FAMILY ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION
In September 2022, Anne Heider was appointed to the Junior Professorship for Family Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Faculty of Management, Economics and Society at Witten/Herdecke University.
The research area covers innovation and entrepreneurship in family businesses in a broader context. One particular aspect is the question of how succession in the company and the family owning the family business is organised. Other focal points of the research area include innovation behaviour, design thinking approaches, “family capital” and business model development in family businesses.
TEACHING EVENTS
- Innovation and Technology Management
- Agile methods of project management
- Head of WIFU Graduate Colloge
TEAM
Sandra Wiegard
OWNER RESEARCH + TEACHING AREA
Jun.-Prof. Dr. Anne K. Heider has been co-director at the Witten Institute for Family Business (WIFU) since 2020 and has been head of the research area “Family Entrepreneurship and Innovation” since September 2022. In her teaching, research and consulting activities, she focuses on innovation behaviour, design thinking approaches and digital business models in family businesses. In addition, she accompanies business families in family-strategic development processes and the development of digital competencies.
Sophia Hegmann
is writing her doctoral thesis on “Investigation and pattern recognition of strategic decisions in the crisis management of family businesses in the DACH region”.
Viktoria Luft
is a psychologist, sociologist and psychotherapist in training. In her dissertation at Witten/Herdecke University, she is researching how values are formed in business families over generations, how they influence entrepreneurial decisions and what role family relationships play in this. Her research has been funded by the EQUA Foundation since 2022. Her PhD is supervised by Prof. Anne Katarina Heider and Prof. Tarek el Sehity.
Lukas Droelle
This research project examines how medium-sized family businesses in Germany have dealt with existential crises over the last ten years. The following questions are analyzed in three studies:
What specific resources family businesses have at their disposal to cope with crises.
How these resources are used in comparison to non-family businesses and what differences exist in the crisis strategies.
Which measures are particularly successful and whether family businesses have better chances of overcoming crises.
The aim of the research is to gain practical insights in order to provide family businesses in the German SME sector with targeted support in coping with and preventing crises – to preserve their values, economic strength and jobs.
Leon Erne
Doctoral candidate in a cooperation project with WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management on the topic of sustainability. The research fellowship is supported both financially and in terms of content by the WIFU Foundation.
Jennifer Wulfes
is a researcher in the research area “Family Entrepreneurship and Innovation”. Her doctoral research focuses on the next generation and succession in family businesses.
PUBLICATIONS (SELECTION)
- Debellis, F., Pinelli, M., Hülsbeck, M., & Heider, A. K. (2023) Ownership, Governance and Internationalization of Family Firms: A replication and extension. Small Business Economics. Online first.
- Heider, A.K., Clauß, T., Hülsbeck, M., Gerken, M., Rüsen, T. (2022) Blood is thicker than water: The Role of family willingness and family ability in achieving holistic digitalization in family businesses. International Journal of Innovation Management. Online first.
- Heider, A.K., Gerken, M., van Dinther, N., & Hülsbeck, M. (2021) Business model innovation through dynamic capabilities in small and medium enterprises – Evidence from the German Mittelstand. Journal of Business Research, 130, 635-645.
- Heider, A.K., Hülsbeck, M. & von Schlenk-Barnsdorf, L. (2021) The Role of family firm specific resources in innovation: an integrative literature review and framework. Management Review Quarterly.
