource capability, as well as the values, expectations and goals of those influencing strategy. This research focused on small businesses, their features and dynamics in the course of making use of the tools and techniques in strategic management. It investigates how small businesses, in their course of building competitive advantage, make strategic decisions, and the factors related to the mere smallness of such businesses as affecting strategic choice are discussed. Dr. Le Nguyen Doan Khoi "Solutions for Creating Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Small Businesses" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-6 , October 2021, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd47499.pdf Paper URL : https://www.ijtsrd.com/management/business-economics/47499/solutions-for-creating-sustainable-competitive-advantage-in-small-businesses/dr-le-nguyen-doan-khoi
This document summarizes a research paper that analyzes the direct and indirect effects of R&D cooperation on innovation in Italian firms. The paper tests hypotheses about how cooperation with different partners like suppliers, clients, competitors, and universities affects firms' innovation outcomes. Using a multivariate probit model, it finds that cooperation has strong positive direct effects on innovation, especially cooperation with non-competitive partners and competitors. Indirect effects through absorptive capacity are limited. Firm size and industry also influence innovation propensity. The paper aims to understand how different types of cooperation differently impact innovation and whether cooperation moderates the relationship between in-house R&D and innovation performance.
This document provides a critical review of firm-level innovation models based on research from developed countries and discusses implications for firms in developing countries. It summarizes five generations of innovation models from the 1950s to the 1990s, showing increasing integration of research and development, marketing, manufacturing, and suppliers. However, the models often lack empirical evidence and do not sufficiently account for diversity in innovation processes. The document suggests how firms can best apply innovation models while overcoming limitations in future research.
Role of social and human capital in business model adaptationAntonio Dottore
Paper presented at the 2013 Babson Conference on entrepreneurship. It shows that certain types of social capital (from networking) and of human capital (mostly experience-based) are important for business model adaptation in new ventures.
The interaction of the two (Social*Human) creates useful synergies.
This document summarizes IBM's transformation from struggling hardware seller to successful solutions provider through dynamic capabilities. It discusses how IBM sensed changes in the market and seized opportunities by reconfiguring assets under CEOs Lou Gerstner and Sam Palmisano. Processes like deep dives and strategic forums involving 25,000 executives helped identify new areas like life sciences while exploiting mature markets like mainframes. The document contrasts theories of strategy and competitive advantage with dynamic capabilities, which help firms develop new competencies to succeed in both new and existing businesses amid complex, fast-changing competition.
Examining Innovation Capability In A Supply Chain ContextCSCJournals
The current competitive business environment demands that firms are able to integrate operational capabilities of their supply chain members in order to develop, produce and deliver offerings at low cost and high quality. In order to understand innovation capability in a supply chain context, this paper provides an in-depth analysis of 'Comfort Audio', a leading company in medical technology in Sweden, which show incredible ability to develop innovative solutions and medical products over the years. A single case study was adopted in this study, which enabled in-depth analysis of the case company.
Findings, highlight, innovation capability factors is made up of: idea management, interactive learning, collaboration and idea implementation. In addition, consultants were found to be one of the key supply chain members contributing to the firm's innovation capability. The main theoretical contribution of the study is that innovation capability of a firm has been found to go beyond the internal capabilities that a focal firm owns or possesses, but rather through the access and utilisation of external actors' resources and capabilities, as a result of exchange relationships with the supply chain members.
This document summarizes a study on open innovation in the Brazilian aerospace industry. The study investigated the level of open innovation adoption through a survey of 22 aerospace firms. The results found some evidence of open innovation practices being used, but not as part of a coherent open business strategy. Barriers like lack of funding, immature R&D capabilities, and weak intellectual property protection prevent the industry from being fully open. However, the culture of companies in the industry is receptive to openness. The study concludes that open innovation in the industry is in the early "unfreezing" stage, but has great potential to grow as barriers are addressed.
Antecedents to effective sales and operations planning. swaim, maloni, bow...Patrick Bower
This document discusses antecedents to effective sales and operations planning (S&OP). It develops and tests a conceptual model of the relationships between organizational integration, a standardized S&OP process, S&OP priority, organizational engagement, and effective S&OP. The model is tested using survey data from S&OP practitioners. The results validate that organizational integration positively influences a standardized S&OP process. Both the S&OP process and prioritization lead to stronger organizational engagement in S&OP. Ultimately, organizational engagement in S&OP is positively linked to enhanced operational, market, and profitability outcomes. The findings provide guidance on how to implement and benefit from an effective S&OP process.
Cassiman in search of complementarity in the innovation strategyCristiano Cunha
- The document discusses complementarity between internal R&D and external knowledge acquisition by firms. It presents two approaches to provide evidence of complementarity from an econometric analysis of Belgian firm data.
- The productivity approach compares innovation performance across firms that pursue different combinations of internal R&D and external knowledge acquisition. The adoption approach examines the correlation between these activities and how they are affected by contextual factors.
- Preliminary results are not fully conclusive on complementarity but provide insights, identifying reliance on basic R&D as an important driver that increases the knowledge benefits of combining internal and external innovation activities.
Michael Reilly - Learning to rhyme: reflections on foresightSTEPS Centre
Presentation at the STEPS Conference 2010 - Pathways to Sustainability: Agendas for a new politics of environment, development and social justice
http://www.steps-centre.org/events/stepsconference2010.html
Innovaro’s Trend and Foresight group specializes in the integration of foresight, strategy, and innovation. We deliver timely and provocative technology and consumer foresight research to Fortune 500 and government organizations, helping them look 5, 10, or even 25 years into the future.
Simply put, we help our clients build the capacity to understand and influence the future.
Gain awareness of the future
Uncover new market opportunities
Identify global consumer trends
Learn about impactful emerging technologies
Understand driving forces shaping the future
Gain a long-range perspective for planning
This document discusses quality in foresight and forecasting for emerging markets. It begins by providing examples of past forecast failures and outlines several "levels" of future uncertainty. It then discusses various "limits" or challenges with different forecasting approaches, such as relying only on sector experts, overextrapolating trends, and the limitations of quantitative forecasting. It advocates using scenarios to explore multiple plausible futures rather than single point predictions. The document concludes by outlining implications for views of emerging markets like South Africa in 2030, emphasizing the need to plan for unpredictable change, practice high-quality foresight, respect consumer adoption patterns, and understand when we can influence versus must adapt to the future.
The document discusses several key ICT trends worldwide:
1. Open innovation and crowdsourcing, where companies collaborate with outside partners and the public to generate ideas. Examples given include a juice company collaborating on new flavors and an open smartphone platform.
2. Reality sensing, which analyzes existing data like mobile phone and sensor data to measure events in real-time. Examples include traffic monitoring and flu tracking.
3. Empowering energy efficiency, with consumers and businesses seeking more sustainable energy solutions. Examples include devices that generate power from human motion and smart homes that monitor energy usage.
4. Human interface trends like emotions in robots, brain-wave controlled devices, and new semantic search engines
This document discusses financing sources for start-up companies. It begins by defining start-ups and outlining their typical development stages. Early stages are often funded by founders, friends and family, while later stages involve venture capital, angel investors, and other formal sources. The document then examines different types of start-ups and the financing most suitable for each at various stages of growth. Finally, it explores both traditional and newer methods of financing start-ups in Croatia, investigating whether the country has shifted towards modern approaches.
Internationalization and Sustainable Operations: A Broad Investigation of Chi...Scientific Review SR
We investigate if internationalization behaviors encourage sustainable operations of China’s manufacturing firms due to their substantial impact on climate change and special governance modes, and organize a heterogeneity test to clarify what kind of internationalization behaviors can robustly influence such operations. We find that firms with abundant assets and heavy-polluting feature are more committed to sustainable operations. Getting close to international sustainability standards, international auditing standards, and international business all improve sustainable operations. Heterogeneity test further shows that compared with international standards, the positive impact of international business on sustainable operation lacks a robustness, which responds to an argument that for one country, international business acts as a double-edged sword. Overall, this paper reveals internationalization as a key indicator significantly influencing economic, ecological, and social spheres in manufacturing sectors of emerging markets, and complying with well-accepted international standards can be significantly embodied in a more optimistic sustainable operations. However, how to deal with international business in a right manner is a research highlight worthy of ongoing discussion. We focus on different types of internationalization behaviors, and this indicator can theoretically inspire future study to dialectically evaluate the role of internationalization in addressing sustainability problems in emerging markets’ pillar industries.
Publisher capabilities and online innovationsMiia Kosonen
This document discusses publishers' capabilities and online innovations. It explores the relationship between publishers' market and technology capabilities and their online innovations. The study focuses on four publishing companies through comparative case studies. The results show vast differences in publishers' capability portfolios, generally reflecting stronger market than technology capabilities. Publishers tend to build on their strongest capabilities and focus on leveraging those rather than experimenting in weaker areas. Publishers have been able to leverage market capabilities through online experimentation but have not developed technology capabilities in the same way. The study provides an empirical contribution to understanding capability portfolios and the relationship between capabilities and online innovations in publishing companies.
Online dating apps as a marketing channel a generational approachYing wei (Joe) Chou
This document discusses using online dating apps as marketing channels and how different generations perceive marketing on these platforms.
The study analyzed reactions from 411 users of the dating app Tinder after a marketing campaign. It found generally positive acceptance of the campaign, especially among Generation Z users. However, statistical analysis showed no significant differences in reactions between Generations X, Y and Z.
The document reviews literature on social media marketing and how different generations respond to online ads. Younger generations are more receptive due to being "digital natives" but can be suspicious of marketing tactics. The study aims to provide insights into using dating apps for marketing and whether audience generation affects acceptance of such ads.
Cross Industry Collaboration: Creating the enablers for disruptive modelswimdecraene
Information technologies, mature markets, relentless demand for innovation, environmental concerns and the uncertain economy are combining to drive the emergence of new growth scenarios, which are spurring companies to fundamentally rethink their growth strategies.
The vision of an economy as a set of independent industries –each serving its own customers, with its own suppliers and its own innovation chain—is in many ways outmoded. New collaborations are emerging that stretch well beyond historical industrial boundaries, nurtured by mobility, payment systems, open information, energy management and infrastructure development. This new breed of cooperation is all about unlocking synergies and exploring fresh opportunities.
Although in recent years numerous factors have combined to encourage cross-collaboration among different industries, this trend has yet to gain any real traction. The main question is which enablers are missing to spur the development of new cross-industry ecosystems?
M M Bagali, PhD, Research paper, MBA Faculty, HRM, HR, HRD, PhD in HR and Man...dr m m bagali, phd in hr
This document discusses establishing skills supremacy as a strategy for sustaining competitive advantage. It suggests that companies build a sizable skills inventory that can be reskilled quickly to achieve growth objectives. Having only one competitive factor like technology or design is not a sustainable long-term strategy, as seen with companies like Blackberry and Nokia. The document reviews literature supporting the link between workforce skills and organizational performance, finding that higher skilled employees increase productivity and qualifications serve as a proxy for skills. It proposes that developing a skills-centric culture and translating skills dominance into market dominance can help companies achieve long-run market leadership.
Cross Industry Collaboration - How to Boost Innovation CapabilityEric Thunberg
This document summarizes a master's thesis that explores how firms use cross-industry collaboration to boost innovation capabilities. The thesis involved interviews with 17 respondents from 15 firms with experience in cross-industry collaboration. The results showed that firms collaborate across industries for different reasons, such as accessing new technologies, exploring new values, or gaining access to new markets. The conclusions indicate that Swedish firms can develop strategies to maximize the effects of cross-industry collaboration on innovation capabilities.
This document provides an abstract for a master's thesis that examines the relationship between country development factors, firm innovation, and the moderating roles of outsourcing and employee training. The study uses multilevel modeling on firm-level data from 27 countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia to test the effects of financial market development and higher education system development on firm innovation. Preliminary results indicate financial market development has an insignificant impact on firm innovation, while higher education development has a positive significant impact. Outsourcing is found to negatively moderate both relationships, while employee training positively moderates the impact of higher education development but not financial market development. The findings provide a more complex understanding of multilevel factors' influence on firm innovation in emerging markets
Solutions for Creating Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Small Businessesijtsrd
In the globalization stage, all bussinesses exist for some purpose or goal, and managers have the responsibility for combining and using organizational resources to ensure that the organizations achieve their purpose. Strategic Management is a complex concept which has to do with an organization's scope and direction of activities, matching the activities with the environment and resource capability, as well as the values, expectations and goals of those influencing strategy. This research focused on small businesses, their features and dynamics in the course of making use of the tools and techniques in strategic management. It investigates how small businesses, in their course of building competitive advantage, make strategic decisions, and the factors related to the mere smallness of such businesses as affecting strategic choice are discussed. Dr. Le Nguyen Doan Khoi "Solutions for Creating Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Small Businesses" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-5 | Issue-6 , October 2021, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd47499.pdf Paper URL : https://www.ijtsrd.com/management/business-economics/47499/solutions-for-creating-sustainable-competitive-advantage-in-small-businesses/dr-le-nguyen-doan-khoi
This document summarizes a research paper that analyzes the direct and indirect effects of R&D cooperation on innovation in Italian firms. The paper tests hypotheses about how cooperation with different partners like suppliers, clients, competitors, and universities affects firms' innovation outcomes. Using a multivariate probit model, it finds that cooperation has strong positive direct effects on innovation, especially cooperation with non-competitive partners and competitors. Indirect effects through absorptive capacity are limited. Firm size and industry also influence innovation propensity. The paper aims to understand how different types of cooperation differently impact innovation and whether cooperation moderates the relationship between in-house R&D and innovation performance.
This document provides a critical review of firm-level innovation models based on research from developed countries and discusses implications for firms in developing countries. It summarizes five generations of innovation models from the 1950s to the 1990s, showing increasing integration of research and development, marketing, manufacturing, and suppliers. However, the models often lack empirical evidence and do not sufficiently account for diversity in innovation processes. The document suggests how firms can best apply innovation models while overcoming limitations in future research.
Role of social and human capital in business model adaptationAntonio Dottore
Paper presented at the 2013 Babson Conference on entrepreneurship. It shows that certain types of social capital (from networking) and of human capital (mostly experience-based) are important for business model adaptation in new ventures.
The interaction of the two (Social*Human) creates useful synergies.
This document summarizes IBM's transformation from struggling hardware seller to successful solutions provider through dynamic capabilities. It discusses how IBM sensed changes in the market and seized opportunities by reconfiguring assets under CEOs Lou Gerstner and Sam Palmisano. Processes like deep dives and strategic forums involving 25,000 executives helped identify new areas like life sciences while exploiting mature markets like mainframes. The document contrasts theories of strategy and competitive advantage with dynamic capabilities, which help firms develop new competencies to succeed in both new and existing businesses amid complex, fast-changing competition.
Examining Innovation Capability In A Supply Chain ContextCSCJournals
The current competitive business environment demands that firms are able to integrate operational capabilities of their supply chain members in order to develop, produce and deliver offerings at low cost and high quality. In order to understand innovation capability in a supply chain context, this paper provides an in-depth analysis of 'Comfort Audio', a leading company in medical technology in Sweden, which show incredible ability to develop innovative solutions and medical products over the years. A single case study was adopted in this study, which enabled in-depth analysis of the case company.
Findings, highlight, innovation capability factors is made up of: idea management, interactive learning, collaboration and idea implementation. In addition, consultants were found to be one of the key supply chain members contributing to the firm's innovation capability. The main theoretical contribution of the study is that innovation capability of a firm has been found to go beyond the internal capabilities that a focal firm owns or possesses, but rather through the access and utilisation of external actors' resources and capabilities, as a result of exchange relationships with the supply chain members.
This document summarizes a study on open innovation in the Brazilian aerospace industry. The study investigated the level of open innovation adoption through a survey of 22 aerospace firms. The results found some evidence of open innovation practices being used, but not as part of a coherent open business strategy. Barriers like lack of funding, immature R&D capabilities, and weak intellectual property protection prevent the industry from being fully open. However, the culture of companies in the industry is receptive to openness. The study concludes that open innovation in the industry is in the early "unfreezing" stage, but has great potential to grow as barriers are addressed.
Antecedents to effective sales and operations planning. swaim, maloni, bow...Patrick Bower
This document discusses antecedents to effective sales and operations planning (S&OP). It develops and tests a conceptual model of the relationships between organizational integration, a standardized S&OP process, S&OP priority, organizational engagement, and effective S&OP. The model is tested using survey data from S&OP practitioners. The results validate that organizational integration positively influences a standardized S&OP process. Both the S&OP process and prioritization lead to stronger organizational engagement in S&OP. Ultimately, organizational engagement in S&OP is positively linked to enhanced operational, market, and profitability outcomes. The findings provide guidance on how to implement and benefit from an effective S&OP process.
Cassiman in search of complementarity in the innovation strategyCristiano Cunha
- The document discusses complementarity between internal R&D and external knowledge acquisition by firms. It presents two approaches to provide evidence of complementarity from an econometric analysis of Belgian firm data.
- The productivity approach compares innovation performance across firms that pursue different combinations of internal R&D and external knowledge acquisition. The adoption approach examines the correlation between these activities and how they are affected by contextual factors.
- Preliminary results are not fully conclusive on complementarity but provide insights, identifying reliance on basic R&D as an important driver that increases the knowledge benefits of combining internal and external innovation activities.
Michael Reilly - Learning to rhyme: reflections on foresightSTEPS Centre
Presentation at the STEPS Conference 2010 - Pathways to Sustainability: Agendas for a new politics of environment, development and social justice
http://www.steps-centre.org/events/stepsconference2010.html
Innovaro’s Trend and Foresight group specializes in the integration of foresight, strategy, and innovation. We deliver timely and provocative technology and consumer foresight research to Fortune 500 and government organizations, helping them look 5, 10, or even 25 years into the future.
Simply put, we help our clients build the capacity to understand and influence the future.
Gain awareness of the future
Uncover new market opportunities
Identify global consumer trends
Learn about impactful emerging technologies
Understand driving forces shaping the future
Gain a long-range perspective for planning
This document discusses quality in foresight and forecasting for emerging markets. It begins by providing examples of past forecast failures and outlines several "levels" of future uncertainty. It then discusses various "limits" or challenges with different forecasting approaches, such as relying only on sector experts, overextrapolating trends, and the limitations of quantitative forecasting. It advocates using scenarios to explore multiple plausible futures rather than single point predictions. The document concludes by outlining implications for views of emerging markets like South Africa in 2030, emphasizing the need to plan for unpredictable change, practice high-quality foresight, respect consumer adoption patterns, and understand when we can influence versus must adapt to the future.
The document discusses several key ICT trends worldwide:
1. Open innovation and crowdsourcing, where companies collaborate with outside partners and the public to generate ideas. Examples given include a juice company collaborating on new flavors and an open smartphone platform.
2. Reality sensing, which analyzes existing data like mobile phone and sensor data to measure events in real-time. Examples include traffic monitoring and flu tracking.
3. Empowering energy efficiency, with consumers and businesses seeking more sustainable energy solutions. Examples include devices that generate power from human motion and smart homes that monitor energy usage.
4. Human interface trends like emotions in robots, brain-wave controlled devices, and new semantic search engines
Industry foresight is an understanding of emerging trends, drivers, opportunities, and disruptions within a market or industry. It allows companies to establish strategies that leverage future trends to gain a competitive advantage. Strategic innovation is created at the intersection of industry foresight, customer insight, and strategic alignment across an organization. An effective process monitors triggers in the external environment, engages thought leaders, and brings together these three elements to identify new opportunities like products, services, business models, and markets.
This document provides a foresight study on ICT R&D trends in India conducted for the European Commission. It utilized the Delphi method with 30 Indian ICT experts over 3 rounds to identify priority technology areas for India in the next 2, 5, and 10 years. The study aims to enhance ongoing research collaboration between India and EU states and support the goals of the EU-India ICT Joint Working Group. The results identify core and sector-specific technology focus areas in healthcare, energy, and governance. Additionally, the study examines Indian societal trends influencing priorities and the visionaries' awareness and suggestions regarding EU collaboration opportunities.
1) The document discusses 10 trends in strategic foresight for defense and security planning.
2) It notes a shift towards more serious strategic analysis that balances short, medium, and long term planning horizons.
3) Foresight is moving towards a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, and using a more diverse set of foresight tools and methods.
4) There is a push to better link foresight to action, balance external and internal perspectives, and develop new foresight products beyond traditional planning documents.
What has happened to Foresight in the UK?Ian Miles
The UK Foresight Programme has been widely lauded. But how is it valued by the current government? This presentation examines trends in the Programme, which suggest that forebodings expressed in 2010 have proved accurate.
Insight to foresight - Marketing Research SectorAyesha Saeed Haq
The document discusses how the marketing research sector must transform to remain competitive in the modern information age. Historically, marketing research involved tapping into scarce information to derive insights. However, there is now an overabundance of available information from social media that provides real-time consumer analysis. The key transformation for the industry is to shift from insight discovery to suggesting impactful ideas and facilitating decisions based on analyzing insights. This will allow marketing research firms to own the entire data-to-decision value chain and position themselves as consultants who process multiple data streams for organization-wide decisions. The industry must build its value proposition on conventional strengths but with new techniques in order to compete against upcoming social media monitoring and management consulting.
The document discusses methods for detecting, tracking, and characterizing trends on social networks. It describes approaches like TwitterMonitor and MemeTracker that are used to detect trends from Twitter data in real-time. It also discusses how memes and phrases spread and evolve over time through social networks and news media. The document proposes features for automatically characterizing trends as exogenous or endogenous based on their content, interactions, timing, participation and social network patterns.
Innovation, Marketing and New Technology Foresight 2010Steve Flinter
The document discusses Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), a statutory body that funds research in Ireland. SFI's annual budget is around €155 million, which it invests in ICT, life sciences, and energy research through various programmes. These programmes include awards ranging from €50k-€3.5m annually that are selected through open calls and peer review. The document then outlines several technologies like processors, storage, displays, communications and sensors that SFI is funding research on, and how these platform technologies are developing exponentially and enabling new applications and industries. It concludes that analyzing growing data volumes is becoming more difficult and sensor-based technologies will be increasingly important.
Cecily’s fun and inspiring programs take groups on a guided tour of the future where they find fresh answers to the age-old questions, “Who are you?” “Where are you going?” and “What’s your territory?” Whether an industry forecast, innovation challenge, leadership development, or for future-proofing a brand, Cecily is able to penetrate core issues and get to the best questions quickly. Her provocative and engaging programs offer a practical approach to connecting near-term realities with long-term objectives.
All programs are tailored to the interests and objectives of each group.
Final session of executive session at the Kellogg Graduate School of Management's Allen Center program "Leading into the Future." http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/execed/programs/century.aspx
Presentation made at the 4th Workshop on Strategic Crisis Management (Paris, 28-29 May 2015). For more information, visit the meeting webpage: http://www.oecd.org/gov/risk/4th-workshop-strategic-crisis-management.htm.
This document discusses trends in information consumption and production. It notes the rise of digital formats and mobile access to information. Photos and quotes are provided on topics like e-books, smartphones, augmented reality, hyperlocal information, and challenges for print media. The role of libraries is discussed in relation to shifting from a focus on books and information toward community engagement and experiences.
Foresight driven innovation - boosting pulp and paper with scienceFredrik Rosén
What does self-opening packaging, textile like paperboard and the world’s first lignin-based carbon fibre composite have in common? They are all demonstrators of future use of wood fibres developed by Innventia – a world leading research institute that works with innovations based on forest raw materials.
Fredrik Rosén will present Innventia’s approach to foresight driven innovation at the RISI European Conference. Highlights from the Innventia Global Outlook Reports “Packaging 2020” and “Papermaking Towards the Future” will be presented. Packaging 2020 describes seven global forces and their impact on the packaging industry and the packaging of the future. The conclusions are based on a survey carried out among consumers in the US, India and Sweden. “Papermaking Towards the Future” is based on an expert survey with 150 respondents from 21 different countries and maps the most important trends and driving forces for tomorrow’s papermaking.
This document summarizes a research article that analyzes the process of organizational change for four Italian high-tech firms moving from closed to open innovation models. The article finds both commonalities and differences between high-tech and low-tech firms undergoing this transition. Specifically, it identifies that implementing open innovation requires deep organizational changes impacting structures, performance systems, roles, and knowledge management. The article contributes to understanding how firms can best manage this organizational change process to reduce resistance and time needed to complete the transition.
Achieving Agility Using Cladistics: An Evolutionary AnalysisIan McCarthy
To achieve the status of an agile manufacturer, organisations need to clearly understand the concept of agility, relative to their industrial and business circumstances and to then identify and acquire the appropriate characteristics which will result in an agile manufacturing organisation. This paper is not simply another discussion on the definition of agility, or a philosophical debate on the drivers and characteristics of agility. This paper presents an evolutionary modelling technique (cladistics) which could enable organisations to systematically manage and understand the emergence of new manufacturing forms within their business environment. This fundamental, but important insight is valuable for achieving successful organisational design and change. Thus, regardless of the industrial sector, managers could use cladistics as an evolutionary analysis technique for determining ``where they have been and where they are now''. Moving from a non-agile manufacture to an agile manufacture is a process of organisational change and evolutionary development. This evolutionary method will enable organisations to understand the landscape of manufacturing possibilities that exist, to identify appropriate agile forms and to successfully navigate that landscape.
An Assessment of Project Portfolio Management Techniques on Product and Servi...iosrjce
The crises of product and service innovation in most organisations due to global competition and
the need for scientific research in the project portfolio management discipline were factors that motivated this
research. The purpose of this study is to investigate how project portfolio management(ppm) contributes to
product and service innovation. A questionnaire was developed to gather data to compare the PPM methods
used, PPM performance and resulting new product success measures in sixty Nigeria organisations in a diverse
range of service and manufacturing industries. The study findings indicated that PPM practices have a greater
impact in the new product and services success rate. Also, business strategy method result in better alignment
of the projects in the portfolio. This conclusion is supported by the 0.630 Pearson correlations at 0.000
significance between percentage of successful products and PPM performance level. The results reveal that for
better innovation outcomes, management should place a priority on developing and improving PPM.
The integration between innovation and business is a key factor in competitiveness between organizations. That is, innovation applied to a business makes no sense if not considered as an integral tool for the processes of the organization. Companies should therefore adopt a policy where innovation plays a strategic role in the design of business models to become lean, effective and competitive entities (Moraleda, 2004). The objective of this paper is to show the importance of innovation within companies, identifying the concept, the various models that different entities might adopt in order to develop better processes of innovation, as well as indicators that represent innovation at global and national levels in order to develop strategies that lead to an increase in competitiveness. For this work the method used was a bibliographical review of relevant articles from a range of authors was conducted.
This document summarizes a study that examined the interrelationships between project management, organizational sustainability, and knowledge management. The study conducted a systematic review of literature on these topics in the Scopus database. The review resulted in 70 publications being identified. Charts in the results section show the concentration areas and yearly distribution of publications. The concluding remarks indicate that knowledge management and project management with a focus on sustainability can provide competitive advantages and that understanding the relationships between these topics is important for continuous organizational improvement.
Fintech platform failure rates are disproportionately high, with an estimated 90% failure rate over many years. There is a lack of public information on effective strategies for fintech platforms to survive and succeed. Conventional strategy recommendations may also be less applicable in the fintech context. The authors conducted a literature review of 293 papers on fintech strategies and identified gaps. They developed a theoretical lens based on six strategic logics and evaluated current literature through this lens. Their findings provide a more nuanced understanding of strategic options for fintech platforms to balance differentiation from rivals with meeting stakeholder expectations in changing environments.
Knowledge Management in Educational Administrationmin993535
This document summarizes 7 articles on the topic of strategic knowledge management. The articles cover various aspects of knowledge transfer within and between organizations, including internal and external search strategies, knowledge transfer in multinational corporations, balancing exploration and exploitation of knowledge across alliance networks, and the role of human resource practices and employee retention in innovation performance. The document provides high-level overviews of the objectives and key findings of each article.
The entrepreneurship, in today’s globalized economy, is linked with autonomy, venturing into new business, development of new products, pro-activeness, taking risks, innovation, strategic renewal, self-renewal, and competitive aggressiveness (Zahra and Garvis 1998). In this age of rapid developments in technology and the emerging global markets, the IT company has been able to utilize and develop its resources. The principles of corporate entrepreneurship are followed by prospering through the absorption of the pressures. It is a well known doctrine that the company’s performance is positively impacted by the involvement of corporate entrepreneurship (Wiklund 2009). The implication of this is by practicing entrepreneurship, the organizations would be successful in increasing the results that can be leading to the increase in GDP.
Managing innovation within firms-Chapter 4 (Paul Trott).pptxAartiPandey63
1. The document discusses the tension within organizations between the need for stability and efficiency versus the need for creativity and innovation. It notes that companies must balance these competing demands to be successful both today and in the future.
2. It explores the "innovation dilemma" where pursuing innovation too far can lead to failure, but pursuing it too little can also lead to company failure. Finding the right balance is difficult.
3. Several tools and factors that can help facilitate innovation within organizations are discussed, including having a growth orientation, accepting risks, cross-functional cooperation, and providing space for creativity. Formal structures, centralized decision-making, and size can impact innovation as well.
Case Study On The Danish Wind Energy SystemBeth Johnson
While books on medieval weapons and medieval warfare explore similar concepts, they differ in their perspectives. Medieval Machine focuses on how technological innovations, like new war machines, benefited medieval society. In contrast, Medieval Warfare emphasizes how constant innovations in weapons and armor promoted further warfare, which negatively impacted society. While improvements to an army's strength helped soldiers, an endless escalation of violence harmed civilians. The books present opposing views on whether military innovations enhanced or damaged medieval life.
ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF OUTSOURCING ON ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE A CASE OF ...Brittany Allen
This document assesses the impact of outsourcing on organizational performance at Vodafone Ghana using both leading and lagging indicators. A literature review revealed theories supporting outsourcing for cost reduction and focusing on core competencies. Empirical studies showed mixed results - outsourcing positively impacted quality of service and knowledge development but showed no significant relationship with financial performance. A quantitative methodology was used to survey Vodafone Ghana employees using stratified random sampling. Statistical analysis found a moderately positive relationship between outsourcing and quality of service as well as knowledge development, but no significant relationship with financial performance.
This document summarizes a case study that developed a model for increasing organizational futures orientation in small-to-medium enterprises. The study occurred over 27 months in a strategic consulting company. It created a six-step model with two phases focused on futures thinking and strategic foresight. The first phase involves mapping current orientation, making sense of futures information, and experimenting with new approaches. The second focuses on goal-setting, participatory practices, and improving through best practices. Developing futures orientation is a long-term, collaborative process requiring an openness to change and a values-based rather than outcomes-based approach. Baseline and follow-up surveys could have provided more data on cognitive shifts throughout the process.
van Bavel, R., Voigt, P., Rodriguez, V. (Eds.) 2008. Role and Dynamics of Corporate R&D: Summary Report of the First European Conference on Corporate R&D. Seville: European Commission.
The Relevance Of The Organization's Entrepreneurial Leader" Case Study - Auto...inventionjournals
Entrepreneurship is a concept increasingly present in business organizations or in educational systems, assuming an incremental prominence in public debate regarding the future of economic policies for competitiveness within the knowledge economy and information society. Its relevance prompted the study in its various aspects, worsened by the structural crisis of capital. The privileged behavioral analysis of the entrepreneur's profile and identification of its role in organizations was supported by a case study on the automotive companies in Portugal, Vila Nova Famalicão. It states a close relationship between the entrepreneurship concept and the fruitful discovery of opportunities, which are based on spirit of change and innovation, central to the entrepreneur. Competitiveness appears as a basic premise in value creation and sustainable progress of organizations. The study also allowed confirming a dissimilarity of concepts and approaches, grounded in empirical and scientific evidence that is still exiguous. The work thus aimed to raise awareness of organizational and academic communities to this issue, contributing to a more comprehensive and current understanding of its relevance within the organizations. The multidimensional paradigm change occurs in a structurally weakened economic and financial situational context, which instigates a transfiguration of the concepts and patterns observed until now. Entrepreneurship and the behavioral profile of the entrepreneurial leader are of paramount importance in the effective value creation process: incremental, distinctive and sustainable.
The document summarizes a study on the future of the global meetings industry over the next decade. Key findings include:
1) The last decade was shaped by the global economy, the internet, and rising delegate expectations.
2) Looking ahead, economic uncertainty, new technology alternatives, shorter business cycles, and Asian influence will impact the industry.
3) The industry must demonstrate tangible returns to stakeholders and communicate its strategic and economic contributions.
4) Events will need to create more powerful learning experiences tailored to delegates and account for advances in education.
A Case Study On The Implementation Of A Knowledge Management Strategy Oriente...Gina Brown
Irizar implemented a knowledge management strategy oriented towards continuous innovation. The strategy involved disseminating an organizational mission focused on innovation and knowledge sharing. It established strategic positioning through knowledge storage systems and international expansion. This allowed improvements in quality and productivity. Subsequently, Irizar underwent radical organizational changes, redesigning processes and implementing multidisciplinary teams with autonomy. This integrated incremental and radical changes, supporting continuous learning and innovation. As a result, Irizar achieved major operational improvements and increases in various performance indicators, cementing its position as a leader in its sector.
Do you need a new product development strategysamatong
Firms often rely on a single new product development process for all projects, but this approach is misguided as different business contexts require different processes. Products for stable, mature markets need a process optimized for control and efficiency, while breakthrough products for emerging markets require a more flexible process focused on discovery. Applying a uniform best practice process ignores these differences and can lead to missed opportunities or products that do not meet goals. The article describes a framework developed by Hewlett-Packard to match development processes to specific project aims and business contexts.
1) A recent study from Cambridge University identified four ways to foster disruptive innovation within established firms: encouraging risk taking, accepting failure, making organizational buy-in easy, and developing incentive programs for radical projects.
2) The study also identified common barriers to disruptive innovation, such as organizational inertia, cultural resistance, lack of incentive, and aversion to risk.
3) While the study focused on manufacturing case studies, the characters Megan and Potter discuss how the findings are equally applicable to other industries like services, retail, and exploration.
In his public lecture, Christian Timmerer provides insights into the fascinating history of video streaming, starting from its humble beginnings before YouTube to the groundbreaking technologies that now dominate platforms like Netflix and ORF ON. Timmerer also presents provocative contributions of his own that have significantly influenced the industry. He concludes by looking at future challenges and invites the audience to join in a discussion.
Pushing the limits of ePRTC: 100ns holdover for 100 daysAdtran
At WSTS 2024, Alon Stern explored the topic of parametric holdover and explained how recent research findings can be implemented in real-world PNT networks to achieve 100 nanoseconds of accuracy for up to 100 days.
Removing Uninteresting Bytes in Software FuzzingAftab Hussain
Imagine a world where software fuzzing, the process of mutating bytes in test seeds to uncover hidden and erroneous program behaviors, becomes faster and more effective. A lot depends on the initial seeds, which can significantly dictate the trajectory of a fuzzing campaign, particularly in terms of how long it takes to uncover interesting behaviour in your code. We introduce DIAR, a technique designed to speedup fuzzing campaigns by pinpointing and eliminating those uninteresting bytes in the seeds. Picture this: instead of wasting valuable resources on meaningless mutations in large, bloated seeds, DIAR removes the unnecessary bytes, streamlining the entire process.
In this work, we equipped AFL, a popular fuzzer, with DIAR and examined two critical Linux libraries -- Libxml's xmllint, a tool for parsing xml documents, and Binutil's readelf, an essential debugging and security analysis command-line tool used to display detailed information about ELF (Executable and Linkable Format). Our preliminary results show that AFL+DIAR does not only discover new paths more quickly but also achieves higher coverage overall. This work thus showcases how starting with lean and optimized seeds can lead to faster, more comprehensive fuzzing campaigns -- and DIAR helps you find such seeds.
- These are slides of the talk given at IEEE International Conference on Software Testing Verification and Validation Workshop, ICSTW 2022.
Threats to mobile devices are more prevalent and increasing in scope and complexity. Users of mobile devices desire to take full advantage of the features
available on those devices, but many of the features provide convenience and capability but sacrifice security. This best practices guide outlines steps the users can take to better protect personal devices and information.
UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series, part 6DianaGray10
Welcome to UiPath Test Automation using UiPath Test Suite series part 6. In this session, we will cover Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI.
UiPath Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI webinar offers an in-depth exploration of leveraging cutting-edge technologies for test automation within the UiPath platform. Attendees will delve into the integration of generative AI, a test automation solution, with Open AI advanced natural language processing capabilities.
Throughout the session, participants will discover how this synergy empowers testers to automate repetitive tasks, enhance testing accuracy, and expedite the software testing life cycle. Topics covered include the seamless integration process, practical use cases, and the benefits of harnessing AI-driven automation for UiPath testing initiatives. By attending this webinar, testers, and automation professionals can gain valuable insights into harnessing the power of AI to optimize their test automation workflows within the UiPath ecosystem, ultimately driving efficiency and quality in software development processes.
What will you get from this session?
1. Insights into integrating generative AI.
2. Understanding how this integration enhances test automation within the UiPath platform
3. Practical demonstrations
4. Exploration of real-world use cases illustrating the benefits of AI-driven test automation for UiPath
Topics covered:
What is generative AI
Test Automation with generative AI and Open AI.
UiPath integration with generative AI
Speaker:
Deepak Rai, Automation Practice Lead, Boundaryless Group and UiPath MVP
AI 101: An Introduction to the Basics and Impact of Artificial IntelligenceIndexBug
Imagine a world where machines not only perform tasks but also learn, adapt, and make decisions. This is the promise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), a technology that's not just enhancing our lives but revolutionizing entire industries.
Programming Foundation Models with DSPy - Meetup SlidesZilliz
Prompting language models is hard, while programming language models is easy. In this talk, I will discuss the state-of-the-art framework DSPy for programming foundation models with its powerful optimizers and runtime constraint system.
Why You Should Replace Windows 11 with Nitrux Linux 3.5.0 for enhanced perfor...SOFTTECHHUB
The choice of an operating system plays a pivotal role in shaping our computing experience. For decades, Microsoft's Windows has dominated the market, offering a familiar and widely adopted platform for personal and professional use. However, as technological advancements continue to push the boundaries of innovation, alternative operating systems have emerged, challenging the status quo and offering users a fresh perspective on computing.
One such alternative that has garnered significant attention and acclaim is Nitrux Linux 3.5.0, a sleek, powerful, and user-friendly Linux distribution that promises to redefine the way we interact with our devices. With its focus on performance, security, and customization, Nitrux Linux presents a compelling case for those seeking to break free from the constraints of proprietary software and embrace the freedom and flexibility of open-source computing.
HCL Notes und Domino Lizenzkostenreduzierung in der Welt von DLAUpanagenda
Webinar Recording: https://www.panagenda.com/webinars/hcl-notes-und-domino-lizenzkostenreduzierung-in-der-welt-von-dlau/
DLAU und die Lizenzen nach dem CCB- und CCX-Modell sind für viele in der HCL-Community seit letztem Jahr ein heißes Thema. Als Notes- oder Domino-Kunde haben Sie vielleicht mit unerwartet hohen Benutzerzahlen und Lizenzgebühren zu kämpfen. Sie fragen sich vielleicht, wie diese neue Art der Lizenzierung funktioniert und welchen Nutzen sie Ihnen bringt. Vor allem wollen Sie sicherlich Ihr Budget einhalten und Kosten sparen, wo immer möglich. Das verstehen wir und wir möchten Ihnen dabei helfen!
Wir erklären Ihnen, wie Sie häufige Konfigurationsprobleme lösen können, die dazu führen können, dass mehr Benutzer gezählt werden als nötig, und wie Sie überflüssige oder ungenutzte Konten identifizieren und entfernen können, um Geld zu sparen. Es gibt auch einige Ansätze, die zu unnötigen Ausgaben führen können, z. B. wenn ein Personendokument anstelle eines Mail-Ins für geteilte Mailboxen verwendet wird. Wir zeigen Ihnen solche Fälle und deren Lösungen. Und natürlich erklären wir Ihnen das neue Lizenzmodell.
Nehmen Sie an diesem Webinar teil, bei dem HCL-Ambassador Marc Thomas und Gastredner Franz Walder Ihnen diese neue Welt näherbringen. Es vermittelt Ihnen die Tools und das Know-how, um den Überblick zu bewahren. Sie werden in der Lage sein, Ihre Kosten durch eine optimierte Domino-Konfiguration zu reduzieren und auch in Zukunft gering zu halten.
Diese Themen werden behandelt
- Reduzierung der Lizenzkosten durch Auffinden und Beheben von Fehlkonfigurationen und überflüssigen Konten
- Wie funktionieren CCB- und CCX-Lizenzen wirklich?
- Verstehen des DLAU-Tools und wie man es am besten nutzt
- Tipps für häufige Problembereiche, wie z. B. Team-Postfächer, Funktions-/Testbenutzer usw.
- Praxisbeispiele und Best Practices zum sofortigen Umsetzen
“An Outlook of the Ongoing and Future Relationship between Blockchain Technologies and Process-aware Information Systems.” Invited talk at the joint workshop on Blockchain for Information Systems (BC4IS) and Blockchain for Trusted Data Sharing (B4TDS), co-located with with the 36th International Conference on Advanced Information Systems Engineering (CAiSE), 3 June 2024, Limassol, Cyprus.
GraphSummit Singapore | The Future of Agility: Supercharging Digital Transfor...Neo4j
Leonard Jayamohan, Partner & Generative AI Lead, Deloitte
This keynote will reveal how Deloitte leverages Neo4j’s graph power for groundbreaking digital twin solutions, achieving a staggering 100x performance boost. Discover the essential role knowledge graphs play in successful generative AI implementations. Plus, get an exclusive look at an innovative Neo4j + Generative AI solution Deloitte is developing in-house.
Unlock the Future of Search with MongoDB Atlas_ Vector Search Unleashed.pdfMalak Abu Hammad
Discover how MongoDB Atlas and vector search technology can revolutionize your application's search capabilities. This comprehensive presentation covers:
* What is Vector Search?
* Importance and benefits of vector search
* Practical use cases across various industries
* Step-by-step implementation guide
* Live demos with code snippets
* Enhancing LLM capabilities with vector search
* Best practices and optimization strategies
Perfect for developers, AI enthusiasts, and tech leaders. Learn how to leverage MongoDB Atlas to deliver highly relevant, context-aware search results, transforming your data retrieval process. Stay ahead in tech innovation and maximize the potential of your applications.
#MongoDB #VectorSearch #AI #SemanticSearch #TechInnovation #DataScience #LLM #MachineLearning #SearchTechnology
Unlock the Future of Search with MongoDB Atlas_ Vector Search Unleashed.pdf
Von der-gracht 2010-futures
1. Futures 42 (2010) 380–393
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Futures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/futures
Corporate foresight and innovation management: A portfolio-approach in
evaluating organizational development
Heiko A. von der Gracht *, Christoph Robert Vennemann, Inga-Lena Darkow
Supply Chain Management Institute (SMI), EUROPEAN BUSINESS SCHOOL (EBS), International University Schloss Reichartshausen, EBS Campus Wiesbaden,
Soehnleinstrasse 8F, 65201 Wiesbaden, Germany
A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T
Article history: The transition from a traditional industry-driven economy to a knowledge-based economy
Available online 18 November 2009 requires new concepts and methods for companies to sustain competitive advantage.
Here, academia has identified corporate foresight and innovation as key success factors.
While, content-wise, the contribution of futures research methods to the innovation
process has already been researched, this study strives to explore the status quo of
organizational development stages of both concepts. To do so, we developed a portfolio-
approach, the so-called ‘Future-Fitness-Portfolio’, which enables companies to qualita-
tively compare amongst others and identify organizational improvement potential. In
addition, we conducted expert interviews to explore future organizational development
trends in corporate foresight and innovation management. As our research revealed, five
strategic clusters can be identified within the portfolio. Consequently, we propose specific
strategies for each individual cluster. We conclude that there will be two main
organizational development trends for corporate foresight and innovation management in
the future: in traditional industries with conventional business models and long product-
life-cycles, companies will follow a different development path than companies in
dynamic industries with innovative business models and short product-life-cycles.
ß 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
In the past decade, a new and unprecedented challenge for companies of all sizes has arisen, one that could mean life or
death for a particular organization [1, p. 1]. With this weighty statement, Jonathan Spira heralds the beginning of a new era:
the knowledge economy. Likewise, a recent McKinsey survey amongst executives on global trends and their impact on
business strategies shows that the greater ease of obtaining information, and thus creating knowledge, is perceived as one of
the most influential trends in the business world today [2, p. 17].1 However, as Van Giessel and Boekholt [3, p. 2] point out,
this paradigm shift from a traditional industry-driven economy to the new knowledge-based economy also implies sundry
challenges for companies and their business environment. For example, Porter and Millar [4, p. 150] analyze the future
competitive landscape for companies by stating that the ‘information revolution’ affects competition in three vital ways: it
changes industry structure and, in doing so, alters the rules of competition; it creates competitive advantage by providing
companies new ways to outperform their rivals; and it spawns completely new businesses, often from within a company’s
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +49 611 36018800; fax: +49 611 36018802.
E-mail addresses: vdgracht@supplyinstitute.org (H.A. von der Gracht), robert.vennemann@ebs.edu (C.R. Vennemann), darkow@supplyinstitute.org
(I.-L. Darkow).
1
81% of the respondents answered the question on how important they expect the trend of obtaining information with greater ease and developing
knowledge to be on global business during the next 5 years as very important or important.
0016-3287/$ – see front matter ß 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.futures.2009.11.023
2. H.A. von der Gracht et al. / Futures 42 (2010) 380–393 381
existing operations. Accordingly, Drucker [5] summarizes the situation by claiming that ‘‘in the next 10 to 15 years, collecting
outside information is going to be the next frontier’’ (p. 5).
But what is information? Recent surveys show that there is no consensus on a single, unified definition of information [6,
p. 3510]. According to Zins [7, p. 447], data is conceived as the raw material for information, which again is conceived as the
raw material for knowledge, the highest order construction. This understanding corresponds with the definition given by
Drucker [8] who sees information as ‘‘data endowed with relevance and purpose’’ (p. 46). According to Drucker, converting
data into information consequently requires knowledge.
Berkhout, Hartmann, van der Duin and Ortt [9, p. 391] go one step further and claim that in addition to capital, labour, and
knowledge, creativity will become the fourth principle factor of production. However, the question remains what concepts
and methods companies can employ to cope with challenges implied by the knowledge economy, or even gain a competitive
edge. Academia has identified corporate foresight, a business-oriented form of futures research, combined with innovation
management, as a way to face the demands of a knowledge economy [10, p. 339]. Johannessen, Olaisen and Olsen [11] argue
that ‘‘knowledge is not objective facts, but a way of organising our experience’’ (p. 126). Hence, it is crucial for companies to
establish systematic ways and methods of managing knowledge. Corporate foresight is one such method. Hines [12]
summarizes that ‘‘strategic foresight can become a fundamental part of a learning organization, which is essential to success
in today’s fast-changing environment’’ (p. 21).
On the other hand, innovation has become another hot topic at the beginning of the 21st century. It is at the center of
attention at virtually any conference and headlines the front covers of many business magazines published in 2007. In an
empirical study, the management consultancy Arthur D. Little [13, p. 2] shows that innovation is of ‘paramount importance’
for companies and policy makers due to the increasing importance of innovation as a result of quickly changing technologies
and environments, shorter product-life-cycles and an increasing difficulty to differentiate from competitors. Customers are
more sophisticated, segmented and demanding, and expect more in terms of customization, novelty, quality and price. As a
consequence, the management of innovation, in order to systematically generate new ideas and to develop them into
marketable goods and services, has become a key competitive factor in today’s business environments. Accordingly, many
authors, including world-renowned strategist Michael Porter [14, pp. 6–7; 15, pp. 24–25], argue that innovation
management is the right tool to cope with future challenges.
Thus, corporate foresight and its symbiotic relationship to innovation management figures as the focal point of this
article. Despite their practical relevancy however, the question arises how futures research methods can contribute to the
innovation process. In the following discussion, we give a short terminological background and list major publications in this
field, including research scope and key findings.
2. Literature review on corporate foresight in the innovation process
The systematic examination of the future in the sense of modern futures research is not a recent phenomenon. It can be
traced back to the end of World War II [16, p. 74; 17, pp. 252, 258–259; 18, p. 186]. As McHale [19, p. 9] points out, futures
research per se emerged as a quasi-formal discipline. In this period, the United States started scientific analyses of trends and
indicators of change in order to anticipate events [20, p. 1159]. During the 1950s, futures methodologies, such as the scenario
or Delphi technique, were developed. In the late 1970s, Strategic Issue Management (SIM) emerged as a method to support
the corporate planning process and to cope with uncertainty in the business environment [21,22]. The research strand
centered around the works of Jane E. Dutton [23–28] in the U.S. and Franz Liebl [29–32] in the German literature
concentrates on the systematic analysis and management of strategic issues, i.e. events, developments, or trends that might
affect the firm’s future performance. Closely related, yet emanating from a more systems-driven understanding, are the
research strands of ‘weak signals’ [33–35] and ‘environmental scanning’ [36–40].
Since the late 1980s the term ‘foresight’ has increasingly been used. It describes an inherent human activity used every
day by individuals throughout society and business and draws on wider social networks than ‘futures studies’ [41, p. 31; 42,
p. 20]. Cunha et al. [43, p. 942] view foresight less as a technical and analytic process, but as ‘‘a human process permeated by a
dialectic between the need to know and the fear of knowing’’ (p. 942). Corporate foresight has become the prevalent term
used by many companies for their futures research activities. The term stands for the analysis of long-term prospects in
business environments, markets and new technologies, and their implications for corporate strategies and innovation [44, p.
279]. Hence, corporate foresight can be understood as an overarching futures orientation of an organization and is, therefore,
considered a part of strategic (innovation) management [45, p. 960]. Futures researchers, such as Ratcliffe [46, p. 40] and
Hines [12, p. 21], are of the opinion that an unconditioned futures orientation, paired with strong foresight capability and
capacity, based on flexible and adaptable systems, is the secret to success for any company.
In addition, excellence in innovation management is increasingly being linked to a company’s capability in futures
research. As former Siemens Chairman, von Pierer, liked to point out: ‘The surest way to predict the future is to create and
shape it yourself’. Accordingly, corporate foresight enables companies to deal with radical and incremental change in the
internal and external environment of their organization. Likewise, corporate foresight is a concept that pays attention to the
complexity and dynamics of future developments as well as their interdependencies. Therefore, it is best suited to support
decisions in innovation management [47, p. 2].
In general, there are two different situations where corporate foresight can contribute to the innovation process: before
the idea is born and when the idea is already established. In the first situation, corporate foresight is applied as a concept to
3. 382 H.A. von der Gracht et al. / Futures 42 (2010) 380–393
inspire and create new ideas for innovation [48, p. 97]. As von Reibnitz [49, p. 173] indicates, corporate foresight provides
comprehensive insight into the future development of the environment, which in turn induces ideas for new products and
services. In the second situation, corporate foresight can help to assess either the commercial and technological viability and/
or to adjust or abandon the innovation process [48, p. 97]. In these situations, corporate foresight helps to cope with
uncertainty [50, p. 222] by preventing companies from investing time, money and other resources in ideas that might not
prove to be successful innovations in the future [48, p. 95].
In order to provide an overview of the different implementation possibilities and research foci of corporate foresight in
the innovation process, Table 1 summarizes the major publications including their research scope and key findings.
Although, content-wise, the contribution of futures research methods to the innovation process and the strategic
importance of both concepts in the knowledge economy have been investigated in numerous studies in the recent past, Van
der Duin [60, p. 181] identifies several practice-oriented research gaps and, consequently, formulates an agenda for future
research. Accordingly, one of his proposals is to investigate the strategic environment of corporate foresight and innovation
Table 1
Literature review on the contribution of corporate foresight to the innovation process.
Author(s) Research scope Key findings
Burmeister/Need/ The concept of corporate There are five ‘innovation parameters’ in which corporate foresight can contribute to the
Beyers [51] foresight innovation process: the anticipation of future demand, higher quality through better
information, context-orientation, timing, and the identification of strategic innovation
networks
Daheim/Uerz [52] Corporate foresight in Europe An empirical study amongst 152 large European companies shows that 57.5% of the
respondents perceive corporate foresight as an improvement of the innovation process
Drew [53] Application of scenario Scenario techniques can be successfully applied to analyzing disruptive innovation
planning methods to (although not limited to them) and the changes they can cause in industry structures
(technological) innovation and firm capabilities
Fink/Schlake/Siebe [54] Scenarios in innovation Based on four levels of corporate planning and three different ‘thinking horizons’, there
management are twelve ‘innovation arenas’ in which innovation management has to take place;
innovation management as a combination of ‘planning’ and ‘thinking’
Gruber/Venter [45] Corporate foresight in Companies do not make use yet of the full range of large content- and process-related,
German companies from a organizational and personal possibilities of futures research; three typical patterns of
management perspective corporate foresight can be identified
Kaivo-oja [55] Role of foresight systems Foresight and innovation systems can interact in different ways; foresight knowledge is
elements in relation to the not the only kind of knowledge needed for the innovation process; in different
innovation systems innovation models the strategic role of foresight knowledge is different
Neef/Daheim [56] Current developments of Corporate foresight has become more widespread, professional and diverse; to be
corporate foresight in Europe successful, corporate foresight must be integrated into organizational processes,
such as strategy and innovation, as well as become more visible
¨
Pirttimaki [57] Corporate foresight needs of Combining methods of product and service concept development with foresight methods
industrial firms can help to foresee innovations; corporate foresight can be utilized both in strategic
planning and strategy implementation; a permanent foresight function should implement
innovation foresight exercises
Roveda/Vecchiato [58] Foresight and innovation in Whereas interactive workshops and expert panels are best suited to foster incremental
the context of industrial innovations, scenarios and other ‘vision-oriented’ methodologies are more appropriate
clusters when radical innovations are needed
Ruff [44] Practice of corporate foresight The strategic goal of innovation leadership requires an early detection of opportunities
within a multinational and risks; a future-oriented evaluation of innovation ideas follows five sequential steps:
automotive company observation of future trends, trend impact analysis, idea generation, evaluation of
innovations, and feasibility evaluation
Schulz-Montag/ Scenarios in innovation and A trend and scenario-based innovation process comprises five steps: trend analysis,
¨
Muller-Stoffels [59] strategy processes projection of relevant futures (scenarios), generation of innovative ideas, evaluation and
assessment of ideas, communication of ideas within the organization/idea transfer
Van der Duin [60] Qualitative futures research The level of integration of corporate foresight in the innovation process can vary between
for innovation ad hoc, integration-method and full integration; the main function of futures research is
to inspire and not to test the ‘future-proofness’ of ideas
Warnke/Heimeriks [61] Technology foresight as an There are four different ways how foresight can support innovation policy: as a systemic
innovation policy instrument instrument fostering innovation capability, as an orientation towards societal needs, as an
agenda-setting process, and as a provider of anticipatory intelligence for decision-making
Z_Punkt [62] Practice, methods and Systematic use of futures research methods in the strategic product planning process can
perspectives of futures increase the likelihood that today’s investments result in tomorrow’s innovations; in the
research in corporations near future, there will be an increasing importance in scenario-based innovation and
product strategies
4. H.A. von der Gracht et al. / Futures 42 (2010) 380–393 383
management. Though Gruber and Venter [45, pp. 962–963] research important strategic aspects such as organizational,
process-related or HR-related implementation possibilities, their sole focus is on the concept of corporate foresight. Hence,
knowledge remains incomplete regarding the empirical status quo of the organizational development mix of corporate
foresight and innovation management.
3. Nature of the research
In order to close this gap, our study used an explorative approach to research the relationship between corporate foresight
and innovation management. It provides insights into today’s developmental stages of corporate foresight and innovation
management as well as future development trends in this field by means of a newly developed portfolio-approach. Hence, it
is a first attempt to develop methodological and practical knowledge for managing corporate foresight and innovation in
tomorrow’s knowledge economy. The explorative research approach was chosen due to the novelty of the foresight–
innovation-relationship as research subject. We used an extensive literature review and field research as a platform for
theory development, in accordance with the process proposed by Eisenhardt [63] and Lievens et al. [64].
We propose specific strategies for companies according to their position in the portfolio and, supported by our literature
review, we also theorize ways to achieve ‘future-fitness’. An appropriate research framework has been developed prior to the
field research. The research framework is based on the literature and a reanalysis of seven secondary-data case examples.
Three of these case examples originate from van der Duin’s [60, pp. 61–156] study on qualitative futures research for
innovation and four from previous primary research.
In our field research, we generated additional primary data by means of semi-structured expert interviews in order to
explore future development trends and success factors for corporate foresight and innovation management. For the
identification of potential interview partners, we researched contributions of practitioners at futures research and/or
innovation conferences and the members of an expert panel of a Delphi study on the future of futures studies [65]. In total,
we identified nine companies as potential primary-data case examples. However, one of the selection criteria was a certain
degree of sophistication in the corporate foresight or innovation process. Out of the total number of identified companies,
two participated in our in-depth research and were later analyzed as primary-data case examples. Table 2 gives an overview
of all case examples we analyzed in this study as well as their respective origin.
The analysis of the qualitative data from these case examples followed the general approach as described by Saunders
et al. [66, p. 479]: categorization, unitizing data, recognizing relationships and developing categories, developing and testing
propositions. Accordingly, our research objectives can be summarized as follows:
Develop a framework to research the status quo of the organizational development of corporate foresight and innovation
management.
Research and evaluate the status quo of the development of corporate foresight and innovation management in companies
across different industries.
Identify strategic clusters of companies according to their corporate foresight and innovation management.
Discuss future trends in the development of corporate foresight and innovation management.
Derive appropriate strategies for each identified cluster.
4. Development of a research framework: the Future-Fitness-Portfolio
4.1. Motivation and nature of the research framework
Despite the illustration of the status quo of the organizational development stages of corporate foresight and innovation
management at selected case examples, our framework should also allow the depiction of possible future development
trends and the identification of appropriate strategic clusters. Consequently, we chose the form of a two-dimensional
portfolio with corporate foresight and innovation management development stages at either one of the axes as our research
Table 2
Overview of the case examples analyzed in this study.
Industry Research scope Source
Airport operator Organizational development stages of corporate foresight and Primary data
innovation management
Automotive Qualitative futures research for innovation Literature [60], primary data
Chemical Scenario-driven innovation management Primary data
High tech/electronics Scenario-driven innovation management Primary data
IT/software Qualitative futures research for innovation Literature [60]
Medical technology Qualitative futures research for innovation Literature [60]
Pharmaceutical Organizational development stages of corporate foresight and Primary data
innovation management
Telecommunications Scenario-driven innovation management Primary data
Telecommunications Qualitative futures research for innovation Literature [60]
5. 384 H.A. von der Gracht et al. / Futures 42 (2010) 380–393
framework. This portfolio thus allows for comparing companies qualitatively amongst one another. At a recent conference,
Cuhls and Johnston [67, p. 14] presented a similar portfolio-approach in comparing companies regarding future-oriented
technology analysis. Hence, the framework developed in this study can be regarded as state-of-the-art in corporate foresight
research.
In the following section, the so-called ‘Future-Fitness-Portfolio’ is presented and then used as the basis for our succeeding
analyses. The first step was to operationalize the concepts of corporate foresight and innovation management.
Operationalization in the context of our qualitative research refers to identifying distinct developmental stages and
predefining an adequate set of dimensions. This is necessary to be able to apply case examples to this portfolio later in the
research.
4.2. Operationalization of corporate foresight
In a recent article, Daheim and Uerz [52, p. 11] describe the evolution of corporate foresight in Europe and distinguish
three distinct historical phases. Further, they introduce the concept of a fourth, currently emerging phase. Each of these
phases represents a dominant logic or paradigm that is prevailing and is hence constitutional for the respective phase. Also,
Daheim and Uerz distinguish each phase by a set of inherent characteristics that can be used as the basis for the respective
dimensions of the portfolio. The phases construct an ordinal scale, as they represent historical development stages. In
chronological order, they are:
Expert-based foresight.
Model-based foresight.
Trend-based foresight.
(Context-based) open foresight.
The first developmental stage of corporate foresight is expert-based foresight which emerged in the 1970s. According to
this type of foresight, it is assumed that the future can be foreseen by means of expertise. Therefore, companies that use
expert-based foresight will outsource most of their foresighting activities to experts, such as futures research institutes, in
order for them to provide the relevant foresight knowledge. However, these companies tend to lose track of possible
interdependencies amongst different relevant developments for the organization. The main methods used during expert-
based foresight are Delphi studies, roadmaps, and scenarios [52, pp. 11–12].
The second phase of corporate foresight is called model-based foresight. In this phase, the perspective shifts towards
a quantitative approach of futures research, with the underlying assumption that the future can be calculated by
means of computer models based on large amounts of data. As with expert-based foresight, some of the foresighting
activities are outsourced to knowledge providers and relevant application possibilities for the organization are lost [52,
p. 12].
As a third phase, and presently the most common development stage of corporate foresight, Daheim and Uerz refer to
trend-based foresight. They define this organizational stage as the approach of scanning developments and trends in the
environment and their projection into the future. While this paradigm offers a high communicability of the foresight output,
there is a danger that too much emphasis is placed on the scanning and monitoring process itself, thus limiting a company to
adapting a reactive strategy.
While Daheim and Uerz argue that all of the above approaches to corporate foresight limit a company to a so-called
coping or reactive strategy, the next, currently emerging, corporate foresight development stage aims in a different direction.
Many recent academic articles on futures research maintain the position that the future can by no means be grasped (i.e.
calculated or projected) and thus different approaches are needed in order to anticipate the future, rather than to react to it.
Consequently, Daheim and Uerz [52] introduce a concept of corporate foresight which is based on an open and interactive
perspective and focuses on the communication process rather than on methodology. It is called context-based, open
foresight and ‘‘pays tribute to the increased socio-cultural and socio-technical dynamic resulting from the emergence of the
networked society, where almost everything is interconnected and the separation of spheres of life, such as technology,
economics, politics and culture, has come to an end’’ (p. 13). Open foresight is characterized by transparency, methodological
hybridity, context orientation and participation, and is ‘‘set to diffuse into decision-making and blend into it instead of just
preparing it’’ (p. 13).
In our research, these four phases serve as the distinct organizational development stages of corporate foresight and thus
as the abscissa of the Future-Fitness-Portfolio. However, appropriate dimensions for each of the development stages need to
be defined.
4.3. Qualitative corporate foresight dimensions
Daheim and Uerz already provide specific characteristics for each of the above historical phases, but not all of them are
suitable as dimensions for a qualitative comparison in a portfolio, since they are not homogenous for all phases. We chose the
following dimensions A.1–A.5, based on Daheim and Uerz’s article, in order to identify a company’s specific corporate
foresight development stage.
6. H.A. von der Gracht et al. / Futures 42 (2010) 380–393 385
Table 3
Operationalization model of corporate foresight.
Dimension Expert-based foresight Model-based foresight Trend-based foresight Open foresight Weighting
A.1 Dominant The future can be The future can be The future can be The future can be 35%
paradigm known by means known by means projected by means shaped by means
of expertise of (computer) models of (scanned) developments of interaction
A.2 Perspective Exploring change Calculating change Reacting to change Understanding and 25%
anticipating/shaping
change
A.3 Foresight Collect and compare Use quantitative Analyze weak signals and Open dialogue 20%
process the opinions of models to estimate early warnings and (with focus on the
(numerous) experts the future project them in trends communication and
(e.g. extrapolation) discussion process);
continuous, does not
end when hard objective
of a project have
been achieved
A.4 Outsiders Outsiders (experts) Outsiders generate Some of foresighting Strong collaboration 10%
are responsible for foresight knowledge activity is outsourced with all relevant
both contents and (throughout the to outsiders stakeholders
outcomes of the foresight process) (e.g. trend scouts) (in- and outside)
foresight process
A.5 Output Delphis, roadmaps, Models, matrices Trend-databases, Scenarios, wild cards, 10%
scenarios monitoring systems action plans,
innovation ideas
A1 The dominant paradigm behind an organization’s corporate foresight.
A2 The perspective (i.e. rationale) of foresight activities.
A3 The foresight process itself.
A4 The role of outsiders in the foresight process.
A5 The actual output of the foresight activities.
As such, these dimensions are relatively meaningless and need to be defined with qualitative values in order to compare
different case examples in terms of their corporate foresight development stage. The assigned qualitative values of the
operationalization model can be visualized as a 6 Â 5 matrix in Table 3. Also, all dimensions have to be weighted by their
explanatory power for the actual development stage. The time horizon of an organization’s innovation management, for
example, does not have the same explanatory weight for its classification on the ordinate of the Future-Fitness-Portfolio as does
the dominant paradigm behind it. This is a crucial step, as it affects the actual position of case studies in the portfolio and thus the
validity of the portfolio itself. The weights we assigned, however, are the result of our subjective assessment of the constituent
character of the individual dimensions of corporate foresight. The weighting can be individually customized to different
application scenarios. Daheim and Uerz [52, p. 10] for example claim that the dominant paradigm in a development stage has a
particularly high explanatory power which they characterize as being ‘typical’ for any given phase of corporate foresight.
4.4. Operationalization of innovation management
Although some authors argue in favor of five different innovation management generations [68, pp. 12–15], in this article,
the evolution of innovation management is separated into four different phases representing the ordinate of our framework
[9, p. 390; 60, pp. 52–53; 69, pp. 305–308]:
Technology-based innovation.
Demand-oriented innovation.
Hybrid innovation.
Open network innovation.
The first generation of innovation management emerged in the 1950s during times of rapid industrial and technological
expansion and is thus referred to as technology-based innovation. This type of innovation management assumes that
technological development lies at the center of innovation. The more RD is put into an innovation process at the beginning,
the more successful the products are that eventually develop [68, p. 8]. Therefore, RD departments are fairly free to
investigate any subject and are fully funded by corporate budgets [60, p. 52]. Companies which presently fulfill the
characteristics of the first generation of innovation management develop technologies through RD and then ‘push’ them
onto the market. Hence, this approach is also commonly known as ‘technology-push’ and it implies that the nature of the
innovation process resembles a linear process, with RD at its end. Generally, such technology-based innovation
management aims to produce radical innovations.
7. 386 H.A. von der Gracht et al. / Futures 42 (2010) 380–393
In contrast, the second generation of innovation management follows a market-oriented approach and emerged in the
mid 1960s as a consequence of an economic slowdown and a resulting increase in competition [60, p. 52]. Customer
demands and market dynamics are at the center of attention for innovation managers. Appropriately, the innovation process
is essentially the reverse of the first generation innovation process [9, p. 392]. This approach is commonly known as ‘market-
pull’. Due to the market-oriented perspective, innovations in this generation shift from radical to incremental changes of
existing products, according to customer feedback. Thus, demand-oriented innovation projects are much shorter in length.
In a third generation, which emerged in the early 1970s, the two earlier generations of technology-based and demand-
oriented innovation are combined into a hybrid innovation model. Consequently, innovations in this phase result from
technological development and RD on the one hand, and demand-side factors on the other hand. Also, the innovation
process is not linear with either RD or the market at its front end, but rather includes several forward and backward loops
including feedback chains and other forms of interaction. Furthermore, innovation management is partially tied to the
overall corporate strategy of an organization because the importance of constantly innovating products, services, and
processes in a highly competitive business environment has been recognized [60, p. 52; 9, p. 392].
For modern innovation management, Ortt and Smits [69, p. 305] analyze four consequences from global mega-trends and
thus argue in favor of a fourth generation. According to Ortt and Smits, these consequences induce the end of the linear
model, the rise of the systems approach, the inherent uncertainty of a business environment and a consequent need for
learning, as well as the need for innovations to become more entrepreneurial. Following these consequences, many
researchers have contributed various fourth generation innovation management models.2 However, as a last development
stage in our portfolio and as the basis for the operationalization of fourth-generation innovation management, we have
chosen Chesbrough’s concept of open innovation [70, p. 37]. The concept created quite a stir in the business world and is
commonly accepted as state-of-the-art innovation management [71, pp. 1–2; 72, pp. 1–3]. The open innovation model
proposes that companies commercialize external and internal ideas by developing outside and in-house pathways to the
market [70, pp. 36–37]. Various relevant stakeholders of a company, such as (lead) customers or suppliers, are integrated
into the innovation process: from idea generation at the so-called fuzzy front-end, to actual technological development and
marketing. Hence, the innovation process of an open innovation architecture is network-based, rather than linear [72, pp. 1–
2]. Consequently, the fourth developmental stage of innovation management in the Future-Fitness-Portfolio is labeled open
network innovation.
Although the term ‘generation’ implies a strict chronological separation, companies today may utilize any of the
innovation management approaches. The classification is used as the basis to compare companies’ status quo in innovation
management and thus as the ordinate of the Future-Fitness-Portfolio. However, appropriate dimensions for each of the
development stages need to be defined.
4.5. Qualitative innovation management dimensions
We chose the following dimensions B.1–B.8 as the result of the above literature research on the evolution of innovation
management. These dimensions are a collection of characteristics describing the generations in the different literature
sources, and thus serve as indicators for a company’s specific innovation management development stage.
B.1 The dominant paradigm underlying an organization’s innovation management.
B.2 The innovation process itself.
B.3 The use of process management techniques in innovation management.
B.4 The time horizon and scope of an organization’s innovation management.
B.5 The types of innovations.
B.6 The organizational implementation of the innovation management.
B.7 The link of innovation management to (corporate) strategy.
B.8 The average product-life-cycle in the respective industry.
These dimensions together draw a concrete picture of a company’s innovation management and a developmental stage
can be assigned. Similar to the operationalization of corporate foresight, each dimension is weighted by its explanatory
power for the innovation management generation and is the result of our subjective assessment (Table 4).
In this study, primarily products and services are viewed as innovations, although, as Porter and Millar [4, p. 150] point
out in their analysis of future competitive landscapes, innovative business models can also be a source of competitive
advantages. Nevertheless, chapter 6.2 accounts for different business models by looking at how they affect the way in which
companies will create ‘future-fitness’.
It has to be noted, however, that the various stages of corporate foresight or innovation management are not always
mutually exclusive. In fact, a company might have an innovation management that is strategically highly recognized (i.e.
representing an open innovation approach) but has a time horizon of more than 5 years, thus representing the technology-push
2
See for example Berkhout et al. [9, pp. 393–402] and their Cyclic Innovation Model or Zhao [73, pp. 36–38] and his 5S framework for entrepreneurial
innovation management.
8. H.A. von der Gracht et al. / Futures 42 (2010) 380–393 387
Table 4
Operationalization model of innovation management.
Dimension Technology-based Demand-oriented Hybrid innovation Open network Weighting
innovation innovation innovation
B.1 Dominant Technology-push Market-pull Hybrid form of Cooperative innovation 20%
paradigm technology-push and
market-pull
B.2 Innovation Linear process with Linear process with Can contain various Network structures with 20%
process markets at the end of RD at the end of the forward and backward strong outside
the pipeline (inside-out) pipeline (outside-in) loops and other types integration; replacement
of interaction of the linear model
(e.g. feedback paths) with a cyclic approach
B.3 Process No process management Little emphasis on Strong emphasis Process management is a 15%
management process management on process management key element for our
innovation management
B.4 Time horizon Long-term Short-term (3–4 years), Short term (2–3 years Decreasing product life 10%
(5 years and more) attempts to shorten cycles require an even
the time-to-market shorter time-to-market
(1–2 years)
B.5 Type of Mostly radical Mostly incremental Both radical and Both radical and 10%
innovations innovations innovations incremental incremental innovations
(optimization) (intensive collaboration
with external
knowledge sources)
B.6 Organizational Large and autonomous Formalized and Small, flexible projects; Organized in 10%
implementation corporate RD programs centralized RD higher integration with multidisciplinary project
(similar scientific research with occasional other parts and functions teams with both internal
in universities) staff functionality of an organization and external
B.7 Strategic No (specific) strategic Weak ties with Innovation projects Innovation is recognized 10%
implementation goals business strategy are linked to RD as a key element for
and company goals competitiveness and
therefore strongly tied
to corporate strategy
B.8 Product-life-cycle Long Medium/Short Short Very short 5%
stage. Nevertheless, as outlined in more detail below, we used semantic scales to identify, which developmental stage most
represents the status quo of corporate foresight and innovation management at the researched companies.
4.6. Introducing the Future-Fitness-Portfolio
Having operationalized the concepts of corporate foresight and innovation management, they can now be illustrated in
the form of a 4 Â 4 matrix. Fig. 1 depicts the basic architecture of the Future-Fitness-Portfolio. It comprises 16 generic fields,
of which each implies a different answer to the question: ‘How fit is the company for the future?’
5. Case examples: how ‘future-fit’ are they?
5.1. Reanalyzing secondary data and generating primary data
In order to analyze how ‘future-fit’ our selected case examples are, we used semantic scales to determine their position in the
Future-Fitness-Portfolio. For each dimension of both corporate foresight and innovation management, we identified at which
developmental stage the researched companies were by analyzing literature, company profiles and previous research notes for
secondary data and by means of a specific questionnaire for primary data. In order to generate what we call a ‘Compound Average
Corporate Foresight Index’ and a ‘Compound Average Innovation Management Index’, we indexed the development stages from
1 to 4, multiplied the development index of each dimension with its respective weight and summed-up the individual products.
Thereby, we were able to determine a discrete position in the portfolio for all companies, which was no longer limited to the 16
generic fields of the Future-Fitness-Portfolio. In addition, we assumed a constant distance between the different development
stages (i.e. linear development indices 1–4). For the primary data, we set up a specific questionnaire which was structured
according to the operationalization models of corporate foresight and innovation management. For each dimension, we let the
interviewee choose which qualitative value most represented their situation in corporate foresight and innovation
management. Based on the responses, we positioned the primary-data case examples in the Future-Fitness-Portfolio.
5.2. Positioning the case examples in the Future-Fitness-Portfolio
During the reanalysis of the secondary data and the generation of primary data, we determined that the companies form
distinct groups according to their position in the Future-Fitness-Portfolio. Consequently, we developed strategic clusters on
how ‘fit’ these companies are for the future (see Fig. 2).
9. 388 H.A. von der Gracht et al. / Futures 42 (2010) 380–393
Fig. 1. Architecture of the Future-Fitness-Portfolio
As outlined before, a combination of well-developed corporate foresight and innovation management can be seen as a key
to success in the knowledge economy. Hence, we defined the ‘future-fittest’ as the first strategic cluster in the top right of the
portfolio. These companies follow both an open foresight and an open network innovation approach. However, none of the
nine researched case examples fell into this strategic cluster. On the contrary, companies which have not yet reached a
certain development stage in either of the two concepts, we clustered as ‘beginners’. Despite an assumed optimal position in
the top right corner of the portfolio (‘future-fittest’), we also argue that companies with a very high development stage in
either corporate foresight or innovation management have a distinct competitive advantage. Accordingly, we constructed
Fig. 2. Strategic clusters in the Future-Fitness-Portfolio
10. H.A. von der Gracht et al. / Futures 42 (2010) 380–393 389
the clusters of ‘futurists’ and ‘innovators’. In our analysis, one medical technology company could be classified as an
‘innovator’. This company has institutionally integrated all relevant stakeholders in its innovation process by means of
‘clinical networks’ and ‘medical advisory boards’. This integration clearly resembles the concept of open network innovation
and, thus, fourth generation innovation management. On the other hand, three of the nine case examples were characterized
as ‘futurists’. Two of the examined companies, an automotive and a telecommunications company, came short of being
‘future-fittest’ only because they did not fully institutionalize integration of outsiders in the innovation process. The fifth and
largest strategic cluster comprises ‘midfielders’. These are companies which have already implemented corporate foresight
and innovation management to some extent but still show considerable improvement potential.
Fig. 2 depicts the researched case examples and strategic clusters in the Future-Fitness-Portfolio.
6. An experts’ view on the Future-Fitness-Portfolio
After positioning the case examples in the portfolio, we conducted two expert interviews with representatives of an
airport operator and a pharmaceutical company. The interviews were held via telephone, tape-recorded and approximately
one hour in length. The purpose of the interviews was to discuss possible limitations of our framework as to influential
factors on a company’s optimal position in the Future-Fitness-Portfolio. Further, general development trends such as the
organizational implementation of a mix of corporate foresight and innovation management were discussed during the
interviews.
6.1. Discussing influential factors on a company’s future-fitness position
We identified three main influential factors, namely a company’s specific industry, its organizational structure, and the
general comprehension of corporate foresight.
Especially the type of industry and its specific characteristics have a strong influence on a company’s position in the
Future-Fitness-Portfolio. This becomes obvious, if one takes the examples of a pharmaceutical company on the one hand and
an automotive OEM on the other hand. The pharmaceutical industry is historically highly regulated making it almost
impossible for its participants to collaborate with customers (i.e. patients or doctors) or with other relevant stakeholders
such as health insurance companies. The question arises, whether under these conditions a pharmaceutical company can
even achieve an entirely open foresight or innovation environment. If not, the optimal portfolio position for a pharmaceutical
company would differ from the generic ‘Future-Fittest’ cluster in our framework. On the contrary, cooperative development
and other forms of interlocking business relationships have a long tradition in the automotive industry. Toyota and its
Keiretsu system is a prominent example of how suppliers are systematically and strategically integrated in product
development processes. Thus, an OEM has a greater potential for developing an open innovation or open foresight approach.
As a second influential factor, we identified a corporation’s organizational structure. Not all business units or departments
of an organization necessarily need an open knowledge environment to the same extent. For example, in fundamental
research, any organization would benefit from open structures whereas in market development units, excessive interaction
with outsiders might even hinder effective business processes. This distinction further gains importance when a company
needs to act in a situation where margins are small. Here, open structures could even be exposed to failure. Consequently, an
open foresight and open innovation management approach does not always represent a company’s optimal position in the
Future-Fitness-Portfolio.
Also, the comprehension of what corporate foresight is and how it can be used has an influence on a company’s portfolio
position. Several tasks of corporate foresight might be separately organized in various departments rather than in a single
futures research unit. The dissent in terminology and understanding goes as far as to the discussion whether corporate
foresight is a general mindset, a theoretical concept or a practical toolbox. Although academia already provides a
substantiated terminology for corporate foresight and innovation management, comprehension gaps in the practical world
are yet to overcome.
6.2. Identifying future development trends
In addition to discussing the company-specific drivers that determine the positions in the Future-Fitness-Portfolio, the
expert interviews revealed future development trends in the organizational implementation of corporate foresight and
innovation management at the researched companies in particular and in different industries in general. Several guideline
questions were provided prior to the interview to ensure a standardized set of answers.
We theorized two dominant development paths (see Fig. 3): in traditional industries with conventional business models
and long product-life-cycles, companies follow development path A, whereas companies in dynamic industries with
innovative business models and short product-life-cycles follow development path B.
As delineated above, one explanation for the variance in development paths lies in the influencing factors of the portfolio
positions: industry, organizational setup, and understanding. In addition, the average innovation cycle of an industry can be
used to explain the different development paths. In industries where innovations are brought from idea generation to market
success within a few months, it is more important to anticipate the right ideas early than to implement a sophisticated
process management for innovations. Also, in dynamic industries where the rules of competition are not fixed but constantly
11. 390 H.A. von der Gracht et al. / Futures 42 (2010) 380–393
Fig. 3. Dominant development paths in the Future-Fitness-Portfolio
changing, a systematic look into the future can help to set up innovative business models that provide a competitive edge in
the future.
Fig. 3 illustrates the two development paths identified in this study.
7. Discussion
7.1. Limitations of the study and implications for future researchers
In one of the secondary-data case examples, an interviewee noted an advanced ‘sedimentation’ of futures research and
innovation management methods, meaning that they are the output of years of scientific research and thus have somewhat
lost their ‘up-to-dateness’. Hence, it can be proposed that a methods-oriented research approach to corporate foresight and
innovation management will provide additional accessibility of these concepts to the corporate world.
Due to the explorative nature of this research first results were revealed to give preliminary insights into the relationship
between corporate foresight and innovation management. However, there are several limitations implied by the chosen
research design. First, as regards the Future-Fitness-Portfolio, the distances between the individual development stages in
each dimension are assumed to be constant. This rather rigid assumption is again made with respect to the overall design of
our research: to generate methodological knowledge for managing the organizational development of corporate foresight
and innovation management in the knowledge economy. However, future research on the ‘distance’ between the different
development stages can provide additional valuable insights for the field of corporate foresight and innovation management.
Second, from a scientific viewpoint, it is questionable whether two expert interviews are sufficient to draw conclusions
about the integrity of the research framework from a holistic, cross-industry perspective. More expert opinions on the
manageability of the framework, the derived strategies and other influencing factors such as a firm’s industry context would
provide additional insights and thus a greater understanding of the development of corporate foresight and innovation
management. A third limitation of our research is its sole focus on qualitative analysis. It might also be beneficial to approach
the concepts of corporate foresight and innovation management and their relationship from a quantitative angle.3 Hence,
this study implicates the necessity for future researchers to:
Apply additional case examples to the Future-Fitness-Portfolio in order to confirm its validity in terms of
operationalization and structure. Here, alternative methods such as qualitative pattern recognition might help to
sharpen the operationalization models of corporate foresight and innovation management.
Apply additional case examples to the Future-Fitness-Portfolio in order to confirm the validity of the different clusters and
the derived strategies.
3
Van der Duin [60, p. 181] also suggests a quantitative approach for future research on corporate foresight in the innovation process.
12. H.A. von der Gracht et al. / Futures 42 (2010) 380–393 391
Apply additional case examples to the Future-Fitness-Portfolio to generate knowledge regarding industry-specific
corporate foresight and innovation management approaches. A research focus on the incumbents of the respective
industries might shed light on how industry contexts affect the way firms implement corporate foresight and innovation
management.
Collect more expert opinions on future development trends in the portfolio.
Develop quantitative models that compare developmental stages of corporate foresight and innovation management and
the interrelationship of both concepts.
One of the challenges we faced in the course of this study was to label the axes of the framework in a way that allows for a
consistent understanding of our research objectives amongst all participants. It can be argued that both corporate foresight
and innovation management are to date not yet perceived in their plurality in the practical world and, hence, more work in
this area is needed.
As emphasized at the beginning of the article, the need to research corporate foresight and innovation management is
greater than ever and the above-formulated implications provide additional approaches for future research in this field.
7.2. Implications for managers
This study not only serves the academic purpose of developing knowledge regarding corporate foresight and innovation
management but also aims to illustrate practical, management-oriented aspects of the concepts.
One such aspect is the segmentation of positions within the Future-Fitness-Portfolio into different strategic clusters. Each
cluster is characterized by individual strengths and weaknesses on the basis of which we propose the following individual
strategies:
For beginners: Companies that fall into this cluster need to develop both innovation management and corporate foresight
concepts in order to be competitive in tomorrow’s knowledge economy. Depending on the type of industry either
development path A or B may be advisable. It is further suggested that the development along the axes should be
evolutionary rather than radically due to organizational learning.
For midfielders: Companies that fall into this cluster already deal with both innovation management and corporate
foresight. Still, these companies need to continuously improve those skills towards an open (network) approach to fully
exploit their potentials.
For futurists: Companies regarded as futurists need to improve their innovation management skills in order to become
‘future-fittest’. They can significantly benefit from institutionalizing innovation management and integrating their
foresight activities afterwards.
For innovators: Companies regarded as innovators need to improve their foresighting skills in order to evolve into ‘future-
fittest’. By doing so, they will gain a distinct competitive advantage in tomorrow’s knowledge economy.
For ‘future-fittest’: Companies which are already in the ‘future-fittest’ cluster need to maintain their position by continuing
to follow an open (network) approach to both innovation management and corporate foresight. It is important that they do
not become complacent and rely on their current competitive advantages since imitators can catch up quickly.
In our empirical research, both experts pointed at the influential factors ‘industry’, ‘organizational setup’, and specific
‘understanding’ of the concepts. They have a high influence on what determines a company’s best ‘fitness strategy’. As
outlined before, companies in traditional industries with conventional business models and long product-life-cycles are
likely follow a different path towards future fitness than companies in dynamic industries with innovative business models
and short product-life-cycles. Nevertheless, the above-formulated strategies provide managers with a good reference point
for analyzing and improving their individual corporate foresight and innovation management situation.
7.3. Concluding remarks and outlook
As shown, a dynamic competitive landscape calls for new management methods and concepts. With corporate foresight
and innovation management, companies can prepare for increasing competition in advance. There are already first
approaches to implement the two concepts in different organizational contexts. However, it is crucial for companies to
constantly reflect their status quo and identify possible improvement potential. Only organizations which are ‘fit’ in
corporate foresight and innovation management are well prepared to face the diverse challenges of the future.
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