Introducing a global idea management system to RHI Magnesita

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

About RHI Magnesita

RHI Magnesita, the global leader in the refractory industry, approached the E&I institute with the task to understand the idea management provider landscape and find a suitable solution for a global rollout of an ideation management system (IDM system).

Problem Statement and Project Goal

An IDM system significantly contributes to the innovation performance of a company by collecting ideas from several stakeholders and evaluating them. The main goal of the project was to find a fitting global ideation management system for RHI Magnesita. In order to identify an appropriate solution, the provider landscape had to be screened and assessment and comparison criteria for an appropriate system had to be defined.

The Systematic Approach

First, the innovation management status quo of the company system was analyzed to identify internal expectations and requirements for a global system. More than 10 qualitative interviews with internal stakeholders as well as a follow-up online survey were conducted, resulting in a criteria catalogue of 18 selection criteria. Subsequently, a set of 6 potential software candidates was chosen and examined by conducting a benchmark analysis taking into account the product portfolio and features, implementation possibilities, usability, costs and other metrics enabled a systematic evaluation and comparison of each software.

Result

Eventually, Spigit was identified as the preferred choice of IDM system followed by INNOSABI and Hello Innovators. Spigit offers an excellent quality to price ratio as its features offer various opportunities to collect and evaluate ideas, and its price is relatively low compared to its competitors. Furthermore, it already is very experienced with global companies and, thus, will certainly be able to fulfill RHI Magnesitas needs to their full extent. To ensure a successful integration of the IDM system in the company, management recommendations on effective incentivisation systems as well as a transparent evaluation processes were given.

Cooperation Partner

• RHI Magnesita GmbH
  Kranichberggasse 6
  1120 Vienna
  Austria
  rhimagnesita.com

Contact Person

• Juan Rosenzweig
  juan.Rosenzweig@RHIMagnesita.com

Student Team

• Lena Hauer

• Amelie Hürbe

• Johanna Sturm

• Felicia Schneider

• Tarik Dür

• Dennis Glouckhman

Project Manager

• Tuong-Vi Sophie Quach

• Linn Kretzschmar