IST Institute

    The Institute for Strategic Innovation and Technology Management is the competence center for innovation and strategy. Research focuses on Strategic Transformation, Corporate Entrepreneurship, Startups, Ambidextrie, Agility and Digitalization.

    DINAEMIC

    Decentralized innovation development in SMEs with cloud organization

    Funding program:

    FH-kooperativ (BMBF)

     

    Project duration:

    01.07.2024 - 30.06.2028

     

    Project budget:

    622,794.76 €

     

    Germany's industrial landscape is characterized by highly specialized technology companies that are often leaders in their market segment, so-called “hidden champions”. Due to rapidly advancing globalization, digitalization and sustainability requirements, these mostly medium-sized companies are facing major challenges. They are forced to develop new innovations in the form of technologies, services and business models. However, they often lack the necessary expertise and skills in the form of knowledge carriers such as research laboratories, start-ups or qualified but highly sought-after talent. This expertise is concentrated in specialized technology clusters, e.g. Munich, Heidelberg and Berlin, and is not evenly distributed and accessible throughout Germany. At the same time, different knowledge carriers from different regions must work together to realize these new and increasingly complex innovations. This kind of innovation development requires special forms of organization that allow decentralized, independent and virtual collaboration.

    DINAEMIC enables SMEs to make their previously highly centralized innovation development more decentralized and dynamic - an important step towards strengthening innovation and competitiveness. Through the decentralized organization of startup-like innovation activities, the companies secure direct access to the knowledge in the technology clusters and their ecosystems. This access is the basis for the development of increasingly complex innovations. In addition, other types of value creation (including production) will be organized more collaboratively across company boundaries in the future. SMEs will benefit from decentralization not only because companies will be able to connect to these ecosystems, but also because they will actively shape them. This allows companies to become more attractive on the labor market and in their economic environment, which helps to secure jobs in the long term and strengthens the economic regions. In addition, the knowledge carriers and new talents learn new social skills for virtualized, decentralized work as part of decentralized innovation development.

    Details

    • Project goal

      The project goal

      The goal of the project is to develop the DINAEMIC method, which can be used to design and implement new organizational forms for decentralized, entrepreneurial innovation development in SMEs. The organizational forms are based on the principles of a cloud architecture. Such a cloud organization enables companies to generate new knowledge and develop targeted innovations by means of decentralized corporate entrepreneurship (CE) activities. The method comprises three modules:

      (1) Reference concept for the strategic planning of a cloud organization for decentralized innovation development
      (2) Design guidelines for company-specific designs and strategies and
      (3) Procedure models for the implementation of the DINAEMIC method. For and through the method development, new scientific findings will emerge on (a) dynamic capabilities in decentralized CE activities and (b) organizational theory by adapting the principles of a cloud architecture to the organizational context.

      Our path to the goal

      The development of the DINAEMIC method is based on the close cooperation of various medium-sized companies, large-scale industry, consulting firms and networks and on the iterative procedure of action research. Hypotheses for the design of the DINAEMIC method are developed from a requirements analysis of SMEs and the interview study on approaches from large-scale industry and validated in initial metaprojects with student start-up teams and companies as a test field. Feedback loops take place between the meta projects and the method design. The prototype of the DINAEMIC method will be tested in pilot projects in partner companies in the SME sector. Action Research accompanies and evaluates the pilot projects, which serves as input for the subsequent cross-case analysis. Based on the findings, the design of the DINAMIC method is finalized and described in a manual. The development of the method is scientifically supported and accompanied by a doctorate. The results can be shared and discussed with a wide audience via various events and publications.
       

      Our methods

      The research project is based on an action research approach, whereby the DINAEMIC method is developed by means of an iterative procedure and rapid feedback cycles. For this purpose, a qualitative research design is chosen that includes the following methods: semi-structured interviews for data collection in medium-sized and large companies; quantitative content analysis (grounded theory) to evaluate the interview data; participatory and non-participatory observations in, for example, the meta and pilot projects, group discussions and multi-perspective dialogues in order to evaluate the observations and findings in a larger section of reality. Case studies at micro and macro level evaluate the pilot projects. In this way, new findings are regularly generated from the pilot projects, which are incorporated into the further development of the DINAEMIC method via feedback cycles, expert panels and roundtables. Using a cross-case analysis, general characteristics and best practices can be derived on the basis of the case studies, interview data and discussion findings.

       

    • Innovations and perspectives: How our research findings help

      New developments and findings

      The novelty lies in the DINAEMIC method, which enables the implementation of a cloud organization for decentralized, virtualized innovation development and addresses previously unsolved challenges in terms of creativity, socialization and strategic coordination. Based on concepts such as co-specialization, agility under individualization and the targeted use of physical interaction, DINAEMIC aims to develop new practices that ensure these essential prerequisites for innovation. As a modular, validated method, DINAEMIC can be applied in many companies. This dissemination results in new access to relevant knowledge in the form of distributed knowledge carriers, innovation platforms and ecosystems. DINAEMIC uses the principles of a cloud architecture, which until now has only been used in a software context, and thus creates a new organizational model. The bidirectional approach specifically addresses the complex requirements of a decentralized organization. Characteristics of effective, innovative work in decentralized, virtual settings are examined at team level and combined with characteristics of a decentralized organization at company level.
       

      New opportunities

      The DINAEMIC method could be used in adjacent organizational areas or sectors that face similar structural challenges. These could be, for example, the design of networked value creation by means of ecosystems, decentralized cooperation in the public sector, but also in non-profit organizations. Furthermore, the research results can be used at an individual level to create requirement and skills profiles for recruiting talent. These could also be used as input for the better promotion and further development of employees. In addition, further research is conceivable on (a) the psychological effects of decentralization on individuals and their influence on the development of innovations (b) the suitability of decentralized forms of organization for achieving specific innovation goals, as well as (c) initial longitudinal or quantitative studies on decentralized innovation activities with increasing dissemination of the DINAMIC method. This in turn could be used to create benchmark studies that could determine the degree of decentralization in SMEs.
       

      Who benefits?

      In addition to SMEs, other groups of people will benefit from the DINAEMIC findings. For researchers in the fields of organizational theory, corporate entrepreneurship, social sciences and others, the new organizational model based on the principles of a cloud provides a basis for new studies. Students are taught entrepreneurial thinking and action as well as the basics of decentralized work through their involvement in the metaprojects. In the metaprojects, they can gain practical experience of new innovation structures and make contact with potential employers. Through final theses, the prospective graduates learn scientific work and gain in-depth, practical knowledge in the implementation of decentralized innovation development, which can be seen as competence and added value for future employers. Furthermore, professors and lecturers can incorporate the results into their courses on topics such as innovation, agile management and organizational design.

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