Our research examines how organizations create value in the face of technological, societal, and institutional change. We focus on the organizational forms, actors, and strategic decisions that combine economic objectives with societal responsibility, innovation, and long-term development.
Our work lies at the intersection of strategic management, entrepreneurship, and organization studies. Methodologically, we combine quantitative, qualitative, and configurational research approaches.
Innovation increasingly takes place across organizational boundaries. Firms, public-sector organizations, and other actors bring together their different resources and capabilities in networks and innovation ecosystems. These forms of collaboration create new opportunities for value creation while also presenting participants with distinct challenges relating to coordination, governance, and strategic positioning.
Our research addresses questions such as:
How are networks and innovation ecosystems structured and governed?
Under what conditions do networks create value for their members and their broader societal environment?
How can firms use the social capital embedded in networks strategically?
Current research examines purpose-oriented networks, the development of interorganizational networks over time, and European innovation ecosystems. A further focus is on collaboration and financing structures for dual-use and omni-use technologies.
Family firms are not shaped by economic objectives alone. Business families often combine their business decisions with a desire to preserve and develop the firm, the family’s identity, and its legacy across generations. Our research examines how such non-financial objectives are interpreted, negotiated, and translated into strategic action.
Our research addresses questions such as:
How do business families influence strategic decisions and corporate governance?
How do family identity, social norms, and transgenerational objectives affect the decisions of executives and board members?
Under what conditions do family firms foster responsible innovation and responses to grand societal challenges?
What role do networks and signals play in the appointment, compensation, and dismissal of CEOs?
Current projects examine single family offices as guardians and renewers of the family legacy, pathways towards impact investing, the appointment of female CEOs, and the influence of family members and corporate networks on CEO compensation and dismissal decisions.
Technological change, sustainability requirements, and new security challenges are reshaping the foundations of organizational value creation. Organizations need to develop new technologies and business models while taking their societal, institutional, and individual consequences into account.
Our research addresses questions such as:
How do organizations assess emerging technologies strategically and translate them into economic value?
How do business models emerge and evolve in response to sustainability and security requirements?
How do new forms of collaboration affect employees and organizations?
Current research projects examine dual-use and omni-use technologies, sustainable business models in the European space industry, the development of the European venture capital ecosystem, and digital transformation and employee well-being in public-sector organizations.