As a first step, the ecosystem department staff try to explore what developments they could envisage in an area where Bosch is not yet present. They visit specific locations, which they try to explore and draw inspiration from in order to determine the direction of development. Based on their fieldwork, they identify problem areas and define guidelines for launching related innovation campaigns and calls for proposals. The themes of the campaigns vary, and one or two are announced each year to employees in Hungary. They are not necessarily looking for technical solutions, but rather for new business opportunities. Proposers submit their proposals via an online platform, which includes a description of the customer's problem or a presentation of a hypothetical customer problem with a brief presentation of the value proposition that the new solution aims to offer the customer.

The whole process is very similar to the Lean Startup method and is based on one-pager documents submitted by employees. These are prioritised according to various criteria, e.g.: How closely does it relate to Bosch's strategy? How realistic is the customer problem presented? How many customers could be affected by the problem? Is there a solution to this? The prioritisation of projects is somewhat subjective, and it is difficult to exclude this element because it is not possible to make an objective decision based on a single page.

Five to six ideas are selected from the employee suggestions received for each campaign, with the involvement of managers working in different areas. It is important that the suggestions are evaluated not only from a technical and feasibility perspective, but also from a business perspective. It is also important to consider whether Bosch has any competitive advantage in the given area and whether the topic is included in the strategic objectives. Another knockout criterion is if any company could implement the idea or if Bosch would not be able to stand out from its competitors by bringing it to market. Only ideas that fit with the company's principles, Bosch's mission and the "Invented for life" slogan receive support. Even if something is a great business opportunity, if it conflicts with the company's principles, the idea will not pass the filter. Bosch continuously defines areas of research and no-go areas, which provide a framework and guidance for corporate idea generators.

Idea generators who pass the first selection round are given the opportunity to form a development team. A call is issued within the company to employees and developers who would like to try their hand at a kind of startup environment, and team members are selected from among them using gamification and playful methods. It is important that the teams are not created from above, but more freely, based on mutual rapport and motivation. The department supporting the development of the innovation ecosystem also pays attention to ensuring that as many team roles as possible are represented in the teams that are created, because in their experience, this kind of diversity is key to an effective team.

Once the teams of 5-6 people have been formed, they begin to work on the development problem with their time credited to the project as virtual money rather than deducted from their working hours. In addition to the individual, the department or division that employs them does not lose out either, as the development centre tries to compensate for the loss of manpower due to the innovation project. This is not easy and may involve compromises, but it is important to make colleagues and managers understand that preparing for future developments involves investment.

It is essential that the organisational culture also supports this type of exploratory development. There is no question that the core business must continue, but it is up to the manager to decide how much to support and encourage significant developments that offer future business opportunities for the company. The key to this is the manager's mindset and commitment to embracing innovative proposals that could generate significant revenue in the future. In other words, development does not start from the perspective of financial expectations and prospects. In addition, all stakeholders need to be aware that a new innovative initiative involves significant expenditure and that its viability can only be determined through testing. This requires additional capacity, because developers cannot be expected to come up with world-class innovations on top of their existing tasks if they are already working at 120% capacity on their daily tasks. The work of innovation teams within the company also shapes the way people think and approach things, and inspires everyone to come up with innovative ideas.

One of the primary goals of the startup incubator programme is to develop and strengthen entrepreneurial thinking and attitudes within the corporate culture. Management is aware that not every startup project can be successful. In addition, there are many other important benefits and advantages to participating in the programme. It has a significant impact on participants, making them more proactive in their work and better able to think through the financial and manufacturing aspects of developments, as well as strengthening their bond with their employer because they feel they are being given opportunities for self-fulfilment.

Once the startup teams are set up, they take part in a two-week "customer safari" phase that requires 100% dedication. It is important to note that during this period, they do not have to fulfil any other work obligations outside of the innovation project, but can focus exclusively on training and further developing their project proposals. During this phase, the participants work as a team to develop the programme's one-pager document into a business model canvas. Over the course of two weeks, they must gather as much information as possible about the market and customers and test their hypotheses related to the development. Throughout this time, the InnoHub team will assist in interpreting the results, exploring patent opportunities, analysing identified competitors, searching for experts and development partners, and determining the steps necessary to move forward. The two-week validation aims to find evidence of the idea's future and business viability – or the opposite. If it can be proven that the idea has a future, the next incubation phase begins. The two-month incubation is similar to and inspired by the University of Berkeley's accelerator programme. It is based on the business model canvas and its elements. The aim of the two-month programme is to validate the individual components of the business model in detail. Team members are expected to conduct at least one hundred (!) interviews with relevant stakeholders and, based on these, gather evidence of the feasibility and viability of their business ideas. During the Covid-19 period, participants were able to do this online, but face-to-face interviews are generally preferred, which can be expedited at conferences by interviewing several experts together. Travel and material expenses related to conducting interviews are financed by the innovation ecosystem department running the programme.

As this is an engineering and development company, the incubation programme does not focus on prototype development in the first stage. It is much more important to map the needs and expectations of the target customers and to examine market and business aspects. Once all this has been clarified, the teams can start thinking about how to implement it. The third, six-month phase involves the creation of prototypes and demos, or, in startup jargon, the development of a minimum viable product (MVP), followed by testing with the target audience. At this stage, a more detailed business and implementation plan is drawn up, showing the costs of development and production launch, as well as how much the developed product or service can be sold for and to whom. In fact, this is followed by a critical phase when it is decided whether there is a business unit within the Bosch Group that will support and take responsibility for the implementation of the product/service. This is the incubation phase, which forms a transition between "explore" and "core business". This is an enormous, prevalent challenge in the field of corporate innovation, which involves numerous pitfalls but is inevitable for success. The challenge of an ambidextrous organisation is to simultaneously perform activities related to operational functioning at a high level of quality and efficiency and to manage developments and then take care of their production.

The support and patience of senior management is essential for the success of developments. It takes several years from the emergence of an innovative idea, through its validation and incubation, to production and then sales, which can only be achieved with strong management support and belief.

The company supports and encourages employees to report their inventions and pays them a certain reward for doing so. The suggestions made by production plant employees focus primarily on improving efficiency, and the originators of the ideas are rewarded according to a well-defined system based on the savings achieved. The business value of the ideas submitted is validated by the controlling department, and if approved by the relevant manager, employees receive a monetary reward based on the savings value classified according to a reward table. Smaller ideas are rewarded with smaller gifts, such as pens or mugs, which are more of a token gesture, but in the case of more significant savings, the reward can be as high as millions. In addition to financial and reward considerations, it is very important that the company supports its employees' suggestions, thereby promoting commitment and self-fulfilment. Furthermore, colleagues participating in projects are given the opportunity to attend various conferences and events that help them develop their ideas. The opportunity for self-fulfilment is the key phrase here, and it is more of a motivating factor than how much money can be earned from such activities.