2023, von Kutzschenbach, Michael, Daub, Claus-Heinrich, Dornberger, Rolf

Digitale Technologien und Innovationen verändern unsere Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft wie nie zuvor. Unternehmensleitende und Führungskräfte sind jedoch an einem Punkt angelangt, an dem sie die Art und Weise überdenken müssen, wie Unternehmen die digitale Transformation nutzen können, um sich den Herausforderungen der Nachhaltigkeit zu stellen. Da Organisationen im Kontext der Gesellschaft agieren, beeinflussen viele Faktoren wie soziale Strukturen, politische Entscheidungen, allgemeine wirtschaftliche Trends und technologische Entwicklungen ihre Tätigkeit. Um erfolgreich zu sein, muss sich eine Organisation dieser Veränderungen bewusst sein und gleichzeitig in der Lage sein, sich mit ihnen auseinanderzusetzen. Ausgehend von dieser Sichtweise skizzieren wir einen integrierten Rahmen, der die verschiedenen Stufen der „Digitalität“ mit den notwendigen Veränderungen in der Managementpraxis verbindet, um die Untersuchung von Organisationen zu unterstützen. Weitere Forschung ist notwendig, um besser zu verstehen, wie sich die Managementpraxis verändern muss, um digitale Technologien für eine fortlaufende, lernbasierte Engagementstrategie zu nutzen. Dies erfordert, dass sich Führungskräfte ihres eigenen Denkens bewusst werden, ihre bisherigen Überzeugungen aufgeben und sich auf organisatorisches Lernen und Experimente mit den Beteiligten einlassen.

2019, von Kutzschenbach, Michael, Daub, Claus-Heinrich, Lüdeke-Freund, Florian, Froese, Tobias

Sustainability challenges represent some of the most significant business opportunities of the century. Capturing these opportunities, however, will require significant innovation: not just in technologies and products, but also in processes, business models, as well as research. We argue that a rethinking and sharpening of the definition and the role of sustainable entrepreneurship is needed. How can sustainable entrepreneurship for systemic change be defined and differentiated from 'conventional' entrepreneurship in order to make sustainability-oriented innovations (SOI) happen and changing the system to the better? Building on the on-going entrepreneurship initiatives at FHNW this study uses a case study approach aiming at further developing the theory and practice of true sustainable entrepreneurship

2023, Pavlova, Pavlina, Wyss, Ananda, von Kutzschenbach, Michael, Daub, Claus-Heinrich

The article proposes a hybrid approach that combines various design methods to organize and deliver successful open innovation ideation workshops to prototype new circular products and services. Three case studies are presented, including two intra-company collaboration workshops and a creativity and interdisciplinary workshop for students. A well-defined workshop setup structure and tools used are presented to enable practitioners to run similar workshops. The challenges and solutions developed during the case study workshops are summarized, and funding and realization details are provided. The paper emphasizes that the workshops are just the first step towards realizing circular economy solutions and further support and resources are needed to bring the ideas to fruition.

2020, von Kutzschenbach, Michael, Daub, Claus-Heinrich, Dornberger, Rolf

Digital technology and innovations are transforming our economy and society as never before. However, business leaders and managers are at a point where they need to rethink the way business can leverage digital transformation in order to support engagement with sustainability challenges. As organizations operate in the context of society, many factors such as social structures, political decision-making, general economic trends, and technological development, influence their operations. To be successful, an organization must be aware of these changes and at the same time be able to engage with them. Based on this viewpoint, we outline an integrated framework linking different levels of “digitalness” with necessary changes in managerial practice to support organizational inquiry. More research is necessary to better understand how the practice of management needs to transform in order to leverage digital technologies for an on-going, learning-based engagement strategy. This requires awareness of one’s own thinking, suspension of one’s prior beliefs, and engagement in organizational learning and experimentation with stakeholders.