The chair ´s research activities focus on the following three fields:

• Corporate innovative capability

  This research field deals with the causes and mechanisms that enable organizations to continuously adapt their product and service portfolio as well as their internal organization in order to meet the demands of the markets. Attention is focussed on questions concerning the targeted development of innovation capability of organizations.

  The analysis of the factors influencing innovative ability needs to take into account both individual and organizational or structural factors and their interaction. The research on the development, changes and interactions of the factors is theoretical and empirical.

• Technology dynamics and technology management

  The early detection and adequate interpretation of technological trends and developments are significant factors that influence the innovation capability of enterprises. Particularly SMEs run significant deficits in this area. At this point the strategic technology management focusses on the development of new approaches for the analysis and description of technology dynamics, explicitly in SMEs.

  The main research questions center around the exploration of possibilities, limitations and further development potential of existing approaches to strategic technology management for successful adaptation, especially in SMEs:

  • Possibilities of adapting existing instruments to the needs of SMEs;
  • Development of an enterprise’s own applicable instruments;
  • Method-based linkage of strategic technology and innovation management

  The objective is to develop and provide practical and tested methods of strategic technology management.

• Innovation systems and policies

  This research field focusses on the analysis of the dynamics of technological and regional as well as national innovation systems, with special attention to the influence of regional and national innovation systems on the innovative capability of organizations and on the development of strategies and measures for political decision-makers.

  The analysis of the different dynamics of change and adaptation is performed using quantitative and qualitative methods of social research.