Michael Erner

Enterprise Architecture in Innovation Implementation

A core challenge in technology-oriented innovation is the correct focus of innovation implementation in highly complex environments, including a fragmented value chain. This section presents a method that helps innovation departments steer innovation implementation in order to decrease timeto- market and improve the quality and alignment of the technology artifacts developed.

Tools for User-Driven Innovation at Deutsche Telekom Laboratories

Users are important actors in innovation projects: The market success of new products and services depends highly on addressing the right customer requirements without overloading them with too many new features and technologies (Lettl and Gemunden 2005; Mason and Harris 2005). Going beyond traditional market research and integrating customers intensively into the innovation process is an important measure of market-oriented innovation management (Ernst 2002; Iansiti and Clark 1994). Deutsche Telekom Laboratories reduces market uncertainties in new product and service projects by applying the concept of user-driven innovation. User-driven innovation is based on innovative customer research tools specifically tailored to four innovation phases: exploration (e.g., day-in-the-life visits), ideation (e.g., lead-user workshops), selection/execution (e.g., user clinics), and commercialization (e.g., field tests). Deutsche Telekom Laboratories applies a variety of these “intelligent”, user-driven innovation tools in order to guarantee a phase-specific, integrated customer orientation. This section gives a methodological overview and examples based on the case study of interactive mobile TV (IMTV).

Financial Evaluation of Innovations: Structure and Implementation. An Analysis Using a Case Study from the Telecommunications Industry

The globalization of markets has led to industrialized economies increasingly developing into knowledge societies in which innovation represents the most important strategic resource in global competition. Increasingly shorter product lifecycles (see Gruner 1996, p. 14 et seq.) are forcing companies to write off rising development costs (see Backhaus 1999, p. 16) at an ever faster rate. In the automotive industry, for example, the product lifecycle of the VW Golf has reduced from 9 years (Golf I) to 6 years for the Golf III (see Meffert 2000, p. 1350 et seq.). In the telecommunications industry, due to the opening up of markets and liberalization, completely new providers are also pushing into the market, thus also increasing competitive pressure for all those involved (see Bullingen, Stamm April 2003, p. 25 et seq.). The result is that falling margins and sales are reducing the entrepreneurial and, above all, financial freedom of organizations and thus reinforcing the need for growth.

Business (Lead) Customer Involvement in the Innovation Process

Increasing competition and the resulting shortening of product lifecycles give an advantage to those enterprises that focus their innovation efforts on early involvement with business customers. This section deals with the involvement of business customers in the innovation process at early stages, describes typical requirements for business customer involvement, and outlines the typical involvement of business customers in the innovation process used at Telekom Laboratories.

Venturing for Commercialization of R&D Results

In the current rapidly changing environment of the telecommunications industry – an environment that offers a multitude of prominent directions in technological and market development – it is essential to drive innovation and extend the portfolio of business areas. Deutsche Telekom Laboratories supports the creation of new business fields with a venturing approach that allows for external commercialization of R&D results. In collaboration with a network of external partners, R&D results are spun out, developed externally, and, if successful, spun back in.

Aufbau und Durchführung der rechnerischen Bewertung von Innovationen dargestellt an einem Fallbeispiel aus der Telekommunikationsindustrie

Durch die Globalisierung der Markte entwickeln sich industrialisierte Volkswirtschaften zunehmend zu Wissensgesellschaften, in denen Innovationen die bedeutendste strategische Ressource im weltweiten Wettbewerb darstellen. Immer kurzer werdende Produktlebenszyklen (vgl. Gruner 1996, S. 14 f.) zwingen Unternehmen dazu, steigende Entwicklungskosten (vgl. Backhaus 1999, S. 16) immer schneller zu amortisieren. In der Automobilindustrie reduzierte sich z.B. der Produktlebenszyklus des VW Golf von neun Jahren (Golf I) auf sechs Jahre beim Golf III (vgl. Meffert 2000, S. 1350 f.). In der Telekommunikationsindustrie drangen daruber hinaus auf Grund der Offnung und Liberalisierung vollkommen neue Anbieter auf den Markt und steigern damit ebenfalls den Wettbewerbsdruck fur alle beteiligten Akteure (vgl. Bullingen, Stamm April 2003, S. 25 ff.). Dies hat zur Folge, dass sinkende Margen und Umsatze den unternehmerischen und vor allem den finanziellen Spielraum fur die einzelnen Anbieter verkleinern und damit die Notwendigkeit nach Wachstum verstarkt wird.

Cross-over Application of Enterprise Architecture and Modularization in Telco R&D

This section describes how a cross-over application of enterprise architecture in telco R&D helps to cope with issues in the early innovation stages – complexity management in view of the choice of alternative technological paths and implementation uncertainty in view of distance of strategic and operational levels. Linking enterprise architecture concepts and early innovation stages, it builds on the modularization of R&D results.

Partnering for Research and Development within an Open Innovation Framework

The increasing stress of competition and technological change reduces the ratio of revenue expectation to internal development costs. As a consequence, more innovation work has to be accomplished for the same funds. Using the external world actively and strategically to enhance one’s own innovation potential provides a solution. An important element is a dedicated partnering concept involving public research institutions as well as industrial peer companies.

Options for Customer Integration in the Open Innovation Paradigm at Deutsche Telekom

The consistent application of the open innovation logic leads to the inclusion of the customer. Open innovation helps to open up company boundaries, promoting cooperation with and integration of external know-how brokers to meet the more exacting innovation ecosystem requirements. In addition to subsidiaries, suppliers, competitors, consultants, as well as private and public research institutions; first and foremost, the customer plays a decisive role (Eurostat 2007).

Integration of Academic Research into Innovation Projects: The Case of Collaboration with a University Research Institute

International academic institutions produce a rich pool of knowledge which is relevant for innovation processes. The challenge is to find an effective approach to make this knowledge accessible and usable on a larger scale. The structured approach to setting up cooperation between industry and academia described in this chapter helps transfer knowledge between those two parties, regardless of geographical distance.