Hamburg

P3 digital services GmbH belongs to the 100 most innovative German small and medium-sized companies (SMEs), according to the current benchmarking survey “Top 100”, a nationwide contest across all industries. In the 17th year of this renowned business initiative the mid-sized company convinced with a bespoke innovation management. Lothar Späth, former premier of the German federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, presented the sought-after “Top 100” seal of approval to P3 digital services GmbH this Friday evening at the official ceremony at the “Gaestehaus Petersberg” in Koenigswinter near Bonn (Germany).

With this award the mentor of the SME initiative recognised P3’s achievements in the categories “Innovation Marketing”, “Innovation-friendly Senior Management”, “Innovation Climate”, “Innovative Processes and Organisation” and “Successful Innovations”. In the four categories mentioned last, the company, which has been chosen as one of the 100 most innovative SMEs for the third time running now, even managed to claim a place among the best ten participants. Furthermore, the firm succeeded in scoring 7th place in the Top Ten overall ranking.

The management of the engineering company, which supplies project management, coordination and implementation of global projects to the aviation, automotive, engineering and shipbuilding industries and generated a turnover of about €29 million in 2008, dedicates about 60% of its working time entirely to the subject of innovation.

Process integration as a model for success

Moreover, the firm offers the total staff of 200 the possibility to go unusual ways in creative areas and has therefore integrated Change Management training in the development of its personnel. The basic idea behind it is called “Dynaxity” – a combination of the terms dynamics and complexity. “In difficult situations, in which companies find themselves more and more often these days, it is important to face and manage turbulences in the right way and to develop a variety of reactions. By doing so, we especially take communication and process integration ability into account. These are the factors of success of our business model”, explains Managing Director Dr Stefan Siegler. The personal responsibility of each member of staff for the individual projects is a further cornerstone in the story of success of the innovative organisation within the company. By assigning a maximum level of responsibility to the work groups they will be able to think their way into the development processes of their clients even better.

Accolade strengthens credibility and creates confidence

To receive this award, the engineering company had to undergo a stringent two-stage procedure performed by the Vienna University of Economics and Business. “Our results show that the 100 top innovators approach chal-lenges with full strength and are thus well-equipped to deal with the current economic situation, for example. At most of these companies, innovation is given top priority and dealt with at management level”, comments Prof. Dr Nikolaus Franke, Head of Research for this study, on this analysis. In the past three years, those award-winning companies generated two thirds of their revenue from innovations and innovative improvements, whereas in comparison a reference group of German SMEs generated just about 30%. In addition, the top enterprises managed to save some 12% on their expenses through process innovations, whereas “average SMEs” merely saved 4%. As a result, this year’s “Top 100” include 54 national market leaders, 22 of which are even global leaders in their field of operation. Managing Director Dr Thomas Weingarten is delighted about this success: “Our innovative strength now officially classes among the best what German SMEs have to offer. This will strengthen our credibility and create confidence with employees, partners and, of course, our clients. It seems there is hardly any better way to face these times of crisis.” Overall, 319 companies participated in the “Top 100” contest this year.

Mentor and co-operation partners

Lothar Späth is the project’s mentor. The project partners are: Bayern Innovativ GmbH, the Fraunhofer Society for the Advance of Applied Research e.V., the Centre for Rationalisation and Innovation of the German Economy e.V. (RKW), the Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies (VDE) and the Association of German Engineers (VDI). Sueddeutsche Zeitung is the project’s media partner.

Head of Research

Head of Research in this project is Dr Nikolaus Franke, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Vienna University of Economics and Business. In his research he focuses on entrepreneurship, innovation management und marketing. He is one of the world’s leading experts in user innovation.

Contact P3

Claudia R. Wolf

Fon +49 (0)40 75 25 77 925

Email

Top100 website

Top 100 Sonderdruck 2008
Top 100 Sonderdruck 2007
Top 100 Sonderdruck 2009