Innovating Innovation @tk

Henry W. Chesbrough

This case shows how ThyssenKrupp (tk) has altered its innovation process in recent years. CEO Heinrich Hiesinger has brought in a former colleague from Siemens, Reinhold Achatz, to lead a transformation of the R&D function at the company. With tk's roots over 200 years old and its highly divisionalized organizational structure, Achatz had to be thoughtful and strategic about how to manage this change. At the same time, tk needed to boost its organic growth, which put pressure on the organization to move fast. The case follows projects through the new innovation process and invites students to place new projects into the proper place in the innovation process.

Learning Objective

1. Explain and illustrate contemporary innovation processes inside a large corporation. 2. Examine the tensions between top-down authority and business-unit-driven budgeting for innovation inside a large company. 3. Connect Open Innovation thinking and processes to those of typical stage gate processes.

Details

Pub Date: Jan 1, 2018

Discipline: Social Enterprise

Subjects: Growth strategy, Incubators, Innovation, Innovation focused strategy, Open innovation, Organizational transformations, Product life cycle, R&D

Source: UC Berkeley - Haas School of Business

Product #: B5908-PDF-ENG

Teaching note: available

Industry: Iron & steel

Geography: Germany, United States

Length: 17 page(s)