IOIT

Background

Due to the ongoing globalization and the shortening of product life cycles, small and medium enterprises (SME) are facing an increasing pressure to innovate. To encounter that innovation pressure, big companies are very successful in employing the principles of open innovation, within which the company’s innovative potential shall be strengthened by opening its innovation process. By doing so, it is possible to integrate external know-how from customers, suppliers and other stakeholders, to generate more successful innovations in a shorter span of time.
Similar to SMEs, universities are currently facing an intense competitive pressure, as they are forced to adapt to the international level of scientific quality, which is predefined by American universities in many fields. This pressure is being increased by the bologna-initiative for standardizing the European higher education. In addition to that there is another aspect, which mainly affects German universities. By the cessation of the so called ZVS (central office for the allocation of places in higher education) they are now fully responsible in acquiring new students and are therefore forced to become more attractive by creating an interesting and innovative range of courses. To succeed in this competitive environment and to keep up with their American competitors, universities are forced to reinvent themselves continuously.

Target

The target of this project is to make the principles of open innovation available to SMEs as well as to universities. Therefore instruments and methods, which are tailored to the needs and requirements of SMEs and universities, will be developed, implemented and evaluated. These instruments and methods shall serve SMEs and universities to strengthen their innovative and competitive abilities, according to the open innovation-strategy. Thus the cultural and functional change from a closed to an open, cross-linked innovation process, which is already industrial standard for big companies since many years, shall be accomplished within SMEs and universities.

Partners (Selection)

  • University College London
  • University of Edinburgh
  • University College Dublin

Funding

The project „Inspiring Open Innovation Team“ (IOIT) is funded by the INTERREG IV b. Project number: 166F-IOIT

Press Links (in German)

  • Universität Kassel - Öffentlichkeitsarbeit vom 26.07.2011 - "Open Innovation" für Universitäten nutzbar machen

Researchpaper

Research Papers

  • Ebel, P.; Zogaj, S.; Bretschneider, U. & Leimeister, J. M. (2013): Look at Me - Using Signaling Theory to Design Profile Functionalities for Virtual Ideas Communities. In: R&D Management Conference,Manchester, United Kingdom.
  • Zogaj, S. & Bretschneider, U. (2013): Crowdtesting with testCloud – Managing the Challenges of an Intermediary. In: European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), Utrecht, The Netherlands. 
  • Kipp, P.; Wieck, E.; Bretschneider, U. & Leimeister, J. M. (2013): 12 Years of GENEX Framework: What did Practice Learn from Science in Terms of Web-Based Ideation?. In: Wirtschaftsinformatik Konferenz (WI) 2013, Leipzig, Germany. 
  • Kipp, P.; Bittner, E.; Hoffmann, A.; Bretschneider, U. & Leimeister, J. M. (2013): Collaborative Idea Elaboration on Web-Based Ideation Platforms. In: Eighth International Conference on Design Science Research in Information Systems and Technology (DESRIST), Helsinki, Finland. 
  • Bretschneider, U.; Leimeister, J. M. (2011): Getting customers’ motives: Lean on motivation theory for designing virtual ideas communities, in: Nüttgens, M.; Gadatsch, A.; Kautz, K.; Schirmer, I.; Blinn, N. (Hrsg.): Governance and Sustainability in Information Systems: Managing the Transfer and Diffusion of IT, Proceedings of International Working Conference IFIP WG 8.6, 22. - 24. September 2011, Hamburg, Germany, S. 171-187.
  • Bretschneider, U.; Zogaj, S.; Leimeister, J. M.: Wettbewerb vs. Kollaboration: Wie verhalten sich Teilnehmer in Ideenwettbewerben und Ideen Communities?, submitted to: VHB Jahres-Tagung/Annual Conference 2012, Bozen, Italien.
  • Ebel, P.; Bretschneider, U.; Leimeister, J. M.: Idea contributors wanted – Towards the adaption of the pyramiding approach to recruit new idea contributors for a virtual ideas competition, submitted to: 12th European Academy of Management (EURAM) 2012 - Annual Meeting, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
  • Hartmann, M.; Bretschneider, U.; Leimeister, J. M.: Establishing Online Communities – Only Trial & Error?, submitted to: XXIII Conference of the International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM) 2012, Barcelona, Spain.
  • Kipp, P.; Bretschneider, U.; Leimeister, J. M.: Collaboration Engineering to Improve the Idea Quality in Idea Communities, submitted to: European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) 2012, Barcelona, Spain.
  • Kipp, P.; Bretschneider, U.; Leimeister, J. M.: Collaboration Engineering zur Verbesserung der Ideenqualität in Ideen-Communities, submitted to: Posterpreis der Universitätsgesellschaft Kassel e.V. 2012, Kassel, Germany.
  • Kipp, P.; Zogaj, S.; Ebel, P.; Bretschneider, U.; Leimeister, J. M.: Introducing Open Innovation to Universities: How to Increase University’s Innovativeness, submitted to: XXIII Conference of the International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM) 2012, Barcelona, Spain.
  • Zogaj, S.; Bretschneider, U.: Customer Integration in New Product Development – A Literature Review Concerning the Appropriateness of Different Customer Integration Methods to Attain Customer Knowledge, submitted to: European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) 2012, Barcelona, Spain.
  • Zogaj, S.; Kipp, P.; Ebel, P.; Bretschneider, U.; Leimeister, J. M.: Towards Open Innovation in Universities: Fostering the Inside-Out-Process Using Ideas Competitions, submitted to: 12th European Academy of Management (EURAM) 2012 - Annual Meeting, Rotterdam, Netherlands.

Contact Persons

  • Prof. Dr. Jan Marco Leimeister
  • Dr. Ulrich Bretschneider