Shaping global futures!
In today’s globally connected business world, management activities are influenced by the dynamics of international markets. To support (future) managers and entrepreneurs in dealing with these dynamics, our aim is to provide a better understanding of the implications of internationality for their behavior and decisions. To do so, the professorship’s research and teaching consider, for example, different behavioral tendencies across different cultures, cultural stereotypes, and teamwork across international borders.
We hope you will join one of our courses, seminars, or workshops, and are looking forward to discussing current management challenges and/or recent research findings with you.
Research
The professorship’s research investigates international management focusing on effects of cross-cultural differences, cultural diversity, and team international dispersion, specifically effects on entrepreneurial and innovation behaviors. A central aim is to provide a better understanding of how new ventures can manage international teamwork, innovation, and growth, e.g., considering different cultural behavioral tendencies, cultural stereotypes, and international dispersion requiring remote work and technology interaction. Applied methodologies include qualitative and quantitative approaches, e.g., explorative interviews and observations as well as experiments and surveys. Research projects are interdisciplinary, at the intersection of international management, organizational behavior, entrepreneurship, innovation, leadership, HRM, and HCI. Current projects involve:
- Cross-cultural differences and diversity in entrepreneurial and innovation behavior (e.g., culture driving idea generation vs. idea implementation; cultural diversity influencing innovation behavior; entrepreneurial emotion and cognition)
- Leadership and HRM supporting new venture growth and internationalization (e.g., culture and gender stereotypes in recruitment; organizational experimentation during growth)
- Technology supporting human entrepreneurial behavior (e.g., virtual environments supporting internationally dispersed new venture teams; leadership behaviors in humanoid robots; collaboration with artificial intelligence to support entrepreneurial work)
Teaching
The professorship’s teaching concentrates on the core courses of the international business studies programs, i.e., “International Business” in the Bachelor and “International Management“ in the Master program. The educational activities focus on:
- Action & application: Working on concrete problems, project work in (international) teams, guest lectures by practitioners
- Evidence-based decision-making: Theory-based knowledge transfer, interpretation of scientific findings, participation in and implementation of studies
- International experience: International networking opportunities, experience abroad, integration of language learning
We participate in the central assignment procedure for theses. The procedure distributes the students who want to write a thesis fairly among the professorships: Alle Informationen zum zentralen Vergabeverfahren.
Your bachelor or master thesis can be supervised at the professorship international management starting from April 2024. Topics will include:
- Supporting remote work in internationally dispersed startup teams
- Exploring culture stereotypes
- Female entrepreneurs’ international communication behavior
Students can also suggest topics themselves when they are within the professorship’s research areas (see “research”). If you would like to suggest a topic, contact Prof. Dr. Sylvia Hubner-Benz at sylvia.hubner.benz@uni-paderborn.de
The thesis supervision includes (min.) monthly meetings with your supervisor, in which you specify the topic and research question, the data collection and analysis methods, and the structure of the thesis. Those meetings can be online or in person. Usually, theses are empirical and written in English. If you would like to know more, get in touch.
„I enjoy being inspired by researchers in other fields. I love combining different perspectives for new insights. I also enjoy discussing with practitioners not only to help them learn from research but also to better understand their situations and make sure I focus on relevant research topics.”
Join the team!
The professorship is looking for student assistants. If you have an interest in the professorship’s topics and are willing to learn, you are more than welcome. You do not need any previous specific knowledge in international management or scientific methods. As a student assistant, you will be involved in research activities such as data collection and data analysis (e.g., coding video observations of international teams or coding entrepreneurial task performance), and/or in the preparation of teaching activities (e.g., researching current examples or preparing instructions for interactive sessions).
If you are interested, please get in touch with Prof. Dr. Sylvia Hubner-Benz at sylvia.hubner.benz@uni-paderborn.de. Just let me know what caught your interest and what is your current state of studies, and then, if it fits, we will schedule a meeting to get to know each other.
