Innovation through cooperation

How do small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in particular manage to be sustainably innovative and thus successful in the age of digitization?

In cooperation with Frauenhofer IAO, we were involved in the study and got to the bottom of this question together in the Cloud Mall BW project.

The findings on the success factors of cloud-based projects have been summarized in the freely available
Study “Innovation through cooperation – cloud computing as an enabler of joint service offerings and improved value chains”.
study.

One key finding:

Without a strong and assertive driver of the cooperation activities, such projects are difficult to implement.

More information about the study can be found in the press release

We would like to thank the Fraunhofer IAO Institute, the Fraunhofer IPA with Olga M., the team of VIRTUAL FORT KNOX AG with Robert Tordy as well as the state of Baden-Württemberg with Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut for the great cooperation and are looking forward to further exciting joint topics.

NOVAZOON Teamday

At our summer team day, we reflected this time on the topic of corporate culture.

At our Teamdays, we usually review and work on our business model. In order to be successful in the long term, it is of course very important to constantly develop and, if necessary, adapt the level of knowledge.

However, it is not only the business model that is of central importance, but also what makes a company tick: the people, the togetherness and the culture.

It is therefore equally important for us to reflect on our corporate culture and work out potential for improvement. An open exchange, trusting interaction and appreciative mutual feedback are particularly important.

We had a great day with a lot of fun and very good exchange and discussions.

#DigitalMethods: Developing sustainably successful business models for the digital future

Why do innovative business models need to be sustainably successful with digital products?

How do you find the key aspects of a sustainable innovation project?

Two key topics that we addressed intensively with the innovation community during our work session at the 8th Digital Excellence in Frankfurt:

What are the key aspects of an innovation project?
What framework conditions need to be taken into account here?

The core elements and insights for corporate transformation and innovation: “Strategic Leadership”, “Organization” as well as “Best-Practices” are the essential framework and success factors for digital innovations. The strategic orientation as well as own resources are a basic requirement.
Organizational structures (flexible, agile, open) have a significant influence on the success of innovation projects. A strong team with the right mindset is also needed to make innovations successful.

In order to answer the question of what constitutes successful products and services today, an intersection of feasibility, market resonance and customer benefit must always be developed, as well as a suitable business model.
Appropriate innovation methods and processes consider different views such as the provider side, market side, and profitability.

In our work session, we were able to gain interesting and exciting insights.
We would like to share the following Key Learning’s with you:

– Leadership must exemplify innovation and actively provide time for innovation.

– True innovations require time and professional and methodical support, but in return they make companies profitable and future-proof in the medium to long term!

– Ideas from employees should be actively accepted and integrated into the innovation strategy of companies.

We would like to thank all innovators from SmartStore, Volkswagen, IBM and Dertour, among others, for participating in our worksession and for the exciting exchange.

Another thank you goes to the organization team of the 8th Digital Excellence for the excellent planning.