The Use of Innovation: A Source of Competitive Advantage for Companies: Bearing Point Case Study

Abstract

Abstract This thesis explored the topic of “innovation as a competitive advantage” and how this factor contributed to the success of BearingPoint. It seems that innovation will be a matter of concern for all market participants who intend to maintain effective competition over a long period in the complex and volatile business environments. Initially the “innovation as a competitive advantage” was generally introduced and then an overview of existing studies on this topic was presented. It became evident that innovation was a factor that distinguished if companies remained successful for a long time on the market or not. Finally, an example from BearingPoint was described and discussed: a purely typology of innovation carried out from them with the help of qualitative research. For this purpose, an interview with the company’s executives was conducted in semi-structured format for flexibility and more likelihood of new input. Moreover, it was more beneficial to see various viewpoints and receive the maximum amount of data, so instead of one respondent, five BearingPoint executive managers from different departments were interviewed. The main topics that were addressed were: the flow of innovation from idea to implementation, obstacles and success factors. This case study provided an in-depth analysis on how innovation can create a competitive edge. One objective was to examine thoroughly how these innovations impact company success and demonstrate that they indeed enhance their competitiveness. In the final section there is concluded that innovation is indeed one of the key success factors that help companies achieve a better competitiveness and maintain a powerful market position for a long time. This study reveals relevant findings for companies that work in highly competitive market environments.