When, on 21st September 2006, 'The Economist' compared incumbent telecommunication operators with dinosaurs that could soon face extinction, most readers were ready to agree. The mixture of declining revenues and fierce competition was believed to shake the market and soon to dethrone former...

To tackle the European Union's innovation system weaknesses in the commercialization of the research results, in 2009 the European Commission (EC) has launched an open call for the creation of 2-3 Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), the operative level of the European Institute of...

Integrating the customer in the innovation process is believed to be a powerful means to reduce failure rates and to increase the revenue from new products. Although many companies have launched programs to enable such integration, the understanding of the mechanisms behind successful programs...

This paper analyzes the establishment of a technology intelligence tool of the Deutsche Telekom Laboratories - the Technology Radar. Goals and method are contrasted to approaches discussed in literature. After the presentation of exemplary findings of the Technology Radar, the role of the...

Sustainability innovations are characterized by a systemic nature, which can only be developed if multiple firms work together. To jointly identify opportunities and plan such sustainability innovations, new methods and approaches are needed. In this article we describe a case study conducted in...

Sustainability innovations are characterized by a systemic nature and require that multiple organizations act in an orchestrated fashion. To jointly identify opportunities and plan sustainability innovations, new methods and approaches are needed. In this article we describe a case study where 8...

The front end of innovation has earned the adjective ‘fuzzy,' particularly as it is considered unstructured, non-linear, and highly iterative (Khurana and Rosenthal 1998; Koen et al. 2001; Verworn et al. 2008). But this should not be misunderstood as a need to rely on hope or chance encounters to...

In this article we present and discuss the IT tools that Deutsche Telekom Innovation Laboratories use to support their corporate foresight activities. These tools are integrated into an approach that encompasses the discovery of change, interpretation, and triggering managerial responses. The...

To ensure long-term competitiveness, companies need to develop the ability to explore, plan, and develop new business fields. A suitable approach faces multiple challenges because it needs to (1) integrate multiple perspectives, (2) ensure a high level of participation of the major stakeholders...