Research areas

The digitalization of processes, communication, information flows and data in general is a strong driver of social change in our time and affects almost all areas of life. In this context, companies and public institutions are therefore faced with the challenging task of exploiting opportunities on the one hand and overcoming barriers to change on the other. In order to successfully implement the digital transformation responsibly, an open-minded and resilient management culture is required that enables the right measures to be taken in the right places.

We deal with digital transformation from a socio-technical perspective - we research drivers, barriers, success factors and effects of digital transformation in industrial companies and public institutions. The aim of our research is to develop practicable management solutions and methods to accompany the digital transformation process.

In the field of digital higher education teaching, we deal with the goals, benefits and risks of electronically supported teaching and learning. We develop learning environments for problem-based learning, including the tools required for this. We use these learning environments in teaching in Osnabrück, but also across locations, typically in blended learning scenarios. We are currently working more intensively on the question of what educational networks can do for academic education and are investigating this primarily from an organizational perspective.

Project management

Project management has become increasingly important in the past, both in science and in practice. Many industries are now dependent on projects. These must be structured, monitored and implemented. In this area of research, the chair deals with the use of methods and tools and the associated software support that enable projects and plans to be planned, implemented, measured and evaluated. The fundamentals of project management are taken into account as well as current developments in project management and its areas of responsibility.

The research focus on project management deals with aspects of the planning and implementation of project management in companies as well as the support of these management tasks through information systems. Its approach is geared towards the specific information needs and requirements of management and the project team. A further focus is on technically feasible implementation with the aid of existing technologies. This takes account of the observation that many systems observed today and the corresponding conceptualization are based on what is technically feasible rather than what is necessary. An important concern of the research focus is the support of strategic planning and control processes in the area of organizational change through integrated information systems. Classic application systems in this area are balanced scorecard or multi-project management systems.

Business process management

The research area of business process management focuses on theories, methods and tools that support the strategy, design, implementation and controlling phases throughout the organization. Particular attention is paid to related methods such as knowledge management, quality management and the software-supported approaches of business process management.

The dynamization of the markets has led to an individualization of the way companies satisfy their needs. This has significant consequences for work processes in organizations. Until the 1980s, the focus was on the organizational structure, but now the focus of improvement is on the process organization. In the course of the professional skills development of business process management, it has become clear that an isolated view of processes is not enough. Business process management only gains its strength through the inclusion of other approaches (quality management, knowledge management, project management, etc.). Our research therefore takes a close look at the current implementation of GPM, uncovers weaknesses and, through interaction with other management methods, provides indications of possible improvements.