Corporations on the Track of Start-ups 2022

May 2022

Deep Dive Intrapreneurship: New paths for more impact

Dr. Felix Lau

Intrapreneurship programs have experienced a revival in recent years and are being implemented by more and more companies. Our study “Deep Dive: Intrapreneurship” examines the structure, objectives, and performance measurement of intrapreneurship programs. It also provides insights into current challenges, success factors and best practices in the DACH region.

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July 2021

Innovate the innovation: A peek into closed digital innovation units

Dr. Felix Lau

Not all Digital Innovation Units are successful: one in ten innovation units is closed again. Our study “Innovate the Innovation” analyses the causes of closures, provides valuable insights into typical pitfalls and makes recommendations on how to avoid them. Two Digital Innovation Units give exclusive insights into the stories behind their closure.

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June 2021

Corporations on the Track of Start-ups 2021: Exploring the secrets of success

Dr. Felix Lau und Lea-Theresa Münch

In the fifth edition of “Corporations on the Track of Startups,” the focus was on the contribution of digital innovation units to the overall transformation of the company. The results show that many units have achieved considerable scaling success in recent years. However, this is where the wheat is separated from the chaff. Despite the many advances we have observed, there are also some units that do not get beyond the prototyping phase.

Go to the article in Capital

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June 2020

“Corporations on the Track of Start-ups 2020”: Successful scaling does not need hectic sprints

Thomas Sindemann

The fourth edition of „ Corporations on the Track of Start-ups” analyses how commercially successful digital innovations are created and thrive. Our central finding: digital innovation units continue to be an important vehicle for the renewal of established German companies. However, the wind is blowing rougher around the units that were once launched with a lot of marketing spectacle, because scaling remains the supreme discipline that only a few of them successfully manage.

Go to the article in Capital

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June 2019

Corporations on the Track of Start-ups 2019: The rocky road to substantial digital innovation

Thomas Sindemann

The third edition of “Konzerne auf den Spuren von Startups” presents an analysis of how digital innovations can come about, flourish and attain maturity in long-established companies. The best digital innovation units are already making valuable contributions to innovation success. The study reveals the best recipes and secrets for success identified from over 100 case studies.

Go to the article in Capital

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June 2018

Corporations on the Track of Start-ups 2018: Progress Across the Board, but Still No Unicorns in Sight

Thomas Sindemann

Together with the business magazine CAPITAL 2018, Infront, surveyed the innovation units of German companies for the second time and conferred awards on the best innovation labs, accelerators and company builders. The “Konzerne auf den Spuren von Startups 2018” study provides deep insight into almost 60 innovation incubators and substantiates their key success factors and prospects in detail

Go to the article in Capital

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June 2017

Corporations on the Track of Start-ups 2017: A First Look Behind the Scenes

Thomas Sindemann

Many a mysterious word has been dropped in the innovation departments of German corporations and mid-sized companies for a few years now: labs, incubators, accelerators – digital transformation has given rise to a new way of how companies can handle this huge challenge. But how do creative units modeled on start-ups work and what they really deliver? What are the key success factors and what are the prospects of the initiatives? Together with Capital, Infront Consulting embarked on a journey to find the answers in 2017. The result was the first edition of the “Konzerne auf den Spuren von Startups” (Corporations on the Track of Start-ups) study with a concerted call to action for all established companies, as well as the very prizes for the best digital labs, accelerators and incubators in Germany.

Go to the article in Capital

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June 2017

Big Data Business Models – The Three Sides of the Coin

Joerg Heydecke (Infront), Dirk Hecker, Daniel Jeffrey Koch (Fraunhofer IAIS), Christoph Werkmeister (Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP)

The hotly discussed aspect of digitalization is the issue of Big Data, taking us through to the theory: “data is the new oil”, meaning the most important raw material of the digital age. Many companies, however, do not possess a fundamental understanding of how Big Data is changing their markets and the strategic answers and options this offers. “Data” as a raw material can be used to create a potential treasure trove – contingent on getting the value-adding areas of application right.
With a view to addressing the opportunities and risks of Big Data from the most important standpoints of strategy/business model, technology/data/analytics, as well as legal aspects, Infront has developed an integrated approach in collaboration with Fraunhofer IAIS and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer attorneys at law. The concept of this “Digital Challenger Day assists companies in lifting the veil on complex issues in a condensed and digestible manner for top management.

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May 2017

The Human Aspect of Digitalization

Frank Deburba

Digital transformation and the frequently associated development of solutions strictly from a client perspective affords companies a huge opportunity for healing the alienation of customers through the process-related and organizational dismantling of the past. Digitalization should be interpreted as an opportunity for new and better processes, empowering employees, and not only for winning new customers but also for keeping them satisfied.

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June 2015

Stagnating Service? Has Industry Missed the Boat to the “Smart Service World”?

Thomas Sindemann

Megatrends such as Industry 4.0 are shaking up machine and plant engineering in Germany and in Switzerland, and not just recently either. A current study of Infront and DZG (Deutsches Zentrum für Geschäftsaufbau) reveals that “business as usual” is often still the norm in manufacturers’ service departments. Genuine smart services have not yet made big inroads.
Thomas Sindemann captures the essence of the findings of the analysis and advocates innovative service concepts that hold the promise of competitive advantage for manufacturers.

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March 2015

National Study with Business Magazine Capital: Digital Transformation in Core German Industries

Frank Deburba und Robert E. Neurohr

Strong digital trends that had their genesis in Silicon Valley more than 20 years ago and have been sending shockwaves of creative destruction rippling from sector to sector ever since then. These shockwaves have brought sea change to numerous industries, toppled established companies, and shown challengers the way to the top of the pile.
The study and the corresponding articles in Capital focus on the question of whether these shockwaves have arrived in Germany’s core industries. If yes, how are the individual sectors dealing with it?The study forms the basis for “Digitalization” as a key topic in the Capital 04/2015 edition.

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November 2014

Three-step Approach: Detecting, Retrieving and Securing Hidden Treasure

Thomas Sindemann

Empirical surveys have shown that technology services companies tend to lose up to five percentage points in terms of their profit margin due to failure to harness revenue potential in their own customer bases. We show you how to use our approach to detect, retrieve and secure this hidden treasure effectively and efficiently.This article was published as part of the TSIA Expert Alliance partnership.

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October 2014

The Four-step Approach to a Successful Go-to-market Strategy

Thomas Sindemann

We take the example of a football game to show how using an innovative and clearly structured four-step approach can assist in overcoming typical challenges when launching a global go-to-market strategy.This article was published as part of the TSIA Expert Alliance partnership.

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