Research
Our research is located at the interface between strategic management, corporate governance and firm goals like competitive advantage, innovation, and sustainability. We use a behavioral approach and empirical analyses to examine practitioner-oriented questions in this field of research.
Central subject areas
Strategic management refers to the long-term orientation of a company to gain and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. Important topics in this area are strategic planning and decision-making, implementing strategic change, and the connection between strategic management and corporate governance.
In research projects on strategic decisions, we are, for instance, interested in competitive dynamics. In addition, we analyze strategic planning and decision-making processes at the top of the firm and how these processes are influenced by a company’s corporate governance. As AI-based business models become increasingly important, we examine the opportunities and challenges surrounding a firm’s digital transformation, including how AI-based products and services are received in the market.
Most of our research follows a behavioral perspective. Building hypotheses, we mainly draw on theories in the area of behavioral strategy, sociology, and psychology. To examine our research questions, we rely on quantitative and qualitative empirical methods.
Selected topics are:
- The impact of top management compensation on strategic decisions
- The diffusion of novel strategic decisions through various types of networks
- What does it take to turn digital expertise into digital innovation
- Reception of AI-based business models in the financial industry
- Implementing strategic change
Generally speaking, corporate governance refers to the design of a company's management and control structures. Against this background, we are investigating the influence of selected management and control mechanisms on behavior and decisions at the top of the company. Emphasizing behavioral aspects such as power, social network relationships and individual characteristics of the leading decision-makers, we are especially interested in questions surrounding the interface between corporate governance and strategic management.
To capture behavioral aspects of corporate governance, we mainly draw on theories in the area of behavioral governance, sociology, and psychology. To examine our research questions, we rely on quantitative and qualitative empirical methods.
Selected topics are:
- Design and effects of network relationships
- Board networks as social bubbles
- The impact of power relations at the top of the firm on strategic decisions
- Social capital of the ruling elite: meaning, measurement and impact
- The influence of different types of owners on sustainable strategies
- Corporate governance and corporate misconduct
