IST Institute

Focus of work and research

Companies must constantly renew their business model and strategy in the face of a changing environment. Corporate ventures have potential for innovation and new business development, but they often fail and the path from partial success to major success is unclear. Jérôme Gard's dissertation investigated how effective management can increase the success of corporate ventures. He developed an empirical model, which was tested in the German IT consulting industry and shows important management principles for systematically increasing the success of corporate ventures.

Career

Nicolai Heinzelmann completed his bachelor and master studies (B.Eng./M.Eng.) in Industrial Engineering at the University of Konstanz. During a semester abroad at the University of New South Wales, Sydney (Australia) he deepened his knowledge in the fields of Innovation & Entrepreneurship as well as Strategic Management. Nicolai has been involved in research projects at the IST Institute since 2014. In the beginning, he supported the investigation of indicators that suggest the survivability of young tech start-ups. Later he focused his research on Corporate Entrepreneurship and Corporate Venturing. He is supported by the HAW doctoral fellowship.

Working and Research Focuses

In the area of Corporate Entrepreneurship and Corporate Venturing, Nicolai examines in particular which types of Corporate Venturing units are suitable for achieving specific strategic objectives and which framework conditions must be in place for successful implementation. Building on this, Nicolai examines which interactions arise from a combination of different Corporate Venturing units and how these influence the achievement of objectives.

Career

Marc König studied Business Administration/Marketing (B.Sc.) in Pforzheim and deepened his knowledge in the Master's Program Service Marketing (M.A.), which he completed with distinction. Since 2013 he has been involved in research activities in Constance as part of a cooperation between bwcon and the IST Institute. In addition to his part-time doctorate, Marc König works as head of coaching and finance at bwcon, where he is responsible for incubation and acceleration processes.

Working and Research Focuses

As part of his dissertation project, Marc König is researching success indicators for technology-based start-ups. A business plan analysis based on transaction relationships will be carried out. This includes an algorithm for automatic text recognition.

Career

Christoph Selig completed his bachelor's and master's degrees in industrial engineering with a focus on electrical engineering and information technology at the University of Applied Sciences in Konstanz. During his studies, he gained international experience with a focus on innovation and entrepreneurship at DTU Copenhagen in Denmark and PUC Paraná in Brazil. After completing his studies, he worked as a research assistant at the IST Institute for Strategic Innovation and Technology Management. Today, he is Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of the start-up Unisphere. 

Working and Research Focuses

As start-up representative at the University of Applied Sciences Konstanz, he led the Kilometer1 cooperation project, which was launched in collaboration with the University of Konstanz. The aim of Kilometer1 is to strengthen the start-up culture and support students interested in founding a company. 

He was responsible for the research strand Corporate Entrepreneurship and Corporate Startups as a strategic tool for increasing the innovative strength of established companies. His focus was on the corporate entrepreneur, who, in his hybrid role, is a critical success factor for entrepreneurial teams.

Career

Christina Ungerer completed her International Business (B.Sc.) studies at Pforzheim University with a bachelor thesis in a start-up company. During the subsequent two years of work experience in a management consultancy, she continued to work part-time in the start-up sector. She also studied International Management (M.Sc.) at Northeastern University, Boston (USA) and at ESB Reutlingen, where she dealt with the topic of innovation and researched the acceptance behaviour of potential customers of a new technological product. After another year in the automotive industry and strategy development, she joined the IST Institute in July 2015 as a research fellow. Christina Ungerer is doing her doctorate in cooperation with the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster.

Working and Research Focuses

In the context of her dissertation project Christina Ungerer researches success indicators of technology-based start-ups. A business plan analysis on the basis of transaction relationships will be carried out. This includes an algorithm for automatic text recognition.