In summer 2023, a joint paper, authored by Simon Zeiher, a doctoral student at Munich Business School, Professor Alexander Richter, a Research Fellow at Munich Business School and myself was accepted at the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS), a premier international conference in the field of information systems, which took place in Kristiansand, Norway. In the paper, titled “Towards Domain-Specific Knowlegde on Digital Transformation – The Case of the Furniture Industry,” we are looking at digital transformation from an industry-level perspective. More specifically, we are focusing on the furniture industry, in which Simon works in his day job.
Continue reading New Conference Paper: Towards Domain-Specific Knowledge on Digital TransformationCategory: Teaching
Expert Interview with Galileo: The German Fitness Industry
From 2018 until 2021, I ran the Master in Sports Business and Communication at Munich Business School. In different courses, we extensively discuss the shifts in the sport industry. A couple of months ago, I was invited as an industry expert by Galileo, a daily knowledge show, broadcast on Pro7, a private channel. They were planning a full episode on the German fitness industry, with a focus on McFit/RSG Group. Of course, we recorded the interview in a gym, based in Munich. You can find the full episode below, including some key take-aways and a couple of studies I cited in the interview.
Professor in the Spotlight: Interview with David Wagner
I recently won the 2022 MBS Teaching Award and was appointed the Vice Dean of Research at Munich Business School, thereby joining the (extended) University Management. Below is the link to an interview that was published on the MBS website a little while ago, with some reflections on both achievements.
Of course, I am humbled, but also happy, excited, and proud. I hope to continue inspiring students to learn and explore, while further developing the institution’s research agenda to make an impact on both business and society.
Winning the MBS Teaching Award 2022
I self-identify as a Management Professor with head, heart and hand. I think this slogan represents nicely what I stand for in teaching. Of course, university courses are first and foremost about content – that’s the head. That means we need good texts, cases and other media as a basis for presentations and discussions. Next is the heart, the passion: I burn for the courses and the content I teach. The students also notice this and regularly feed this back to me. Finally comes the hand, the doing and trying out. Experimentation plays an important role, especially in digital contexts. That’s why I think it’s important that we build prototypes and websites, visit trade fairs, and invite practitioners to engage in dialogue. These type of experiences also distinguish MBS as a business school from many other higher education institutions, especially traditional universities.
Becoming the Vice Dean for Research
As Vice Dean for Research, I can now accompany and shape the research activities of MBS more closely, also from a strategic perspective. More specifically, we are positioning ourselves as a business school with the topics and content that we stand for. The selection is no coincidence, but the result of a collaborative process that must be supported by the entire faculty – and, ultimately, the entire university with all its stakeholders.
Entwicklung eines Studiengangs: Bachelor Social Media
Im Frühjahr 2020 fragte die International University (IU) bei mir an, ob ich nicht Interesse an der Entwicklung eines neuen Bachelor-Studiengangs im Bereich Social Media hätte. Das hatte ich. So starteten wir wenig später mit der Entwicklung des Curriculums für das Studienprogramm. Zugeben: Die IU ist im Prozess der Studiengangsentwicklung recht routiniert – allein in 2020 wurden knapp 30 neue Studiengänge an den Markt gebracht hat (siehe dazugehörige Pressemeldung).
Mit der designierten Studiengangsleiterin, Prof. Dr. Anne-Kristin Langner, machte ich mir über den Sommer intensiv Gedanken, welche Kurse in solch ein Studienprogramm gehören. Wir griffen dazu häufig auf die BVCM-Verbandsstudien der vergangenen Jahre zurück, in denen wir Social Media Manager zu ihren täglichen Aufgaben, Kompetenzen und Herausforderungen befragten. So konnten die Insights der Praktiker direkt auch in Studieninhalte überführt werden. Ein bestehender Mangel ist laut der Befragten übrigens das Fehlen einer strukturierten Ausbildung, womit sich der Kreis schließt. Ich meine, das Produkt kann sich sehen lassen.
Continue reading Entwicklung eines Studiengangs: Bachelor Social MediaCloud Computing for Digital Transformation: From Course to Conference
I have been teaching a course on Digital Transformation for a few years now, normally with Ben Ellermann, Managing Director of MUUUH! Next and Future of Voice as well as a frequent collaborator in past projects. We have run the course at Munich Business School and were recently invited teach it at Otto von Guericke University Magdeburg as well. While I focus on the relevant frameworks, models and up-to-date research literature, Ben usually brings his perspective from practice and contributes several real-world examples he has been working on lately.
After a discussion of some well-known frameworks, I have broken up the course into so-called immersion sessions, in each of which we discuss relevant sub-topics to the field of Digital Transformation, normally presented by course participants. Topics covered in these immersion sessions include digital (transformation) strategy, business model innovation, digital platforms, data analytics, digital labs, agility/scrum and cloud computing. Depending on the set-up, course participants may also need to write a seminar paper on an immersion topic of their choice.
Continue reading Cloud Computing for Digital Transformation: From Course to Conference