Aufgabenstellung LHCC 2012 Master

7/31/2019 Aufgabenstellung LHCC 2012 Master

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3rd Lufthansa Case Challenge Innovation

Task description for mixed and master student teams

Innovation is at the heart of all business. Companies need to adapt to change

either with new technologies and processes, new products and services orsometimes even with completely new business models. More than ever, airlines are

currently facing a multitude of different challenges and rapid change. New market

ent rants (e.g. Low Co st Ca rriers, Gulf Carriers), high b argaining pow er of oligop olistic

suppliers, increasing fare transparency due to online services, a changing awareness

for pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as product substitutes like high

speed train netw orks result in fierce com pe tition and shrinking marg ins.

As a globally leading aviation company, Lufthansa Group wants to be at the

forefront of tackling these challenges by creating business value through innovation.

Consequently, Lufthansa is constantly looking for promising new ideas that bear the

potential to continuously enhance our operational excellence, but even more

importantly, to differentiate ourselves in an increasingly competitive market

environment.

Lufthansa Group is a diversified aviation group including several airlines as well as

aviation service segments. While air transportation represents our core business, we

are a lwa ys looking for profitable new revenue drivers both in the airline scope as well

as in the field of aviation services. Over the decades, we have built an impressive set

of c om pe tenc ies (e.g. wo rldwide logistics netw ork, hand ling com plexity), intang ible

assets (e.g. loyal customer base, high-value brand image), know-how and expertise

in a b roa d array o f func tiona l fields and industry seg me nts. This rep resents a grea t

basis to organically develop or invest in adjacent profitable new business

opportunities. As both financial and managerial resources are always scarce, the

most interesting new business opportunities pass a threshold of at least 1million

annual revenue potential and can be characterized by a rather low financial invest,

but comp arably high return.

Thus, we wa nt you to help us explore p rom ising b usiness op portunities, deve lop

feasible idea s to e xploit these o pp ortunities and give p rofound rec om menda tions on

how to best invest our scarce resources.

Therefore, imag ine yo u were a consulting tea m trying to bid for an innovat ion

strateg y projec t at Lufthansa G roup . To c onvince o ur ma nag ement b oa rd , you are

asked to d eve lop spe c ific innova tion co ncep ts for Lufthansa that ena ble us to e ither

organically grow into or acquisition-based invest in new business opportunities. In

developing your innovation concepts, please try to basically follow the subsequent

approach:


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1. AnalysisYou are asked to analyze Lufthansa Groups current activities and compare

them, for instance, with customer needs and preferences or competitiveofferings in order to identify gaps or potential areas of opportunity fo r

Lufthansa. Areas of opportunity could refer to both existing and new fields of

ac tivity, such as:

Our a irline group of sub-brand s (e.g. Luftha nsa Passage, Germa nwings,Swiss, Austrian Airlines)

Our aviation service segments (e.g. aircraft overhaul, cargotransportat ion, a irline catering , aviation IT services, etc .), as well as

Potential new business fields, complementary or adjacent to ourcurrent field o f a c tivity

You can base your analysis for instance on publicly available information,ga ther da ta yourself by surveying (potential) c ustom ers, cond uc ting interviews

with expe rts, or just use your ow n c rea tivity.

2. Idea GenerationBased on the areas of opp ortunity de tec ted , you should brainstorm ideas ho w

Lufthansa Group could potentially exploit these business opportunities. Ideas

c ould include all wa ys of d ifferentiat ion strate gies and are highly we lc ome to

go b eyo nd our current mindset . The listed questions should p rovide yo u som e

direction whereas the examples should give you an idea of what we mean

with thinking b eyond .

Exploiting Lufthansas capabilities by developing new markets andcustomers or new products and services (What is Lufthansa unique at?

Where does Lufthansa have a competitive advantage that could be

mo net ized ? Example: City Trave l Guide s written by Crew Mem bers )

Exploiting the Lufthansa b rand nam e a nd ima ge by d evelop ing newproducts/ services for our existing customer base (What other products

and services could fit to the current Lufthansa brand values? What else

would existing customers buy if it was branded Lufthansa? Example:

LH Prem ium Foo d )

1. Analy sis

2. Idea

Generation

3. Ide a

Develop-

ment

Business

Case

Concrete

InnovationConc e ts

Set o f Ide as

Areas of

Opportunity

4. Innova tion

Concept

Evaluation


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Exploiting the Lufthansa customer base through monetizing our

customer knowledge (What are travel/ transport related needs of

existing Lufthansa customers? How can Lufthansa monetize the

detailed knowledge on its customers through Miles&More? Example:

Stronger linkag e o f travellers through soc ial med ia )

3. Idea DevelopmentUsing the most promising ideas identified in the previous stage, think of

concrete ways and measures Lufthansa Group could possibly implement in

order to benefit from the identified areas of opportunity. Elaborate these

measures and describe them in detailed innovation concepts. Please try to

highlight in what way these innovation concepts align Lufthansas existing

core com pe tenc ies, its cap ab ilities and brand po sitioning.

4. Innova tion Conc ep t EvaluationPlease try to assess one of the innovation concepts developed in terms of its

feasibility, investment requirements, revenue potential, and alignment with

existing c apa b ilities. Choo se the m ost p rom ising conc ep t a nd eva luate it in a

high-level business case. At this step, please just use publicly available data

and make reasonable assumptions where you cannot find any more

ac c urate informa tion.

Formal Requirements

Write a n executive summary (ma x. 1 pa ge ) tha t strongly foc uses on the resultsof stage 3 and 4.

Describe your approach and findings as well as condense your innovationconcepts in a comprehensible report of 10 to 12 pages length. Try to spend

not m ore than 1 page on ea ch ana lysis and idea ge neration and use the rest

of the space for outlining your innovation concepts as well as the business

c ase. Structure your text b y using me an ingful head lines and ma ke sure youprovide clear recommendations for the Lufthansa Group management

board.

Visualize your innova tion c onc ep ts and your business c ase results using Pow erPoint (5 to 10 slides) and/or any other innovative form of media. Please make

sure tha t you c lea rly picture your rec om menda tions for the Lufthansa Group

management b oard.

Assessment Criteria

Your rep ort, exec utive summary, and your visualizat ion will be eva luated ac cording

to the follow ing c riteria:

Creativity/innovativeness (15 Points) Profitab ility impa c t p otent ial (10 Points) Comp etitive ad vantage

o Short-te rm (5 Points)o Long-term (5 Points)

Time-to-market (5 Points) Business case (10 Points)

Documents

Aufgabenstellung LHCC 2012 Master