Comparison of good practice cases
| Criteria for comparison | Case 1: pharmaceutical company | Case 2: office furniture manufacturing and design | Case 3: construction material production and trading | Case 4: vineyard | Case 5: enamel product manufacturing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firm characteristics | |||||
| Industry dynamics | Pharma industry: very high innovation dynamics | Office furniture industry: high innovation dynamics | Construction material industry: low innovation dynamics | Viticulture: traditional but with significant innovation dynamics | Cookware production: traditional, long-time shrinking industry with low innovation dynamics |
| Management and controlling structures | Family managed | Family managed | Mixed management | Family managed | Family managed |
| Innovation activities | |||||
| Types of innovation | Business model, product, process and marketing | Process, product and design | Market, product and process | Market, marketing, product and process | Product and socio-ecological |
| Degree of innovation | Radical and incremental | Radical and incremental | Radical and incremental | Radical and incremental | Incremental |
| Characteristics of innovation input | Comprehensive, specialized know-how of management and key employees; high R&D spending; entrepreneurial ability to think and observe (beyond industry); courage for (repeated) changes (culture of experimenting); solid resource base | Very strong self-image about standards of products; constructivist company philosophy; entrepreneurial ability to think and observe (beyond industry); philanthropic engagement in region; high level of trust in self-organization of employees/teams; parsimony/resource efficiency, establishment of an innovation center | Claim to pioneer in innovation (target for innovation quota) creates atmosphere conducive to it; historical role model effect of family as innovators in company and region; entrepreneurial ability to think and observe (beyond industry); good sense for user problems and solutions; solid resource basis, establishment of an innovation center | High standards for product quality and traditions combined with good sense for international market development – conducive to market and marketing innovation; family displays high willingness for risk and development; good ability for observing | Unique, historically evolved core competencies that continue to evolve; awareness of traditions and values as drivers for sustainable, continual improvements; regional anchoring is central; economical/resource efficiency |
| Characteristics of innovation processes | Combination of optimization of core competencies (exploitation) and (repeated) proactive, radical reorientation (exploration), i.e. organizational ambidexterity; high-quality awareness; innovation cooperation/open innovation; significant role of business family in innovation process; distinct areas of responsibility for management, but coordination of innovation decisions; autonomous access to innovation (strong customer integration and direct feedback from own clinic) | Routinized daily communication between entrepreneur and departments; innovation cooperation/open innovation; key role of manager and long-time, intensive exchange with key employees as drivers of innovation; clearly demarcated areas of responsibility, but coordination for larger decisions; autonomous access to innovation (constructivism and vision of sustainability) | Fairly low degree of formalized innovation process; expectation toward developers of ideas to analyze risk of innovation projects; autonomous access to innovation (innovation quota is unusual for industry; openness to ideas from other industries) | High degree of centralizing decision making in innovation process (i.e. business family); clearly demarcated areas of responsibility in management, but coordination for innovation decisions; intensive exchange with customers and competitors; autonomous access to innovation (extraordinary interplay of a sense of down-to-earth, tradition, and ability for development) | Conservation and recovery of traditions and values as central starting point in innovation process – goal: continuous (instead of groundbreaking) improvement; mission of quality and sustainability; external ideas are welcomed while protecting own know-how; autonomous access to innovation (conscious rejection of traditional concept of innovation for continuous improvement; flexible innovation teams are guided by manager) |
| Characteristics of innovation output | Multiple, radical innovation of business model and pioneer in proactively created niches (product innovation), additional incremental innovation | Regularly surprises customers with innovation/new designs; unique and radical process innovation in the industry (delivery time of nine days) | Based on successful historical, radical innovation, claims for pioneering innovation in the industry with a focus on healthy living continue | Extraordinary growth of company due to quality, market and marketing innovation as well as diversification of market and involved spreading of risk | Unique core competencies are cultivated and further developed to revitalize traditional products and their innovative usage in new special areas; long-term successful survival due to continuous improvement in a strongly declining industry |
| Criteria for comparison | Case 1: pharmaceutical company | Case 2: office furniture manufacturing and design | Case 3: construction material production and trading | Case 4: vineyard | Case 5: enamel product manufacturing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Industry dynamics | Pharma industry: very high innovation dynamics | Office furniture industry: high innovation dynamics | Construction material industry: low innovation dynamics | Viticulture: traditional but with significant innovation dynamics | Cookware production: traditional, long-time shrinking industry with low innovation dynamics |
| Management and controlling structures | Family managed | Family managed | Mixed management | Family managed | Family managed |
| Types of innovation | Business model, product, process and marketing | Process, product and design | Market, product and process | Market, marketing, product and process | Product and socio-ecological |
| Degree of innovation | Radical and incremental | Radical and incremental | Radical and incremental | Radical and incremental | Incremental |
| Characteristics of innovation input | Comprehensive, specialized know-how of management and key employees; high R&D spending; entrepreneurial ability to think and observe (beyond industry); courage for (repeated) changes (culture of experimenting); solid resource base | Very strong self-image about standards of products; constructivist company philosophy; entrepreneurial ability to think and observe (beyond industry); philanthropic engagement in region; high level of trust in self-organization of employees/teams; parsimony/resource efficiency, establishment of an innovation center | Claim to pioneer in innovation (target for innovation quota) creates atmosphere conducive to it; historical role model effect of family as innovators in company and region; entrepreneurial ability to think and observe (beyond industry); good sense for user problems and solutions; solid resource basis, establishment of an innovation center | High standards for product quality and traditions combined with good sense for international market development – conducive to market and marketing innovation; family displays high willingness for risk and development; good ability for observing | Unique, historically evolved core competencies that continue to evolve; awareness of traditions and values as drivers for sustainable, continual improvements; regional anchoring is central; economical/resource efficiency |
| Characteristics of innovation processes | Combination of optimization of core competencies (exploitation) and (repeated) proactive, radical reorientation (exploration), i.e. organizational ambidexterity; high-quality awareness; innovation cooperation/open innovation; significant role of business family in innovation process; distinct areas of responsibility for management, but coordination of innovation decisions; autonomous access to innovation (strong customer integration and direct feedback from own clinic) | Routinized daily communication between entrepreneur and departments; innovation cooperation/open innovation; key role of manager and long-time, intensive exchange with key employees as drivers of innovation; clearly demarcated areas of responsibility, but coordination for larger decisions; autonomous access to innovation (constructivism and vision of sustainability) | Fairly low degree of formalized innovation process; expectation toward developers of ideas to analyze risk of innovation projects; autonomous access to innovation (innovation quota is unusual for industry; openness to ideas from other industries) | High degree of centralizing decision making in innovation process (i.e. business family); clearly demarcated areas of responsibility in management, but coordination for innovation decisions; intensive exchange with customers and competitors; autonomous access to innovation (extraordinary interplay of a sense of down-to-earth, tradition, and ability for development) | Conservation and recovery of traditions and values as central starting point in innovation process – goal: continuous (instead of groundbreaking) improvement; mission of quality and sustainability; external ideas are welcomed while protecting own know-how; autonomous access to innovation (conscious rejection of traditional concept of innovation for continuous improvement; flexible innovation teams are guided by manager) |
| Characteristics of innovation output | Multiple, radical innovation of business model and pioneer in proactively created niches (product innovation), additional incremental innovation | Regularly surprises customers with innovation/new designs; unique and radical process innovation in the industry (delivery time of nine days) | Based on successful historical, radical innovation, claims for pioneering innovation in the industry with a focus on healthy living continue | Extraordinary growth of company due to quality, market and marketing innovation as well as diversification of market and involved spreading of risk | Unique core competencies are cultivated and further developed to revitalize traditional products and their innovative usage in new special areas; long-term successful survival due to continuous improvement in a strongly declining industry |
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