Chair of Organization, Leadership, and Human Resource Management

The Chair of Business Administration/Organization, Leadership, and HRM mainly deals with organization and organizations. This core subject is investigated and taught from different perspectives. When researching organization and organizations, we value plurality in three respects: theories, methods, and levels of analysis. We are theoretically plural; that is, we are open to different theories and the tensions arising between theories. We are methodically plural; that is, we conduct conceptual and empirical research projects, employing qualitative and quantitative research designs. We also engage in research at different levels of analysis; that is, we mainly conduct research at the level of organizations, but we also do so at the level of societies, industries, and individuals. Yet, the focus is always on organization and organizations.

Particularly, we work with the following theories:

• New institutionalism
• Organizational ecology
• Behavioral theory of the firm
• Top management team-theories
• And many others

We live this pluralism in teaching, too. We work with different theories, methods, and levels in our teaching. There is no definite theory or method that we focus in teaching; rather, theory and method are adapted to the question at hand. We teach in a way that is grounded in classical and current research in management and organization studies. Our goal is to ensure that students learn to use arguments from different theories, learn how to criticize these arguments, and how to generate new ideas. The core of our teaching endeavors is that provide students with the tools and ability to argue reasonably. This reasonable argumentation is the fundament of our work both in research and in teaching. And in this sense our work is practically relevant: For, practicing to deal with arguments and research results is a good exercise in clear thinking as it is required later in practice.