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Research
Business and markets are affected by the dynamics of social, technological, and political change in two ways. First, they actively shape economic, social, and ecological developments and their interrelations. Second, they are themselves exposed to external influences such as digitalization, increasing complexity, shifts in sales markets, and changing values — all of which they must respond to with growing speed and scope.
Concept of Research
Key challenges faced by businesses and markets — or market actors — are examined on both theoretical and empirical levels. At its core, this concept emphasizes the connection between the regional economy, its local embeddedness, and its global interrelations. The strength of this research approach lies in its empirical foundation, combined with the theoretically informed work of the department’s members.
These research activities are further enriched by perspectives from business law, business informatics, business psychology, and behavioral economics, which together open up additional innovative and diverse viewpoints.
The department’s application-oriented focus lies particularly in supporting start-up activities, developing digital business models, fostering science-to-business communication, implementing transformation projects in the field of human resources (e.g., paradoxical leadership, job crafting, people analytics), as well as promoting the adoption and acceptance of eco-innovations.
Key Research Area
The department has defined three key research areas, each addressing different aspects of the overarching theme: the tension between dynamic change and the simultaneous need for stability.
Building Key Factors and Designing Work in Times of Change
This research area places people and the design of work at the center of attention. It focuses on the implications of dynamic changes in businesses and markets for individuals, their work environments, and the resulting consequences. Driven by demographic and digital transformation, current trends in the world of work — such as growing demands for employee flexibility, the need for continuous learning and upskilling, increasing blurring of life domains, and skills shortages — will continue and, in some cases, intensify.
The topics discussed within this research area can generally be considered on two levels: the level of individual behavior and the level of organizational structures.
On the behavioral level, the key question is how individuals can be prepared for changing conditions. This involves identifying the key factors that enable employees to remain healthy, capable of learning, high-performing, flexible, creative, and engaged — now and in the future. In a rapidly changing work environment, building digital competencies plays a crucial role: on the one hand, to keep up with technological changes and benefit from them, and on the other, to protect oneself from their potential negative effects.
On the structural level, maintaining balance becomes essential. Organizations must exploit existing knowledge while simultaneously seeking new insights. They are expected to pursue long-term strategies while also delivering strong quarterly results. They are urged to diversify their product portfolios while remaining focused on their core business. Recent approaches in paradox management challenge the notion that organizations must be consistently aligned. Instead, they emphasize a “both-and” mindset rather than an “either-or” logic. The tensions that arise between day-to-day operations and innovation are seen not as problems, but as opportunities for synergy — a view supported by empirical evidence. Companies that adopt paradoxical orientations tend to be more successful, especially in dynamic markets.
This research area brings together (business) psychologists and business economists. In addition, there are project-based collaborations with computer scientists — for example, on topics such as data literacy, usability studies, and public awareness.
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Ralf Lanwehr (FH Südwestfalen), lanwehr.ralf@fh-swf.de
Uncertainty, Resilience and Institutional Change
This research area turns its attention outward, examining the uncertainty and resilience of social and economic systems. It addresses how companies and markets respond to dynamically changing environmental conditions. In particular, it brings together two fields that have so far largely developed independently — resilience and institutional change — to open up new theoretical perspectives and generate empirically grounded insights through a more holistic approach.
Processes of change are always accompanied by risk and uncertainty. The resilience of a social, economic, or legal system — understood here as its inherent capacity to absorb disruptions — is a key predictor of how successfully and sustainably it can cope with transformation. At the same time, change can strengthen resilience but also, through its complexity, introduce new risks that threaten stability. Moreover, the adoption and diffusion of innovations and the transformation of social structures or institutions influence each other, creating co-evolutionary dynamics.
The research area Uncertainty, Resilience, and Institutional Change also encompasses questions related to international cooperation, often explored through qualitative case study analyses using methods such as process tracing. In addition, econometric modeling approaches are frequently applied.
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Kathrin Kroll-Ludwigs (FH Aachen), kroll-ludwigs@fh-aachen.de
Value Chain and Operations-Management
The third research area, Value Chain and Operations Management, focuses on the evolving demands on process chains and business operations. Starting from all functions directly involved in the value creation of a product or service, this research area encompasses procurement management, production management, logistics management, supply chain management, sales management, as well as the design of digital processes, workflows, and customer touchpoints. Upstream of the supply chain, product development, innovation management, and product management are included to complete the value chain perspective. Within production management, work science and industrial engineering are also integrated.
This research area contributes to addressing questions arising from the overarching departmental vision from the perspective of process chains and business operations.
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Stefan Lier (FH Südwestfalen), lier.stefan@fh-swf.de
Specialized Focus Areas
The Department of Business and Markets continuously expands its networks both in interdisciplinary contexts and within specific fields. The establishment of specialized focus areas in 2024 reflects the actual academic activities of its researchers. This development is driven by the department’s continuous growth and increasing differentiation into various sub-disciplines of business studies. These focus areas remain flexible to accommodate current developments in science, economy, politics, and society affected by change. They provide a platform for scholarly networking, supervision of relevant doctoral projects, and personal exchange. Central to this is open dialogue among members and the joint cultivation of a dynamic academic and departmental culture.
FACTS (Finance, Accounting, Controlling, Tax, Sustainability)
Participants in this focus area address selected challenges of corporate management and governance, reporting, and the practical implementation of regulations. The group thereby responds to the needs of businesses, society, and legislation for transparency and knowledge transfer. Implementation is achieved through the networking of intra-disciplinary research aspects by doctoral candidates and collaborative research on economic and legal issues. This results in high-quality academic and business-relevant outcomes in research and knowledge transfer.
Speaker: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dr. rer. oec. Stefan Vieweg (stefan.vieweg@rh-koeln.de)
Demand in Digital Markets
The focus area Demand in Digital Markets brings together researchers from various sub-disciplines of business administration, economics, and business psychology who examine the behavior and decision-making of market participants from different perspectives.
A key focus lies on changes driven by technological development and ongoing digitalization. The area integrates behavioral economic, consumer-psychological, and business model perspectives.
Within the context of digitalization, the focus area addresses topics such as the acceptance and use of digital technologies, the design of digital customer interfaces and services, the analysis of digital business models, the study of value creation networks and strategies in digital ecosystems, as well as aspects of consumer protection and sustainability in increasingly digitally shaped markets.
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Till Haumann (haumann.till@fh-swf.de)
Operations
The focus area Operations brings together professors from various disciplines who address the challenges of modern industry and business. Our emphasis lies on process management and digital transformation, promoting pioneering technologies such as automation, Industry 5.0, and green production. A central concern is human-machine interaction, aiming to create innovative and efficient solutions through generative AI and robotic process automation.
Together with doctoral students, we advance business analytics and pursue human-centered productivity management. This includes consideration of AI applications in diagnostics, the evaluation of human labor, and the reduction of cognitive load. Our expertise in industrial engineering, business organization, and logistics, as well as in designing forward-looking production systems, enables us to develop comprehensive solutions.
Using advanced systems engineering methods and assistance systems (e.g., MES), we analyze the impact of errors in work systems to improve efficiency and quality. We also explore innovative applications, such as the use of computer games in industrial engineering, and engage with current developments in e-business, e-commerce, blockchain, and machine learning.
Our work encompasses modular production approaches, the use of drones, and the development of sustainable industrial sites to minimize the carbon footprint. Our overarching goal is to strengthen the resilience of value chains and establish future-proof, sustainable solutions for industry.
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Gereon Kortenbruck (gereon.kortenbruck@thga.de)
WOP (Business Psychology, Organization, and Human Resources)
The focus area Business Psychology, Organization, and Human Resources (WOP) centers on the collaboration of people within and across organizations in times of change. Particular attention is given to the implications of societal transformation processes—such as demographic, digital, and sustainability-oriented changes—that directly affect how people work. WOP research addresses the conditions, forms, and effects of human collaboration in organizational contexts. The investigations include:
- How changes impact individuals and how they can be prepared and actively involved so that they remain healthy, capable of learning, high-performing, flexible, creative, and engaged now and in the future.
- How teams and organizations respond to partially conflicting demands in times of change, e.g., through self-organization, new management principles, participatory, agile, and empowering leadership models, or integrated learning and development processes.
Within WOP, economists specializing in organization and human resources collaborate closely with business psychologists.
Speaker: Prof. Dr. Christina Krins (krins.christina@fh-swf.de)
Disciplinary Positioning
The Department of Business and Markets takes a deliberately interdisciplinary approach and is correspondingly diverse in its composition. In addition to classical business disciplines (e.g., logistics, marketing, organization, human resources, management) and economics (e.g., development economics, money and macroeconomics, international economic relations, sustainability economics), the department also includes business law, business informatics, industrial engineering, and business psychology.
Activities
Within the framework of the doctoral program ‘Change and Resilience’, the department offers interdisciplinary training and workshops, such as academic writing, research philosophy/scientific theory, peer review publishing, time management, project management, expert workshops/circles, and lecture series. Specialized subject-specific trainings and workshops are also offered. Planned topics include: written progress reports, time and work plans according to the doctoral agreement, (semi-)annual doctoral colloquia for peer feedback, specialized methods workshops/training, in-depth subject-specific events, support for applications to national and international conferences (e.g., AoM, EGOS, EALE), support for preparing international research stays, and structural support for publications.
The personal development of doctoral candidates is promoted through offerings in science communication, teaching philosophy, instructional design competencies, administrative skills, communication and moderation, as well as self-management.
In addition, joint digital and in-person events, such as research lunches and departmental meetings, provide opportunities for open exchange, fruitful ideas, and a collaborative, inspiring environment.
