Table Of ContentCross-Industry Innovation Processes
Tobias Hahn
Cross-Industry
Innovation Processes
Strategic Implications for
Telecommunication Companies
Preface by Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Zarnekow
Tobias Hahn
Bonn, Germany
Zugl.: Berlin, Technische Universität, Diss., 2014 u. d. T.
The Open Service Innovation Process in Cross-Industry Collaboration Networks and its
Strategic Implications for Telecommunication Companies
ISBN 978-3-658-08826-2 ISBN 978-3-658-08827-9 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-658-08827-9
Library of Congress Control Number: 2015931211
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PREFACE
Telecommunication markets are experiencing fundamental changes. Political,
technological, business and societal conditions are changing and breaking up
traditional, historically grown structures and markets. Examples are plentiful
and include the deregulation of telecommunication markets, the convergence of
telecommunication, media and internet industries, the growing importance of
software-defined networking and rapidly changing customer behavior.
Competition between telecommunication companies increases and leads to new
value chains, business models and products.
Rising to these challenges, telecommunication companies increasingly focus on
cooperations in the area of research and development. Especially cooperations
with partners, that possess complementary skills, play an important role. On an
operational level, these cooperations are traditionally implemented in the form
of technology partnerships or joint ventures. In recent years the concept of open
innovation has gained importance in this area as well. A close cooperation with
partners, suppliers and customers is regarded as a promising approach.
Nevertheless, in practice open innovation is still at an early stage and the actual
success of open innovation projects varies greatly.
If the innovative capacity of a single company or a single industry sector is not
sufficient, cross-industry cooperations offer a promising option. In cross-
industry cooperations companies from different industry sectors jointly carry out
innovation activities. Even though in practice the potential of cross-industry
cooperation has been recognized, there are still only a handful of successful
examples. This is especially true within the high-tech and telecommunication
industry.
It is therefore very commendable, that this book specifically focuses on
describing cross-industry innovation projects between telecommunication
companies and companies outside the ICT sector. The insights are extremely
valuable from a practical industry as well as from a scientific perspective. They
offer deep and detailed information about successful innovation processes and
provide practical advice and recommendations for innovation managers.
Prof. Dr. Rüdiger Zarnekow
Technical University of Berlin, Chair for Information and Communication Management
ABBREVIATIONS
AAL Ambient Assisted Living
B2B Business-to-Business
B2B2C Business-to-Business-to-Consumer
BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW AG)
BPO Business Process Outsourcing
BT British Telecom Group Plc.
COPD Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease
CTO Chief Technology Officer
DSL Digital Subscriber Line
DT Deutsche Telekom AG
EU European Union
FedEx Federal Express (FedEx Corporation)
FTE Full-Time Equivalent
GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
ICT Information- and Communication Technology
IT Information Technology
KPI Key Performance Indicator
LOI Letter of Intent
LTE Long Term Evolution
M&A Merger and Acquisition
M2M Machine-to-Machine
MoU Memorandum of Understanding
MS Microsoft Corporation
VIII ABBREVIATIONS
NCS National Computer Systems Group
NDA Non-Disclosure Agreement
NPD New Product Development
NTT Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
OBS Orange Business Services
OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development
P&L Profit and Loss Statement
QDA Qualitative Data Analysis
R&D Research and Development
SIM Subscriber Identity Module
SingTel Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.
SLA Service-Level Agreement
SME Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises
TEF Telefónica, S.A.
Telco Telecommunication (company) / Telephone Conference
TPP Technological product and process
TRIZ ‘Teoriya Resheniya Izobreatatelskikh Zadatch’ (theory of inventive
problem solving)
TSI T-Systems International GmbH
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
VCI Verizon Communications Inc.
VGEI Vodafone Global Enterprise Inc.
VF Vodafone Group Plc.
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Research Question ................................................................................. 7(cid:3)
Figure 2: Research Process of the Present Study .................................................. 9(cid:3)
Figure 3: Structure of the Present Study ............................................................. 11(cid:3)
Figure 4: Innovation Funnel ................................................................................ 21(cid:3)
Figure 5: Chronology of Data Analysis and Theory Generation ........................ 36(cid:3)
Figure 6: Categories and Concepts ..................................................................... 41(cid:3)
Figure 7: Innovation Project Process - Energy ................................................... 51(cid:3)
Figure 8: Innovation Project Process - Automotive ............................................ 63(cid:3)
Figure 9: Intentions of Innovation Project - Automotive .................................... 71(cid:3)
Figure 10: Innovation Project Process - Health .................................................. 79(cid:3)
Figure 11: Project Structures (1/2) ...................................................................... 89(cid:3)
Figure 12: Project Structures (2/2) ...................................................................... 90(cid:3)
Figure 13: Platform Innovation Project ............................................................... 91(cid:3)
Figure 14: Innovation Partner and Pilot Customer ............................................. 92(cid:3)
Figure 15: Practical Innovation Process Model for Telcos ............................... 122(cid:3)
Figure 16: Extended Theoretical Innovation Process Model ............................ 149(cid:3)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................. VII(cid:3)
LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................. IX(cid:3)
TABLE OF CONTENTS ....................................................................................... XI(cid:3)
1(cid:3) Introduction ................................................................................................... 1(cid:3)
1.1(cid:3)Motivation and Practical Relevance ......................................................... 1(cid:3)
1.2(cid:3)Existing Research ...................................................................................... 3(cid:3)
1.3(cid:3)Objective and Boundaries ......................................................................... 5(cid:3)
1.4(cid:3)Research Approach ................................................................................... 9(cid:3)
2(cid:3) Theoretical Background ............................................................................. 15(cid:3)
2.1(cid:3)Product – Service and Physical Good ..................................................... 15(cid:3)
2.2(cid:3)From Invention to Innovation ................................................................. 16(cid:3)
2.3(cid:3)Innovation Processes and Open Innovation Approaches ........................ 19(cid:3)
2.3.1(cid:3) Generations of Innovation Process Models .................................. 19(cid:3)
2.3.2(cid:3) Phases, Differentiation and Practical Integration ......................... 21(cid:3)
2.4(cid:3)Cross-Industry Innovation ....................................................................... 23(cid:3)
2.4.1(cid:3) The ICT Industry and its R&D Characteristics ............................ 23(cid:3)
2.4.2(cid:3) Collaboration in Innovation Projects ............................................ 25(cid:3)
3(cid:3) Methodology ................................................................................................ 27(cid:3)
3.1(cid:3)General Considerations ........................................................................... 27(cid:3)
3.2(cid:3)Selection of Cases ................................................................................... 29(cid:3)
3.3(cid:3)Data Collection Method .......................................................................... 32(cid:3)
3.4(cid:3)Design of Guideline ................................................................................ 33(cid:3)
3.5(cid:3)Realization of Data Collection ................................................................ 34(cid:3)
3.6(cid:3)Data Analysis .......................................................................................... 35(cid:3)
4(cid:3) Within-Case Analysis .................................................................................. 45(cid:3)
4.1(cid:3)Telco-Energy-Industry Service Innovation Project ................................ 46(cid:3)
4.2(cid:3)Telco-Automotive-Industry Service Innovation Project ......................... 58(cid:3)
4.3(cid:3)Telco-Health-Industry Service Innovation Project ................................. 74(cid:3)
5(cid:3) Cross-Case Analysis .................................................................................... 87(cid:3)
5.1(cid:3)Market and Industry Specifics and Commonalities ................................ 87(cid:3)
5.2(cid:3)Innovation Project Characteristics .......................................................... 89(cid:3)
5.2.1(cid:3) Structure and Management ........................................................... 89(cid:3)
5.2.2(cid:3) Process Phases .............................................................................. 93(cid:3)
XII TABLE OF CONTENTS
5.3(cid:3)Cross-Industry Collaboration .................................................................. 94(cid:3)
5.4(cid:3)Organizational Environment ................................................................... 96(cid:3)
5.4.1(cid:3) Traditional Resource Allocation ................................................... 96(cid:3)
5.4.2(cid:3) Organizational and Procedural Changes took place ..................... 97(cid:3)
5.4.3(cid:3) Environmental Rigidity ................................................................. 98(cid:3)
5.4.4(cid:3) General Conditions ..................................................................... 100(cid:3)
6(cid:3) Analysis and Discussion of Findings with Existing Literature ............. 103(cid:3)
6.1(cid:3)Market and Industry .............................................................................. 103(cid:3)
6.1.1(cid:3) Innovation Speed and Approach ................................................. 103(cid:3)
6.1.2(cid:3) Commercialization and Customer Acceptance ........................... 104(cid:3)
6.2(cid:3)Innovation Project ................................................................................. 105(cid:3)
6.2.1(cid:3) Pilot Customer and/or Innovation Partner .................................. 106(cid:3)
6.2.2(cid:3) Innovation Project Phases and Activities.................................... 107(cid:3)
6.2.3(cid:3) Project Management ................................................................... 109(cid:3)
6.3(cid:3)Cross-Industry Collaboration ................................................................ 110(cid:3)
6.3.1(cid:3) Partner Selection ......................................................................... 110(cid:3)
6.3.2(cid:3) Contractual Structures and Trust ................................................ 113(cid:3)
6.3.3(cid:3) Methods and Tools to Improve Collaboration ............................ 114(cid:3)
6.4(cid:3)Organizational Environment ................................................................. 116(cid:3)
6.4.1(cid:3) Processes and Structure ............................................................... 116(cid:3)
6.4.2(cid:3) Incentive and Support Systems ................................................... 118(cid:3)
7(cid:3) Practical Strategic Implications ............................................................... 121(cid:3)
7.1(cid:3)Conduction of Cross-Industry Service Innovation Projects ................. 121(cid:3)
7.1.1(cid:3) Practical Process Model for Telecommunication Companies .... 121(cid:3)
7.1.2(cid:3) Parallel and On-going Activities ................................................. 128(cid:3)
7.1.3(cid:3) Overarching Project Structure and Management ........................ 130(cid:3)
7.2(cid:3)Organizational Preconditions and Requirements .................................. 131(cid:3)
7.2.1(cid:3) Located within the Company’s Structure ................................... 131(cid:3)
7.2.2(cid:3) Companies processes .................................................................. 134(cid:3)
7.3(cid:3)Collaboration Fit ................................................................................... 136(cid:3)
7.3.1(cid:3) Mindset and Organizational Conditions ..................................... 137(cid:3)
7.3.2(cid:3) Common Preconditions and Project Structure ............................ 137(cid:3)
7.3.3(cid:3) Harmonization and Intensity of Collaboration ........................... 139(cid:3)
7.4(cid:3)Portfolio Expansion ............................................................................... 140(cid:3)
7.4.1(cid:3) Transfer and Anchor of Innovation ............................................ 141(cid:3)
7.4.2(cid:3) Self-Concept, Strategy and New Services .................................. 142(cid:3)
7.5(cid:3)Overall Considerations in Practical Realization ................................... 143(cid:3)
