Chair of Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Technological Transformation

Our research is focused on the topic ‘Collaboration for Innovation.’ We conduct both quantitative and qualitative research on how companies build, manage and try to profit from collaborative strategies such as R&D alliances, coopetitive partnerships and ecosystems. The outcomes of these research activities are published in top level journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management and Research Policy. Between 2014 and 2018, Professor Faems has been the general editor of Journal of Management Studies. He is also member of the editorial board of the Academy of Management Journal and the Journal of Trust Research.

In terms of education, the Chair is involved in courses such as 'Developing Novel Business Models', 'Entrepreneurial Transformation in Corporations', and 'New Product Development'. In these courses, we provide students with advanced academic insights on how different types of organizations can effectively deal with technological transformation. In addition, the students are challenged to apply these insights in workshops and case studies. For these educational activities, we rely on innovative teaching methods such as Lego Serious Play. In the WHU MBA and Kellogg-WHU Executive MBA, Professor Faems provides modules on the topics of Digital Transformation and Ecosystem Innovation. Finally, Professor Faems is the coordinator of the Innovation & Corporate Entrepreneurship Essentials Program, offered by WHU Executive Education.

Professor Faems also acts as academic co-director of the WHU Entrepreneurship Center. The WHU Entrepreneurship Center’s mission is to educate, inspire, and support the WHU community in fostering impassioned, purposeful, ethical, and sustainable entrepreneurship - providing an intellectual, virtual, and physical hub where people connect, ideas turn into action, and resources are allocated equitably - to build a vibrant entrepreneurial future for students, alumni, and other ecosystem partners. The Chair also coordinates the WHU Innovation Ecosystem Hub. The core goal of the Innovation Ecosystem Hub is to further intensify collaboration between WHU and companies on the topic of collaboration for innovation.

Awards and accoladed

• Winner of the 2021 Best Research Methods Paper Prize at the SMS Conference with the paper ‘Developing an integrated approach for topic modelling in management research.’
• Winner of the 2021 SIG Strategic Management CENA Best Paper Award at the Euram conference with the paper ‘What drives the appointment of directors: Linking resource dependence and monitoring to human capital value in wind farm joint ventures.’
• Winner of the Runner Up Best Paper Award 2021 at the International Product Development Conference with the paper ‘Innovation theater in corporate venturing activities.’
• Ranked number 99 in the Ökonomenranking 2020 of the Wirtschaftswoche
• Member of the CIO research advisory board (2020 - …)
• Elected as a 2020-2021 Representative-at-Large for the Cooperative Strategies Interest Group of the Strategic Management Society.
• Winner of the 2019 SITE Innovation Management Award with the paper ‘Dusting Off the Knowledge Shelves: Recombinant Lag and the Technological Value of Inventions.
• Winner of the 2021 SIG Strategic Management CENA Best Paper Award at the Euram conference with the paper ‘What drives the appointment of directors: Linking resource dependence and monitoring to human capital value in wind farm joint ventures.’
• Elected as a 2020-2021 Representative-at-Large for the Cooperative Strategies Interest Group of the Strategic Management Society.
• Winner of the Runner Up Best Paper Award 2021 at the International Product Development Conference with the paper ‘Innovation theater in corporate venturing activities.’
• Ranked number 99 in the Ökonomenranking 2020 of the Wirtschaftswoche
• Winner of the 2019 SITE Innovation Management Award with the paper ‘Dusting Off the Knowledge Shelves: Recombinant Lag and the Technological Value of Inventions.’
• Member of the 22nd Editorial Review Board of the Academy of Management Journal (2019-2022)
• Finalist of the 4th Innovation & Entrepreneurship Teaching Excellence Award of the ACPI with Serious Lego Play for Structural Ambidexterity
• Member of the Scientific Council of the European Academy of Management (2018 - ...)