Martin Kupp

The Last Frontier: MARKET CREATION IN CONFLICT ZONES, DEEP RURAL AREAS, AND URBAN SLUMS

By operating in war zones, urban slums, and deep rural areas, companies could not only achieve growth and profits, but could also improve the economic and social conditions of these impoverished regions. Yet how can a company operate in areas with unstable security, poor infrastructure, and little or no formal legal frameworks in place? To do so successfully, companies need to go beyond transactional alliances or legalistic business partnerships with local partners. Instead, they need to develop community buy-in and long-term personal relationships based on trust with “unorthodox” local inhabitants—the ones offering them security and protection rather than technology and business assets. Such deep social embeddedness is not cost-free. To prevent it from derailing their success, companies need to nurture and grow their local partners beyond their specific needs.

Serving the Poor - Drivers of Business Model Innovation in Mobile

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the opportunities and challenges of serving low‐income consumers in developing markets with mobile telecommunications.Design/methodology/approach – Field visits were made to Africa, India, Mexico and the Philippines, and in‐depth interviews took place with companies that had succeeded in serving low‐income consumers.Findings – The paper provides insights about the importance of various elements of a mobile operator business model. The paper suggests that serving the poor is just as much about motivation as about issues such as affordability and availability.Research limitations/implications – Since this research is field‐based and examines only a small sample of firms, only tentative propositions can be offered on what the answers to the research questions are believed to be.Practical implications – The paper suggests that managers need to go beyond traditional approaches to serving the poor, and take into account the unique institutional context of many d...

GOOD BUSINESS MAKES POOR CUSTOMERS GOOD CUSTOMERS

Would your company like to add thousands, if not millions, of new customers? Jamie Anderson, Martin Kupp and Sandra Vandermerwe believe that serving the worlds poorest people in developing markets can be both profitable and socially rewarding — if its done right. As it turns out, whats good for business in developed countries also applies to emerging markets.

Kriterien und Indikatoren zur Operationalisierung von Kernkompetenzen

Seit geraumer Zeit werden im Bereich der Unternehmensfuhrung Konzeptionen diskutiert, die die internen Voraussetzungen von Unternehmen als zentrale Bezugspunkte bei der Strategiebestimmung betonen („Resource-based View“). Ein betrachtlicher Teil dieser Auseinandersetzung bezieht sich auf Kernkompetenzen, denen als spezielle Ressourcen bzw. Fahigkeiten eines Unternehmens ein besonderer Stellenwert fur die Erringung einer uberlegenen Stellung im Wettbewerb und einer dauerhaften Erfolgsposition zugeschrieben wird.1 Jedoch ist bei dieser Diskussion bislang die Frage noch nicht hinreichend beantwortet worden, welche Moglichkeiten bei der Bestimmung bzw. Identifikation von Kernkompetenzen unter dem Aspekt einer Operationalisierung bestehen.2 Eine fundierte Operationalisierungskonzeption mit begrundeten Kriterien und Indikatoren muss als wesentlicher Baustein fur ein systematisches Kernkompetenz-Management (das etwa Masnahmen zum Aufbau, zur Nutzung oder zur Absicherung von Kernkompetenzen gestaltet)3 verstanden werden.

The shark is dead: how to build yourself a new market

British artist Damien Hirst is both controversial and successful. Martin Kupp, Jorg Reckhenrich and Jamie Anderson suggest that his innovative approach to life and work demonstrate strategies useful to organizations.

A market testing method based on crowd funding

Purpose This paper provides a tool for managers to overcome a common paradox in situations of innovation. The paradox occurs when the commercial viability of ideas for new products and services is unknown, making managers loath to invest scarce resources in developing them for fear that they will lose them if the idea is a non-starter. The result is that ideas sit on the shelf, idle and untested. This paper provides a low-cost, intuitive method for determining if a new idea has sufficient commercial potential to warrant investing in its development, thereby resolving the paradox. Design/methodology/approach The method is based on six marketing mechanisms derived from crowd funding: choosing a target prospect and positioning, creating a prototype, setting a price based on value, locating prospects; getting an address, communicating with prospects; delivering an effective pitch, and measuring results through advance commitments. The method is illustrated using two entrepreneurial cases. Findings Managers who use the method can validate ideas in the marketplace quickly and at low cost, obtaining the information they need to justify an investment in the research, planning and analysis required for commercialization. Originality/value The paper identifies a common but little discussed obstacle to innovation, the development paradox, and proposes a novel method of overcoming it. Market testing is not new, but most known methods do not solve the development paradox because they require a significant outlay of resources to undertake.

Responding to open business models

The purpose of this paper is to provide guidelines for practitioners in choosing the right response to potential threats by open business models.,The study focuses on identifying the dimensions of open business models. It consisted of 32 interviews with experts on open business models complemented by panel discussions with a selection of experts to validate the findings.,Five dimensions of open business models are identified: motivation, object, community, action and governance. Based on those dimensions, three responding strategies are proposed.,This paper offers insights for strategists and entrepreneurs who consider developing open business models or are attacked by competitors or other market players with open business models.,Complementing previous research, this paper highlights how the five dimensions of open business model can serve as a tool to design appropriate strategies when confronted with new forms of competition.

Corporate accelerators: fostering innovation while bringing together startups and large firms

Purpose This paper aims to examine the experience of hub:raum, the accelerator program of Deutsche Telekom, to deduce potential success factors. In today’s fast-paced world, large companies strive to keep up with the disruptive changes in their markets brought by innovative startups. In face of these challenges, the paradigm of open innovation encourages firms to use internal ideas and external sources of knowledge to advance their innovation output (Chesbrough, 2003). Yet, in practice, this is much easier said than done, particularly when large firms engage in partnerships with startups. Design/methodology/approach This paper is based on interviews and academic collaboration with hub:raum. Findings From the five years of experience since the foundation of hub:raum, one of the first German corporate accelerators, the authors have seen five key success factors: transparent and aligned goals, an independent team of startup advocates, a large and committed external network, top-management backing, long-term objectives and performance indicators. Research limitations/implications This paper is based on the case study of hub:raum. There are several limitations to this approach. Hub:raum has a clear industry focus in the information and communications technology industry and also acting international has a strong German and European focus. Practical implications Based on the identified five success factors, executives working with or designing accelerator programs can significantly increase the chances of success of these kind of programs. Constantly working on the right alignment of these factors with the overall objective of the incubator program is the key task of the management. Social implications Designing and running corporate accelerator programs more successfully will also help to enable more startups to join forces with corporates, creating more jobs and developing successful product innovation. Originality/value The paper is based on working for five years closely with the hub:raum management, a series of interviews and longitudinal study of this specific accelerator program.

Digitale Führungsintelligenz in der Praxis

In diesem Kapitel geben Ihnen transformative digitale Leader Einblicke, wie sie die disruptive Digitalisierung als Chance eines veranderten Verstandnisses von Kunden-, Geschaftsbeziehungen und Wertschopfungsketten nutzen. Mit authentischen Schilderungen der Ziele, Erfolgsfaktoren, Resultaten und Lessons Learned teilen sie mit Ihnen wertvolles Wissen, welches Sie bei der Erweiterung der eigenen digitalen Fuhrungsintelligenz unterstutzt. Es wurde absichtlich ein bunter Mix an Unternehmen – traditionelle Groskonzerne und digitale Start-ups – und aus unterschiedlichen Branchen gewahlt, damit Sie moglichst vielfaltige Ansichten und Einsichten erhalten. Picken Sie diejenigen heraus, die fur Sie relevant sind. Nicht alle geschilderten Initiativen waren kurzfristig erfolgreich. Und dennoch waren sie aus einer langfristigen Perspektive kein Misserfolg. Dies ist (k)ein Widerspruch. Viel Lesespas!

Kundenintegration und die Gestaltung von Geschäftsmodellen - Der Fall Siemens Cerberus ECO

Die Dienstleistungsforschung betrachtet Services als Mittel zur Verbesserung der Kundenorientierung. Auf Schwellenmarkten machen multinationale Technologieanbieter haufig die gegenteilige Erfahrung und verzichten, zugunsten standardisierter Produkte, bewusst auf Dienstleistungen und die damit verbundene intensive Kundeninteraktion. In diesem Beitrag systematisieren wir die Geschaftsmodelle multinationaler Technologieanbieter anhand der Beitrage von Michael Kleinaltenkamp uber die Typologien der Leistungserstellung. Mithilfe einer Fallstudie der Siemens-Brandschutzsysteme zeigen wir auf, dass produkt- und servicezentrierte Geschaftsmodelle Antworten auf unterschiedliche Anforderungen und Bedingungen der Kundenintegration darstellen. Der Grad der Kundenintegration ist ein zentraler Parameter zur systematischen Gestaltung von Geschaftsmodellen.