Philipp Höllermann is the project manager for the distance learning programs at the Internationale University Bad Honnef. In an interview we reported on the IUBH Open Innovation used in research and teaching.
Philipp Höllermann is the distance learning project manager responsible for the IUBH distance learning programs. He also coordinates the "Distance Learning" area and the development of the virtual campus at the IUBH School of Business and Management in Bad Honnef. The graduate political scientist is an expert in e-learning, social media and university management. He gained experience in project management in several, also international Features, including at the NZFSA (a New Zealand government organization), CPC AG (a management consultancy specializing in project management) and the European Business School (EBS).
- Open innovation is a big word - what exactly does that look like at your university?
- The books on the subject (advertising)
- Does not one pour old wine into new tubes - a university is by itself already a place of open innovation?
- What changes can be made, for example, in communication paths or the organizational structure of the university?
- What is the advantage of the students and the research?
- What is the cost of the project?
- Is it also planned to involve companies in the process and if so, how?
- What are your goals for open innovation at the university?
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Open innovation is a big word - what exactly does that look like at your university?
For us, open innovation describes a process in which the development of new products and services - or the improvement of existing offers - is no longer primarily carried out by internal actors, but significantly by customers and partners is initiated and influenced.
At the IUBH, students can directly influence the development of new courses, specializations and services. Every student who, for example, would like to choose a new specialization in our distance learning course can suggest this specialization via a central platform and network with fellow students who have similar topic requests. If at least 20 students then report that they would also like to study the specialization, it will be developed together with them and transferred to the course. We have just such a process for the specialization “Auditing and Taxes” started.
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The same applies to services related to studies: We regularly collect feedback on existing offers and ask our students, for example, via social networks such as Facebook explicitly according to their wishes. We will soon be bundling these activities even more on our own open innovation portal. Here students can Employees and partners in all development steps with wishes, specific suggestions and Criticism bring in directly.
Does not one pour old wine into new tubes - a university is by itself already a place of open innovation?
Universities are certainly places of innovation. At least in the area of teaching, I would doubt whether they are really “open”. While the involvement of corporate partners is definitely standard in research, students can hardly get involved - apart from evaluations and committee work (from the student councils to the Senate).
As far as I know, it has never happened before that a university develops courses or content based on feedback and requests from students. Even when developing new courses of study, the involvement of non-university people is usually limited to the hearing of company representatives and is then under the aspect of “employability”.
What changes can be made, for example, in communication paths or the organizational structure of the university?
Open innovation requires universities to work in a completely new way Communication get involved: away from the top-down approach and towards an open, transparent discussion culture. It is not enough to set up an email address to which suggestions for improvement can be sent.
The students have to be picked up in their communication networks, involved in a dialogue and on a eye level be addressed. This does not succeed if the communication is primarily as Marketing– or PR element is understood and controlled by a press office or marketing department. Above all, the technical experts and the decision-making level must be directly involved in discussions. It is particularly important that the results of the dialogue lead to concrete results.
The open innovation process at the IUBH is located directly at the university management, and proposals are also being discussed at the management level. As a result, the decision paths are very short, and we can always make reliable statements about operations.
A university with an open innovation approach should also be prepared to have to publicly justify and justify decisions. This is often difficult, especially when decisions are made for reasons that seem secondary to the students (e.g. budget-related decisions). However, if the university succeeds in justifying decisions and constructive to discuss with the students, this has a positive effect on the perception of the university and of course the OI approach.
What sounds simple is a major challenge for traditionally structured organizations such as universities. Rigid hierarchies with clear Delimited responsibilities and encapsulated development processes are not compatible with open innovation approaches. This is precisely what is widespread at German universities, especially in the field of teaching. In this respect, it is not surprising that the German higher education world still largely avoids open innovation processes. Young, private universities like the IUBH have less to contend with with such structures and should therefore, in my opinion, take on a pioneering role.
What is the advantage of the students and the research?
Students are often perceived by universities as pure consumers who cannot get involved in the (further) development of study programs because the technical Background is missing.
On a purely content level, that may be true. However, German universities are not exactly famous for the fact that their degrees are perceived as particularly practical on the job market or that their graduates are perceived as having the best possible Competencies be equipped for career entry. Many students also perceive this and have a great interest in helping to improve teaching.
What is the cost of the project?
That can't be said exactly, because we as a university benefit from it Commitment our students. For example, if we develop a new specialization using our open innovation approach, it makes it clear to us that we have not yet offered an exciting subject area with lively demand.
If we receive feedback and suggestions for improvement on our services, we are usually also optimizing our internal processes and corresponding efficiency gains. Looking at the pure output, however, we have invested around 50.000 Euro in development and maintenance costs over the past two years.
Is it also planned to involve companies in the process and if so, how?
We have Companys has already been intensively involved in the development of new courses in the past so that aspects such as practical relevance and employability are also mapped. So far, this has mainly been done through expert discussions and the involvement of practitioners in the development of teaching material.
In Future we will also ask our partner companies to get involved in the development of new courses and content via our open innovation approach. In addition, our platform is in principle open to all interested partners and experts.
What are your goals for open innovation at the university?
We would like our students to identify with their university, to recognize their interests and their expertise.
At the same time, as a private university, we don't want to develop new programs or service offers “only in the blue”, only to find out later that these fail to interest our students. The open innovation approach offers a great opportunity to avoid these mistakes and to intensify the exchange with and among our students.
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