Christoph Hienerth

Exploring How Lead Users Develop Radical Innovation: Opportunity Recognition and Exploitation in the Field of Medical Equipment Technology

In this paper, we explore how lead users develop radical innovations outside of manufacturing firms. We analyze the transition from a very early stage of activities to the ultimate commercialization of these innovations. The focus in this context is on the initiatives undertaken by lead users in order to transform their radically new solutions into functional prototypes, and then, to convince established manufacturers of the technological and market potential of their innovations. Using a comparative case study design in the high-tech field of medical equipment technology, we find that individual lead users as surgeons launch entrepreneurial activities and bridge periods in which established medical equipment manufacturers would not risk investing in radical innovations. By doing so, lead users create the conditions usually provided in manufacturer-initiated lead user projects, including the supply of diversified knowledge, the development and coordination of a network for further development of the innovation, and initial tests of technical or market feasibility. Our findings have implications for manufacturing firms that wish to design radical innovation projects with (individual) lead users and for research on new forms of lead user cooperation and integration.

Measuring Success in Family Businesses: The Concept of Configurational Fit

The problems associated with measuring success in small businesses are primarily caused by a lack of comparable data due to the ambiguity of “success” and by subjective biases. Success evaluation is dominated by the estimates of business owners, who tend to overestimate overall success and internal strengths. However, reliable success measurement instruments would be useful for small business owners/managers as well as small business policymakers. The main purposes of this article are to compare various measures of success, to explore the differences in their outcomes, and to analyze whether a model of success measurement using configurational fit can be used to overcome subjective biases. The study is based on a recent survey of 103 small family-owned businesses in the eastern Austrian border region. Our analysis of the data confirmed the existence of the measurement problems mentioned above. Although some individual indicators show significant biases as well as effects due to company age, size, and industry, the aggregated indicator based on the concept of configurational fit seems to be an appropriate means of overcoming most of these drawbacks.

Evidenzbasiertes Prototyping – wie Start-ups und Köche ihre Ideen entwickeln

Die Prozesse des Kochens und des Grundens weisen verbluffende Parallelen auf. Normalerweise werden dabei drei Schritte durchlaufen, die ein schnelles und gutes Resultat ermoglichen sollen: Am Anfang steht die Idee. Diese sollte auf einem konkreten Problem oder Bedurfnis aufbauen. Dann wird entwickelt: Ein Gericht bzw. ein Prototyp. Schlieslich wird getestet, und wir reflektieren: Haben wir das gut gemacht? Haben wir bereits das beste Ergebnis erreicht oder braucht es eine weitere Entwicklung? Gute Koche und gute Unternehmer sind Meister dieser Prozesse. Sie schaffen es, in kurzester Zeit Ideen umzusetzen und zu testen. Sie sind kritisch und scheuen sich nicht davor, ihre Schopfungen zu verandern oder sogar komplett zu verwerfen. Dadurch bieten sie ihren Kunden bestmogliche Resultate und Nutzen. In diesem Beitrag geht es um die Parallelen zwischen dem Grunden und dem Kochen. Als Beispiel sehen wir uns das Grillen an, und zwar einen ganz spezifischen Bereich des Grillens: das Smoken.