Scientific Strengths Department of Management

The S&O group focuses its research on the New Dynamics in Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation. Companies face increasingly turbulent operating conditions. Global competition, rapid technological change, and geopolitical changes call for a new perspective on strategy. Core competencies have become liabilities in rapidly changing environments. A firm’s long-term viability has become dependent on its ability to reposition itself, change its business model, and learn and innovate effectively. This requires established organizations to become more entrepreneurial, to set up ventures, and to innovate by a mix of internal learning, acquisitions, and alliances.
Specifically, our S&O research covers two major themes:

• Strategy and Performance

We focus on firms’ strategic choices and performance from a relational perspective. We explore how firms and other organizations are embedded in bilateral and multilateral collaborations, as well as networks and ecosystems. Particular attention is paid to innovation and learning.

• Corporate Entrepreneurship and Corporate Venturing

We focus on how large established companies learn and innovate by creating an entrepreneurial mindset and by acting on new opportunities. Particular attention is paid to corporate venturing. This is where large firms invest in, or enter into a joint venture with, emerging and innovative firms to gain a competitive advantage in terms of growth or innovation.

The ISCM group focuses its research on Digitization and Supply Chain Networks. Digital technology can elicit huge transformations. Intelligent supply chains have become crucial to the success of the entire network. This requires the orchestration of people, capacities, work processes, and infrastructure. Maximizing the benefit from these trends will require rigorous research to examine the use of emerging technologies in platforms, operations, marketing and service, human resources, finance and audit, healthcare, and intra-organizational- and inter-organizational activities. The global trade environment and fast-changing markets require further enhanced decision-making in the entire product life cycle management process so that an efficient and effective supply chain can be realized.
Specifically, our ISCM research covers four major themes:

• Digital transformation

We explore how digitization and emerging technologies can be leveraged to transform products, processes, strategies, organizations, platforms, and the society.

• Business analytics and design science

We examine how data can be exploited and how IT artefact can be designed to solve organizational and societal problems.

• Strategic and operational supply chain management

We investigate the performance, dynamics, and evolution of supply chains from both a strategic and an operational perspective.

• Advancing supply chain management by technology and digitization

We leverage the advances in technology and digitization to enhance the performance of supply chains along the triple bottom line: people, planet, and profit.