Center for Leading Innovation
& Cooperation (CLIC)

Overview

Executive Directors

  • Prof. Dr. Claudia Lehmann
  • Dr. Sandra Dijk

Academic Directors

  • Prof. Anne S. Huff, PhD
  • Prof. Dr. Kathrin M. Möslein
  • Prof. Dr. Anne-Katrin Neyer
  • Prof. Dr. Ralf Reichwald

Postdoc

  • Dr. Caroline Große

Research Associates

  • Luca Dörr
  • Thomas Trabert

Focus Topics

  • Service innovation
  • Open innovation
  • Interactive value creation

Academic Partners (Selection)

  • Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU)
  • Technische Universität München
  • Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg
  • ispim
  • fortiss

Business Partners (Selection)

  • Audi
  • Generali
  • Lufthansa
  • Schmale Maschinenbau
  • SITEC
  • Versicherungsforen Leipzig

What we do

The future belongs to value creation models based on innovation and cooperation. CLIC – Center for Leading Innovation & Cooperation helps companies stay ahead in the innovation game. With our partners, we develop tailored innovation strategies. We combine our research expertise with our rich experience from practice to prototype innovations. Moreover, CLIC bundles an international network of innovation researchers and practitioners with a shared focus on service innovation, open innovation and interactive value creation.

Founded in 2006 as a joint initiative by Friedrich-Alexander Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU), HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management and Technische Universität München (TUM), CLIC is a competence center of HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, one of the leading business schools in Europe.

We conduct transfer-oriented research projects, bringing together academia and practice.

We offer state-of-the-art corporate services with a focus on open innovation, service innovation and interactive value creation. Our clients benefit from our strong international network of innovation researchers and practitioners.

Projects

 

Zukunftsland Sachsen

Saxony is undergoing structural change: digitalisation is taking place everywhere and small and medium-sized enterprises are actively looking for solutions. For this reason, the Ministry of Science, Culture and Tourism of the Free State of Saxony and the Leipzig Graduate School of Management (HHL) have founded the initiative “Zukunftsland Sachsen”. The platform brings networking, knowledge transfer and events through new approaches and success stories. For entrepreneurs, managers and people who want to make a difference.

The project is funded by the Saxon State Ministry for Science, Culture and Tourism (SMWK).

Learn more

 

    Female Founders Initiative

    The Female Founders Initiative is a program from the field of start-up promotion that specializes in supporting women interested in founding a company. As part of the Leipzig university startup network “SMILE – Start-up Initivative”, HHL offers a 6-month class in which 12 selected women develop their business ideas in workshops and seminars with subject matter experts, discuss entrepreneurial issues from a women’s perspective, define their female leadership personality and expand their entrepreneurial network. Together with a personal start-up coach and an individually selected mentor, participants work on their business pitch. The insights gained from the practical experience are also incorporated into the Female Entrepreneurship research.

    The project is funded by the European Union, the European Social Fund and the Free State of Saxony (SAB-Application number: 100463196).

    Learn more

      Interactive Workshops

      Our workshops on creativity techniques and methods in the field of innovation management are always based on a detailed discussion of your individual objectives and focuses. Together with you we select the topics to be investigated and make a choice of appropriate methods for your individual application scenario. Depending on your needs, we offer a variety of topics which are prepared specifically for your workshop. These include, for instance, topics such as digitization, services 2025, the business model of the future or aspects of internal collaboration across departments. In the context of our diverse research projects, we have gained extensive experience in various industries, such as for example in the insurance and banking sectors as well as in the manufacturing industry, in particular in the field of B2B.
      We are happy to advise you personally on our workshop program in order to select the appropriate method for your challenge.

       

      LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®

      • The STRONG CONNECTION between HAND AND BRAIN creates a deep understanding of current challenges in situation analysis and action planning and improves the finding of creative solutions.
      • PROFOUND DIALOGUE: Workshop participants gain insights into their team’s operation processes and linkages. The result is a profound dialogue which allows improved decision-making in shorter time.
      • DETAILED MODELS are developed by the participants out of a variety of LEGO® elements that serve as metaphors for their perception of the distinct aspects of the workshop topic. Thus, complex relationships can be represented in a simple and memorable way.

        Design Thinking

        The CUSTOMER-CENTRIC APPROACH enables you to create new products and services based on actual needs and to increase acceptance of and demand for products on the market. SEVERAL PHASES systematically guide the participant from the problem space towards a solution space:

          • Identification and articulation of the problem
          • Collection and visualization of emerging ideas
          • Development of new ideas by prototyping the new product or service
          • Analysis of prototypes regarding potential customer benefit, weaknesses and opportunities for improvemen
          • Simulation of the practical application and final evaluation

          Studies

          Smart decisions are based on up-to-date knowledge. We support your decision-making and development processes, providing studies tailored to your innovation needs.

          Using cutting-edge research approaches and evaluation concepts, we apply a wide range of qualitative and quantitative analytical methods. Our goal is to equip you with practical recommendations to act with foresight and effectively with regard to your individual challenge.

          Clients benefit from our expertise in service productivity, business model innovation and user experience as well as the identification of actual customer needs. In collaboration with our network, we cover a large variety of topics and industries.

          Recent studies at CLIC include for instance:

          Consulting Services

          The Center of Leading Innovation and Cooperation accompanies and supports companies in the innovation process. In addition to the research work within our practical projects, we as CLIC design customized innovation strategies together with our partners and help companies to assess the potential success of a planned innovation on the market.

          Doctorate at HHL

          Are you interested in doing a PhD at CLIC through the LF Group Chair for Digital Innovation in Service Industries?
          Then please send an inquiry to clic@hhl.de together with a current CV, your Master’s degree certificate(s) and a short abstract about your (preliminary) PhD idea.
          Please also note the application requirements of HHL.