Joern Hoppmann

A Framework for Organizing Lean Product Development

Abstract: While in the last 20 years a large number of frameworks have been presented in literature, currently there is no consensus on how to define Lean Product Development (PD). We used content analysis to investigate existing approaches and integrated them into a single, coherent framework consisting of 11 Lean PD components. To better understand the nature of the novel definition of Lean PD, we conducted a theoretical investigation of the component interdependencies. We hypothesize that Lean PD needs to be understood as a system of highly interwoven components that only in their concurrency lead to high performance in PD.

The Role of Deployment Policies in Fostering Innovation for Clean Energy Technologies Insights From the Solar Photovoltaic Industry

In recent years, governments in a large number of countries have introduced so-called deployment policies to foster the diffusion of clean energy technologies. While there is little doubt that these demand-side measures have been very effective in raising the share of clean electricity generation, currently, much less is known about how deployment policies affect—and are affected by—technological innovation beyond the mere diffusion of existing technologies. Against this backdrop, this dissertation abstract and commentary presents the dissertation work of Dr. Joern Hoppmann. Based on a discussion of deployment policies as a means for addressing pressing societal issues, the dissertation abstract describes four essays that provide a detailed account of the role that these policies play for technological learning in the solar photovoltaic (PV) industry. The theoretical background, methods, and main findings of each of the essays are briefly summarized. Building on this, this abstract discusses implications for managers and policy makers in terms of how to improve the design of deployment policies and navigate businesses in policy-induced markets.

The Impact of Demand-Side Policies on Firms' Balance between Exploration and Exploitation Alliances

We examine how public demand-side policy incentives for technologies influence firms’ balance between exploration and exploitation alliances. Previous studies suggest that firms draw on alliances t...

The Impact of Demand-Pull and Technology-Push Policies on Firms’ Knowledge Search

The manner in which firms search for knowledge critically affects their innovative and financial performance. However, previous studies provide limited insights into how firms’ knowledge search act...

Opportunity Incorporated? Organizational identity perception in an incumbent facing change

Environmental discontinuities require incumbents to change their organizational identity from a focus on risk aversion to a focus on opportunity-seeking. The previous literature stresses that such identity change processes include changing organizational members’ perception of the ideal and current organizational identity. However, thus far, the literature provides no systematic evidence of the factors that shape how individuals within incumbent organizations perceive their organizations’ ideal and current identity. As a result, it is unclear how managers can influence the process of adapting organizational identity in times of change. In this paper, we propose that whether individuals perceive the ideal and current organizational identity as risk averse versus opportunity-seeking is shaped by individuals’ perception of (1) environmental and (2) organizational change as well as (3) their openness to change. Importantly, we propose that those factors that positively affect individuals’ ideal identity, nega...