Mit einem Umsatz von etwa 20 Mrd. für das Geschäftsjahr 2000/2001 und mehr als 80.000 Mitarbeitern in 56 Ländern der Erde ist die Bertelsmann AG heute das internationalste Medienunternehmen der Welt. Vor allem in den vergangenen 15 Jahren ist das Unternehmen überproportional expandiert....

Recent years have seen the emergence of low-cost innovations targeted at economically weaker sections of the society, seeking to align business with social welfare. In many instances, results on the ground have been, however, rather sobering as firms have generally (probably justifiably) worried...

Within this paper we examine the strategic perspective of the emerging phenomenon of performance-oriented systems (e.g. car-sharing, cloud computing). Based on twenty-seven system examples from four industries, we derive six founding propositions that delineate their strategic characteristics...

Prior research on user innovation has concentrated on markets in which products (e.g., mountain bikes, kitesurfing equipment, tools, etc.) are typically purchased by those users who modify them. However, in numerous markets, this is not the case, for example, those in which equipment is rented....

The trend of population aging is affecting an increasing number of countries around the world, especially advanced economies. One consequence of a growing population share of aged persons is a shift in consumer needs, reflected by a rising number of products and services designed particularly...

High-tech, German companies are facing a curious problem: their products are reportedly too good for the expanding global markets. So in a way they get penalised for offering a superlative quality. At a second glance, though, this doesn't seem surprising. For, succeeding in the emerging markets...

This study builds on our previous work, which had questioned the validity of certain assumptions of the lead market theory in the face of changing ground realities in a globalized world. Sustained economic growth and proven technological capabilities in some emerging economies like China and...

Innovative, distinct products and no cheaper copies of the rich world are essential in order to succeed at the Base of the Pyramid (BoP). However, this type of innovation requires more, in-depth information on the BoP and solution spaces, which are both difficult to access. Literature proposes...

Integrating lead users into the product development process is a promising source of innovations. While the lead user approach is clearly established in academia, the implementation into management practice is ambiguous. Conducting a literature review of 255 articles in business press we show...