Post-doc on Modeling strategic decision making (1.0 FTE)

Since its foundation in 1614, the University of Groningen has enjoyed an international reputation as a dynamic and innovative centre of higher education offering high-quality teaching and research. Belonging to the best research universities of Europe and joining forces with prestigious partner universities and networks, the University of Groningen is truly an international place of knowledge.

The Faculty of Economics and Business (FEB) at the University of Groningen offers an inspiring international academic community for students, staff, alumni, and external organizations. We are renowned for our quality, our ambition, and our identity as attested by several international accreditations and by our position in excellence ranking lists.

The Department of Innovation Management & Strategy (https://www.rug.nl/feb/organization/departments/ims/ ) brings together a multidisciplinary research group, with focus areas in:

• strategy, sustainability, and corporate governance
• innovation management and collaboration
• entrepreneurship and business dynamics
• information and communication technology enabled change.

The international staff members have published in top international journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management Studies, and Journal of Management, as well as leading disciplinary journals such as MIS Quarterly, Organization Studies, Strategic Management Journal, and Journal of International Business Studies. Our faculty is actively involved in many scholarly associations (AOM, AIS, EGOS, EURAM, SMS, ICIS) and also serves in editor and editorial board roles at leading international journals. The department offers a collaborative and friendly atmosphere and focus on excellent research of both scientific and practical relevance.

The postdoc position is part of a national research project on scaling energy-efficient technological innovation in industrial processes of drying and dewatering. The aim of this postdoc project is to better understand how firms undergo the strategic decision-making process, with a focus on the hybrid phase in which companies through the value chain shift their focus from the old to the new technology, and the tension that arises in this phase. Tensions may arise because of information asymmetry within the supply chain, transaction costs related to searching and implementing new information or hold-up problems which are related to uncertainty about ex-post commitment by other parties. The outcome of the project is the basis for a new model for identifying strategic hybrid tension and solution directions for an accelerated industrial transition to energy-efficiency. To achieve this, it will employ both qualitative and quantitative research methods, and there will be close contact with industrial consortium partners. This is a research position and as such does not include teaching obligations.

As a postdoc fellow, you will contribute to this project by conducting field research in cooperation with our partner institutions and in collaboration with experienced researchers in the Innovation Management and Strategy Department. You will contribute to publishing the research results in leading academic journals and a practice-oriented report. You are also encouraged to further develop your own research agenda, which is ideally complementary to the project and can be done in collaboration with other colleagues. Finally, you may be involved in supporting the coordination between the partner institutions, for instance in helping to organize research meetings.

We encourage you to apply if you meet (or are about to meet) the following qualifications:

• you have a PhD in Management, ideally with a focus on Innovation and/or Organizational Strategy, or in a closely related discipline (please note that you are also invited to apply if you will defend before February 2022)
• you have demonstrated competence in qualitative and quantitative research and have expertise in innovation research
• you have a promising academic record as evidenced by your CV and publications or working papers
• you have affinity with and experience in team research
• you possess good communication skills (English) enabling you to relay research results both to academic and practitioner audiences
• and ideally have experience pertinent to supporting project coordination, such as small-scale conference organization.

We offer you in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities:

• a starting salary depending on qualifications and work experience between € 2,836 and € 4,474 (salary scale 10) for a fulltime position
• in addition, the university offers an 8% holiday allowance and an 8.3% year-end bonus
• a temporary fulltime appointment for a period of two years.

Starting date: before March 2022

For information you can contact:

Prof. David J. Langley,   [email protected]

(please do not use the email addresses above for applications)