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Research at the Chair in International Management aims to engage important and timely topics of practical relevance while maintaining the highest standards of academic rigor. Below is a set of topics that are currently been actively investigated. Research projects typically are being carried out in cooperation with international collaborators and often engage practitioners.
To stay successful over time, large Multinational Enterprises (MNEs) need to renew and transform. Organizations such as DSM, IBM, Nokia, or 3M have reinvented themselves multiple times in their history. However, renewal and transformation of an on-going business at the same time continues to be one the largest managerial challenges and many attempts at transformation fail.
In this research project we investigate three distinct dimensions of renewal and transformation that have received only limited attention in prior research.
Organizational mechanisms to explore the future. To build renewal and transformation into the DNA of the organization, firms need to create a steady flow of initiatives that challenge the status quo and explore the future. Our research examines the organizational mechanisms (e.g. CVC investments, corporate accelerator programs, etc.) that large corporations use to create seeds it can base its renewal upon.
There is little doubt that the choice of the CEO is among the most important choices a board can make. However, research shows that there is substantial performance variation in CEO successions suggesting that practices related to the selection of new CEOs and their transition into the role likely differ. In this research program we examine several important questions related to CEO succession:
The behavioral theory of the firm originally developed within the Carnegie School has seen renewed attention as a theoretical basis for research in strategic management. Behavioral strategy explains strategic decision-making and firm behavior by drawing upon micro-foundations from cognitive and social psychology.
Developing the theoretical basis of behavioral strategy is one of the core thrusts of the Chair in International Management. Several projects at the chair focus on developing the theoretical basis of behavioral strategy and apply it to explain empirical phenomena such as acquisitions, divestments, organizational change, and risk-taking. In this research program we examine for instance:
In 2017 volumes of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) continued to exceed 4.5 Trillion USD for the fourth year in a row. Yet, performance of M&A continues to be decidedly mixed with many transactions being disappointing for the acquirer. One of the central research areas of the Chair in International Management continues to be M&A strategies. Research focuses on a variety of related questions:
Successful new product introduction is central to the long-term survival and performance of firms in many technology-intensive industries and in particular in the global pharmaceutical industry. For successful product introduction, a firm needs to assemble a variety of technological inputs into a novel combination that meets the demands of the market. However, the novel combination of technologies, that is invention, is by no means enough for successful new product introduction as several studies have shown. A key finding in the innovation literature is that demand side factors and complementary assets are additional factors that positively affect the likelihood of successful new product development. Despite the broad acceptance that multiple factors may be needed for successful new product development, research is only beginning to examine how these factors interact during different stages of the innovation process.
In this research program, we intend to create a better empirical and theoretical understanding of innovation processes in the pharmaceutical industry by drawing upon resource-based and behavioral theories of strategic management.