Front-end idea generation for innovation: empirical evidence from German industrial corporations

For outstanding company performance, successful new product development is essential. Prior research in innovation and technology management has concentrated on success factors of new product development. Especially on the project level, a wealth of empirical evidence has been presented on how to manage an innovation process effectively. While these later stages of the innovation process have been subject to intensive studies, the early stages of the innovation process are rarely investigated. To access this front end of the innovation process we examine the "ignition" for the innovation process, and present empirical evidence for the existence of qualitative types of initiatives. The authors employ a multivariate analysis of cross-sectional data on German industrial corporations applying for the "Innovationspreis der Deutschen Wirtschaft" in 1999. They identify three types of initiatives which are determined by combining the degree of front end idea specification and final realization measured along five dimensions. These types of initiatives are related to different issues of the innovation process (e.g. degree of innovativeness). Implications for future research and management of innovation are drawn.