03.26.15
Major German corporations are increasingly taking stakes in startups in order to profit from their creativity. One in five companies with more than 1,000 employees has taken a share in startup enterprises as a means of promoting innovation. Such shareholding models are found much less often in smaller enterprises. Only one in 10 enterprises with fewer than 1,000 employees is pursuing this strategy.
These are some of the findings of the Industry Innovation Index 2015. This cross-sector study, conducted by the forsa institute on behalf of ALTANA, surveyed 250 top decision-makers and 250 entry-level employees in German industrial companies.
“German industry has an undeniably great innovative strength, and that’s precisely why we can also learn from new market players and from other countries,” said ALTANA CEO Dr. Matthias L. Wolfgruber. “Innovative capability is always connected with the sharing of knowledge. I personally admire the entrepreneurial courage in the U.S.” The study confirms that Germany presents underutilized potential in this respect: two out of five industry managers say that their company has little or no willingness to assume risk. Entrepreneurial courage is a strong feature of only 14% of companies.
In addition to financial shareholdings, German industrial enterprises also use other forms of networking to promote innovation: 92% depend on cooperation with their customers, for instance in the area of joint product development; 87% work together with service providers; 86% regularly share information with trade associations. Academic partnerships follow with 77%; 72% join up with networks and think tanks; 63% of the companies surveyed pursue partnerships with other industrial enterprises. These networking strategies are used proportionally more frequently by large corporations and less-often by medium-sized enterprises.
However, the externally acquired knowledge is not systematically utilized in more than 40% of industrial companies. Only 11% of companies use this know-how consistently; this is partially true for a further 45%. This picture is accurate for both large and medium-sized industrial enterprises.
“Information discovered through exchanges with external partners should be systematically made available internally to all areas that could benefit from it,” said ALTANA CEO Wolfgruber. “This requires a company culture that not just permits communication across hierarchic and departmental boundaries, but consistently promotes it.”
These are some of the findings of the Industry Innovation Index 2015. This cross-sector study, conducted by the forsa institute on behalf of ALTANA, surveyed 250 top decision-makers and 250 entry-level employees in German industrial companies.
“German industry has an undeniably great innovative strength, and that’s precisely why we can also learn from new market players and from other countries,” said ALTANA CEO Dr. Matthias L. Wolfgruber. “Innovative capability is always connected with the sharing of knowledge. I personally admire the entrepreneurial courage in the U.S.” The study confirms that Germany presents underutilized potential in this respect: two out of five industry managers say that their company has little or no willingness to assume risk. Entrepreneurial courage is a strong feature of only 14% of companies.
In addition to financial shareholdings, German industrial enterprises also use other forms of networking to promote innovation: 92% depend on cooperation with their customers, for instance in the area of joint product development; 87% work together with service providers; 86% regularly share information with trade associations. Academic partnerships follow with 77%; 72% join up with networks and think tanks; 63% of the companies surveyed pursue partnerships with other industrial enterprises. These networking strategies are used proportionally more frequently by large corporations and less-often by medium-sized enterprises.
However, the externally acquired knowledge is not systematically utilized in more than 40% of industrial companies. Only 11% of companies use this know-how consistently; this is partially true for a further 45%. This picture is accurate for both large and medium-sized industrial enterprises.
“Information discovered through exchanges with external partners should be systematically made available internally to all areas that could benefit from it,” said ALTANA CEO Wolfgruber. “This requires a company culture that not just permits communication across hierarchic and departmental boundaries, but consistently promotes it.”