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.