Business Models

Industry 4.0 not only changes products, processes and work organisation, but also the understanding of leadership. Manager in future are visionaries, analysts and mentors who develop the strategy and new business models, designer and moderators for virtual and intercultural teams, self-reflected personalities..

The difference between Open and Closed Innovation is that external partners can get actively involved in all stages of the value added process and are not limited to being mere idea generators. Whilst finding solutions for their own problems and needs, creative individuals or groups of individuals can play an active role in the development of innovative products featuring new functional and design elements. In addition, Open Innovation provides further benefits in the field of image building and innovation marketing.

Outsourcing is one of the biggest global trends in the biopharmaceutical industry. It is taking more and more specific know-how to master the challenges posed by manufacturing of biologics. This includes rising prices and the need for cost reduction as well as the absolute necessity for flexibility and at least the ever shifting and in most cases increasing regulatory issues for biomanufacturing. This contribution provides a brief overview of trends and future challenges in biomanufacturing and how a contract manufacturing organisation with many years of experience positioning itself to tackle these challenges.

Cloud computing is the buzzword of the last years; meanwhile, it becomes more present in the product portfolios of IT service providers. A lot of newcomers emerge in the cloud market and established player extend their traditional IT business with cloud aspects. Based on a comprehensive literature analysis, a structured framework for cloud business models is synthetized. This framework is used to investigate and compare 29 successful business models in the cloud market. With the help of a cluster analysis, four common patterns of combination are identified for cloud business models. These clusters induce recommendations for action for IT service providers in the cloud market.

Electric mobility is currently subject to intensive discussions. New business models, products and services, as well as innovation concepts are developed by R&D and tested in real-life. In this context, the project “Personal Mobility Center” has been carried out in the Bremen/Oldenburg model region for electric mobility. On the basis of the Product Life-Cycle, first approaches for product-related services in the different phases of electric mobility have been worked out. Analysis of these “Extended Products” has shown that battery electric vehicles have to overcome several challenges before new mobility offers based on them can compete on the market.

The growing importance of knowledge in product development processes is followed by the urgent need to manage the quality of implemented knowledge management strategies in the process. All sorts of companies have been implementing knowledge management activities in their daily routines, either or not they are aware of it. This paper introduces a model to measure the maturity level of knowledge intensive business processes, which is adjusted to the needs of small and medium enterprises (SME). A set of success factors and their indicators were developed to help identifying the as-is process situation and plan improvement measures as well as a web-based self-assessment tool.

The enormous drive and steady economic growth make India one of the largest future markets for German companies. Besides China, India is the most populous country in the world and about ten times larger than Germany. Even in times of crisis, India showed a constant growth rate. A key requirement for a stable economic and social development is sustainable energy supply. The Indian government is committed to renewable energy resources as they deliver a contribution for climate and environmental protection - besides economic and social evolution. To set up capacities of renewable energy, India depends on the support of foreign companies. This offers great market opportunities for German enterprises as they are appreciated as worldwide technology leaders.

From today, convenient concepts have to be developed and opposed against prospective skills shortage in logistics companies. To make young adults interested in education and training in this field, a platform has to be designed, where all appropriate offers can be found. The development project “Competence Atlas for Logistics in the region of Bremen” worked on an application, which can be applied as well on a Multitouch-Table as in the Internet (www.Komptenzatlas-Logistik-HB.de). It is an exemplary platform that gives information in German and English to diverse target groups.

The performance of Brazilian companies is compared and presented through an internet Benchmarking and Monitoring System (SIMAP) with different criteria as indicators, methods, best practices and technologies. The SIMAP has 46 criteria to compare companies with the same product or process that are part of a supply chain or industrial agglomeration. The analytical potential of this computer system supports the identification of industry trends and improvements giving support for cooperation and collaboration at the mesolevel of the systemic competitiveness. This review includes the latest data of 160 companies and some features of SIMAP.

Buyer-supplier collaborative or partnerships relationships are terms that have been used to designate closer and long-term dyad relations where risks and benefits are shared implying both economic and social involvement. The relationships between a Brazilian buyer which is the world leader in the hermetic compressor market and five metal/mechanical sector suppliers are characterized in this study. Results show that relationships have become closer and many practices and characteristics of a partnership can be observed but there is no concern regarding strengthening the relationship itself. The analyzed context also shows a dyad that is mainly affected by the buyer´s perspective, i.e. keeping a broad number of suppliers for each product, the supplier´s high investment in assets to meet buyer requirements, and short-term relationships, which stress the focus on economic goals.