Research Report

Transkript

1 University of Innsbruck School of Management Research Report Prof. Dr. Albrecht Becker, Dean Prof. Dr. Rudolf Steckel Department of Accounting, Auditing and Taxation Prof. Dr. Michael Hanke and Prof. Dr. Matthias Bank Department of Banking and Finance Prof. Dr. Ronald Maier Department of Information Systems, Production and Logistics Management Prof. Dr. Annette Ostendorf Department of Organization and Learning Prof. Dr. Hans Mühlbacher Department of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism U niversity of Innsbruck School of Management. U niversitätsstr. 15. A 6020 Innsbruck. Phone Fax E -Mail dean-management@uibk.ac.at

2 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 2 Contents Introduction History and structure of the School of Management A short history of University of Innsbruck School of Management Research units Faculty and human resources Academic positions and careers Human resources issues and policies Research and research policy Development of research Strategic issues and research policy Department of Accounting, Auditing and Taxation General information on the department History and structure of the department Human resources Financial resources Teaching Research Research activities and output Staff profiles Strengths, weaknesses, and future development Department of Banking and Finance General information on the department History and structure of the department Human resources Financial resources Teaching Research Research activities and output Staff profiles Strengths, weaknesses, and future development... 74

3 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 3 5 Department of Information Systems, Production and Logistics Management General information on the department History and structure of the department Human resources Financial resources Teaching Research Research activities and output Staff profiles Strengths, weaknesses, and future development Department of Organization and Learning General information on the department History and structure of the department Human resources Financial resources Teaching Research Research activities and output Staff profiles Strengths, weaknesses, and future development Department of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism General information on the department History and structure of the department Human resources Financial resources Teaching Research Research activities and output Staff profiles Strengths, weaknesses, and future development Conclusion

4 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 4 Appendix: Publications and academic achievements Department of Accounting, Auditing and Taxation Department of Banking and Finance Department of Information Systems, Production and Logistics Management Department of Organization and Learning Department of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism

5 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 5 Introduction The following report provides a detailed picture of the research activities and achievements of University of Innsbruck School of Management in the years 2005 to The School itself was founded in 2004 when the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences was split up into three faculties, the School of Management, the School of Political Sciences and Sociology, and the Faculty of Economics and Statistics. These severe structural changes introduced a period of considerable insecurity and consolidation. Moreover, the reporting period was a time of change in personnel when four established senior professors retired and, a fifth professor left for another university. Of the retired professors up to now only two have been replaced. Overall eight new professors joined the School during the last five years. This intensity of change in personnel is typical for a university and must not be detrimental. On the contrary, the reporting period was a period of change in generations when younger professors joined the School who early on in their academic careers have been exposed to the international research community and international publication activities. This turnover in personnel, however, has an impact on this report which should be taken into account. The research output is documented on the basis of the university's research documentation system. This system, however, has primarily been designed for the purposes of reporting for the knowledge balance sheet ("Wissensbilanz") the university is obliged to produce. It therefore only documents the research output of a researcher for the time he/she is employed at the School. Therefore, publications and other achievements of researchers prior to joining the School do not appear in the appendix of this report. As six professors only joined in the years 2007 to 2009 their personal research performance could be misrepresented. The report is structured as follows. Chapter 1 gives a short overview over the School's history, structure and resource situation, chapter 2 provides a self-evaluation of the School's performance as well as some remarks concerning the strategy of the School. In these chapters we try to explain the idiosyncrasies of the Austrian university system and specific regulations of the University of Innsbruck. This is to provide reviewers who are not so familiar with the Austrian and German-speaking university traditions, and business research tradition in particular, with some background information. Chapters 3 to 7 are the detailed self-

6 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 6 reports of the School's five departments. The report ends with a short conclusion and an appendix with the documents from the research documentation system. Several people have been of great help in preparing this report. Dr. Gudrun Kasberger and Friedrich Gaigg of the Research Documentation Unit of the University of Innsbruck prepared the appendix. Dr. Doris Mangott from the Dean's office participated in the conceptualization of this report and was responsible for the final editing. Innsbruck, Prof. Dr. Albrecht Becker, Dean

7 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 7 1 History and structure of the School of Management 1.1 A short history of University of Innsbruck School of Management The University of Innsbruck School of Management (UISM) came into existence in its current form only in This was the result of several fundamental changes in the University of Innsbruck and its institutional contexts. In 2002 a major reform of the Austrian university system was introduced when a new University Act ("Universitätsgesetz 2002") was adopted by the Austrian parliament; the Act became effective on January 1st, The core of the University Act comprises a dramatically increased autonomy of the universities. Following this change, the University of Innsbruck was reorganized. What previously had been the Faculty of Social and Economic Sciences was split into three new faculties: the School of Management, the Faculty of Economics and Statistics, and the School of Political Science and Sociology. These changes became effective on October 1st, The current structure of departments of the School was introduced on January 1st, Today, the School hosts five departments (see also exhibit 1): Department of Accounting, Auditing and Taxation; this department currently hosts professorships in the fields of auditing, international taxation and management accounting but also does research and teaching in the areas of financial accounting and national tax issues. A position of a professor of financial accounting is planned to be filled in Department of Banking and Finance; this department hosts professorships in finance with different specializations in risk issues and empirical finance as well as in the field of banking and finance. Department of Information Systems, Production and Logistics Management; this department currently hosts two professorships in information systems and one in production and logistics management. An endowed professorship of information systems for value networks is planned within the next years. Department of Organization and Learning; this department currently hosts professorships in organization and business education while research and teaching also covers the fields of HRM and management control ("Controlling"). The post as professor of management control is due to be filled 2010 while the currently vacant post of a professor of HRM shall be filled in An additional professorship in knowledge management is planned for 2012.

8 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 8 Department of Strategic Management, Marketing and Tourism; this department hosts professorships for strategic management, marketing, and tourism and services management. An endowed professorship for SME, innovation and entrepreneurship is planned for the next years. Due to the changes introduced during the reorganization of the university as a whole and the School as well as to personnel turnover due to retirements (for details see the chapters on the respective departments), specifically the years 2006 and 2007 were characterized by consolidation phases for the departments. Exhibit 1: Departments of University of Innsbruck School of Management 1.2 Research units The new University Act of 2002 complemented the increased autonomy of the Austrian universities with competitive elements when it connected a significant part of public funding to performance indicators. In the area of research this led, on the one hand, to increased efforts at strengthening the research output and, on the other hand, to policies of sharpening the research profiles of the universities. Reacting to these new conditions, the University of Innsbruck in 2004 introduced an initiative to encourage setting up formal research groups which had to be accredited by the Vice Rector for Research. These groups have to fulfill the

9 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 9 following requirements: high research output in terms of publications; high level of thirdparty funding; high degrees of internal and external, particularly international networking. These efforts resulted in the introduction of overall 35 "research areas" ("Forschungsschwerpunkte"), 4 "research platforms" and 2 "research centers". Research areas are formal research groups which are mostly within a faculty or School and are often confined to single departments; rarely are they a cooperation of researchers from different faculties or schools. Research platforms are by definition interdisciplinary and often work across the borders of faculties and schools, whereas the category research center had been reserved for research groups delivering world-class research, the "flagships of research" of University of Innsbruck. The School of Management at the end of the year 2009 hosts four research areas. In 2007 the research areas "Accounting Theory and Research", "Organization Studies" and "Strategic Leadership Branding Innovation" were introduced; in 2009 the research area "Financial Markets and Risk" followed. Members of the School are also involved in the research platform "Gender Research: Identities Discourse Transformation". Members of the Department of Information Systems, Production and Logistics Management currently form an informal research group which aims for achieving the formal status as a research area in 2011 at latest. In 2008 the policy of the Ministry of Research in Austria towards the University of Innsbruck changed. It was demanded of the university to significantly reduce the number of its designated areas of excellence in research. This led to a change in the policy of the university which became effective in 2010 but already afforded the members of the School of Management to prepare for the partial reorganization of their research areas during What previously had been "research areas" are now termed "research centers"; research platforms will continue to exist in their current form, and what had been "research centers" are now "Forschungsschwerpunkte". Exhibit 2 gives an overview over the research centers of the School of Management using the terminology introduced since January 1st, 2010.

10 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 10 Professorships & teams Auditing Management Accounting International Taxation Banking & Finance Finance Finance (Empirical Finance) Finance (Risk Management) Information Systems I Informations Systems II Production & Logistics Business Education HRM Managerial Accounting Organization Marketing Strategic Management Tourism & Services Mgmt. Research Platform Organizations & Society Research Center Accounting Theory Research Center Financial Markets & Risk Research Center Organization Studies Research Center Strategic Leadership Research Group Services Sciences Department A, A & T Department B & F Department IS, P & L Department O & L Department SM, M & T Exhibit 2: "Research centers" within the School of Management and their relation to departments In response to these changes in the university's research policy, the dean as well as the heads of the research centers of the School of Management became engaged in an initiative to set up a new research platform "Organizations and Society" in cooperation with research centers from the School of Political Science and Sociology, the Faculty of Education and the Faculty of Psychology and Sport Science. In the course of setting up the new Strategic Development Plan of the University of Innsbruck, this group successfully applied for recognition as research platform which started in the beginning of This effort consumed a considerable amount of resources and will do so further in consolidating this highly diverse group of researchers.

11 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management Faculty and human resources Faculty is the most valuable resource in research. Therefore it is appropriate to shortly elaborate on the working conditions and human resources policy of the School and the university. Four aspects shall be mentioned as they are of high importance for the conditions under which research is done in the School of Management: the role of senior professors and recruitment processes; the teaching load; the working conditions of junior researchers; and the financial resources of the School. Before elaborating on these issues, however, we will give a short overview of the types of academic positions in the School. Employment conditions and career paths vary between countries and even between Austrian universities so that it seems helpful to be clear on the situation at our School. Moreover, this information will be helpful for understanding the chapters on the departments (chapters 3 7) Academic positions and careers At the School of Management there are basically five types of academic positions: full professors, associate professors, tenured assistant professors, untenured assistant professors and research/teaching assistants. A standard academic career starts with the latter position during which the doctoral dissertation should be completed. After that an untenured position as assistant professor follows; holding this position the next step in the qualification process, the Habilitation (venia docendi) should be achieved. The Habilitation, or an equivalent qualification, is the requirement to be eligible for the position of a full professor. Usually a change of the employing university takes place between achieving Habilitation and taking up the position of a full professor, sometimes after finishing the doctoral dissertation. 1 1 There are in practice numerous variations of this standard career pattern due to changes in the legal framework or due to specific individual or institutional conditions.

12 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 12 Position Duration Description Full professor (Univ.-Prof.) tenured requirement: Habilitation or equivalent Associate professor 2 (Dozent / tenured Dozentin) requirement: Habilitation; these position result from previous University Law; persons employed by the university automatically achieved this tenured position after successfully completing Habilitation. Assistant professor (Assistenzprofessor/in) tenured requirement: PhD/doctorate; these position result from previous University Law; persons employed by the university could under certain circumstances be awarded tenure. Assistant professor (Universitätsassistent/in mit Doktorat) Research/teaching assistant (Universitätsassistent/in ohne Doktorat) 4 6 years requirement: PhD/doctorate; these positions are designed to allow junior researchers to achieve Habilitation to be eligible for full professorship; during the reporting period the standard duration of employment was 4 years; since 2010 these positions may be filled for 6 years. 4 years requirement: Diploma or Masters degree; entrance position into an academic career; persons are expected to complete their Doctorate/PhD during this period; usually employed on a 50% basis Human resources issues and policies The following issues are of high importance for the conditions under which research is done in the School of Management: the role of senior professors and recruitment processes; the teaching load; the working conditions of junior researchers; and the financial resources of the School. (1) Though formally the university as well as the School are structured in the form of a department system, i.e. all responsibility in terms of personnel is delegated to the heads of the departments by the dean, nevertheless there is a more informal segmentation within each department. Usually each full professor represents the core of a field of research and junior faculty either on the doctoral or postdoctoral level is co-opted to such a core group. On a semi-formal level this finds its correspondence in the recruitment process of full professors which is conducted by the university, not the School. Usually the contract offered by the university comprises some additional human resources, positions of junior researchers who are to be recruited for the respective fields of research of the professor. This informally introduces a kind of chair system. Therefore, the vacancy of positions of full professors usually has severe consequences for research performance in the respective areas in practice. 2 The new collective labor agreement which became effective defines a different type of associate professor which is, however, not relevant for the reporting period.

13 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 13 During the reporting period of this report, four well-established senior professors retired; only two positions have been filled again to date: Kurt Matzler replaced Hans Hinterhuber as professor of strategic management in 2007 and Nicola Stokburger-Sauer replaced Klaus Weiermeier as professor of tourism and services management in The position of professor of management control (replacing professor Ekkehard Kappler who retired in 2008) is currently in the process of filling whereas the professorship of HRM (replacing professor Stephan Laske who retired in 2009) is due to be opened for applications in 2010 and will probably be filled in Moreover the professorships for Business Education and Information Systems have been vacant from 2003 to 2006, and 2004 to 2007, respectively. Experience shows that a position of full professor is vacant for approximately two years before a successor may take up the position. This is, of course, highly problematic and detrimental not only for the continuity of research in the respective areas. Usually, teaching in the fields of retired professors has to be ensured and this often affords other members of the department to stand in at least in part and therefore spend valuable time resources which are originally designated to research. Moreover, the duration of the recruiting processes severely hinders recruiting internationally, specifically outside the German-speaking world. Often applicants are no longer available at the time a recruitment decision is finally made because the person has already found an alternative position; regularly it is almost impossible to explain the duration of the process to persons coming from countries or regions with more volatile and flexible academic labor markets. While the Dean of the School and the Rector of the University agree that the duration of the recruitment processes are partly due to regulations in the Austrian University Act, they disagree on the share the internal administrative processes of the University of Innsbruck have in this problem. Contrary to the Rector, the Dean is convinced that the internal bureaucratization of the administrative processes is at least in part responsible for the duration of recruitment. (2) Teaching puts very high demands on the School's faculty. Due to the Austrian policy of free access to universities, every person with the formal qualification to take up university studies (A-levels) may without restriction enroll almost every study program at an Austrian university. As a result, in the academic year 2008/ students enrolled in the School of Management's study programs for the first time and more than slots in all study programs were filled. As of the faculty of the School of Management comprises 16

14 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 14 full professors, 10 associate professors, 24 other faculty with PhD or doctoral degree, and 27 faculty without PhD (mostly in their first position at a university and doing their PhD or doctoral studies; this group also comprises language teachers). It is more than obvious that the faculty/student ratio is extremely unfavorable. The School therefore employs a comparatively large number of adjunct faculty. The normal teaching load for full professors in Austria is 8 hours per week per semester which comprise 15 weeks each; this equals 240 hours/year. Associate professors have a teaching load of 6 hours/week (180 hours/year), postdocs 4 hours/week (120/year) and faculty doing their PhD/doctoral studies, 2 hours/week (60 hours/year for a 50% employment). Moreover, most teaching is organized on a weekly basis, i.e., a course runs for 2 or 4 hours each week during the semesters. This situation results in a teaching burden which is clearly detrimental to the faculty's research activities and, compared to international standards, is extraordinarily high. Moreover, examinations and supervision of theses place high demands on the more senior faculty's time resources. (3) Junior researchers are working under conditions which result in a high amount of insecurity. Some improvement is probably to be expected following the execution of the new collective labor agreement on This is, however, outside the reporting period of the research report. Following the implementation of the Austrian University Act not only the formal status of the universities changed but also the labor regulations applicable to most of the faculty; they now are employed under regular private labor law. It took, however, almost five years to negotiate and implement a collective labor agreement. This resulted in high insecurity and a high diversity of labor contracts in Austrian universities. Specifically, the career paths for junior researchers have long been unclear. The University of Innsbruck decided to offer 4 year contracts to all non-professorial positions, i.e., junior researchers at the PhD- and postdoc-level. While it seems reasonable that a junior researcher may finish his or her dissertation within the 4 years of his or her contract, the situation for postdocs is very different. In Austria, junior researcher at the postdoclevel are expected to do their Habilitation which for long has been, and basically still is, the central qualification to apply for a professorial position. While traditionally a Habilitation has been in the form of a research monograph this is today more and more substituted by sub-

15 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 15 mitting a number of published journal articles to be considered. The School of Management recommends junior researchers to submit for Habilitation the equivalent to 6 publications in B-ranked journals (according to the German Academic Association for Business Research). This is a very high standard which not many scholars are able to achieve within 4 years. The School, however, decided not to compromise a high standard for the unclear employment regulations. This clearly put high pressure on junior researchers which from time to time may not have been motivating but hindering, and it produced dissatisfaction. Fortunately, in the future the School will be able to offer 6 year positions to its postdocs. Moreover, during the reporting period the School was not able to offer tenure track positions at all. While this in principle will be possible in the future, it will not be on a larger scale. Therefore the prospects of junior researchers have always been characterized by insecurity about long-term employment. The School has tried to improve the situation of junior researchers by setting up a special junior researchers support program in This program offers financial support, specifically for attending conferences, doctoral seminars and summer schools and, to a lesser extent, for field research and visiting other universities. Junior researchers can apply for funds and the Dean decides on the basis of an internal review process. In 2009 more than has been spent in this program. (4) Financial resources are crucial for supporting conference attendance, building up international research networks and doing field research. While the latter usually is covered by applying for research grants, the former has to be provided by the School. The possibilities of the School for conference grants are limited. During the reporting period the School covered up to 1.300,-- of the costs for conference visits. Its regulations, however, introduced caps for travel expenses and hotel costs and refunds only between 33,3% (professors) and 66,6% (junior faculty) of the conference fees. However, the departments mostly have been able to cover a large percentage of the costs not refunded on School level. For example, in 2008 the School reimbursed approximately (of approx which had been applied for). The difference could almost completely be covered by the department budgets. In 2009 the School was able to spend approx on conference grants which is more than 12,5 % of its overall budget. It is clear under the current budgetary situation, however, that this funding of conference visits is only possible because only part of the faculty regularly attends conferences.

16 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 16 This leads to the perverse situation that increasing the percentage of faculty regularly attending international conferences will limit the possibilities for supporting individual faculty. The School is well aware that in comparison to a lot of other universities or business schools this level of financial support is wanting and puts constraints on its faculty members' opportunities to attend international conferences.

17 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management Research and research policy 2.1 Development of research The School of Management looks back at a successful development in the area of research during the reporting period: During the reporting period the research output of the School of Management as well as the successful applications for research funds constantly increased. The School was able to establish four research centers in the university's research policy framework. Moreover, the School was one of the driving forces behind the establishment of the interdisciplinary Research Platform Organizations and Society. In the field of its human resources the School was able to attract excellent researchers on the professorial level and also highly motivated and well-qualified junior faculty. A special junior researchers program was set up to support their activities for qualification and international networking. Moreover, candidates for Habilitation are provided special coaching. The School set up five specialized and research-oriented Masters programs as well as a new PhD program. At the same time there are issues which form unfavorable conditions for research and which have not been dealt with or resolved successfully, or which are outside the scope of the School's influence. One of the main issues is the unfavorable student/teacher ratio and the resulting high burden of teaching activities. This adds to the already very high formal teaching load of the faculty. This issue is resulting from legal constraints, general lack of university funding in Austria as well as university policies in terms of allocating human resources. The result is, however, a comparative disadvantage in the international research community working often under conditions which allows them to allocate much more time and resources to research. The financial resources the School is able to allocate to supporting conference visits of its faculty are not satisfactory. Specifically compared to private business schools but also to a lot of public universities the support the School is able to offer is wanting. The international mix of the School's faculty is not sufficient. While most of the researchers are well integrated into international research networks the percentage of interna-

18 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 18 tional faculty (from non-german-speaking countries) is too low for the aspirations of the School. Reasons are manifold: no (or not enough) tenure track positions for assistant professors, duration of recruitment processes, unfavorable teaching loads, problems with the administration (e.g., no English forms or information are available). Moreover, while there are many international scholars visiting the School, they mostly come for teaching courses and probably a seminar presentation; thus these invitations lack sustainability in terms of research cooperation and joint publications. 2.2 Strategic issues and research policy In the fall of 2008 the School of Management began formulating its strategic plan as part of the overall strategic planning process of the university, the university's strategic development plan ("Entwicklungsplan "). As a preliminary result of these ongoing strategic considerations the School formulated the following mission statement and set up several working groups dealing with strategic issues. Mission Statement We are an internationally oriented School of Management, integrated into a comprehensive university. We are part of the European higher education tradition. We provide the intellectual space for excellent research, innovative teaching and future-oriented application of knowledge. The School's research centers are the basis for our study programs and for cooperating with our regional, European, and international partners. This implies: that our research is internationally recognized and contributes to the sustainable development of society, corporations and institutions; that the graduates of our study programs are critically and globally thinking as well as responsibly acting professionals and personalities; that together with our partners from organizational and company practice we are developing an international network of knowledge; that within the School we are adhering to principles of responsible and sustainable leadership and development. The strategy in the field of research aims at an excellent position of the School. We are currently ranked #17 out of 96 in the Handelsblatt research ranking of German-speaking management schools and departments. Our aim is to become at least #15 by To achieve this position the School aims at increasing research-active faculty in number and in quality. The possibility to increase the number of core faculty is very limited and not in the scope of the School's capacity; the only way to achieve this increase is to raise research funds. Unfortunately, it is not possible for a researcher to use external funding to buy him/herself out of teaching to use their own time resources for research instead of

19 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 19 teaching. Therefore, the usual way is to employ research assistants through externally funded research projects. The personnel employed, however, are usually without PhD and need a high amount of supervision and the productivity in terms of research output is limited. While the possibilities to significantly increase the number of faculty at the moment are limited, the ongoing recruiting activities of a professor of managerial accounting as well as the planned recruitments of professors according to the university's strategic development plan provide the opportunity to attract excellent researchers. This will also open up the chance to recruit internationally. Recent developments in the collective labor agreement as well as the current agreement of objectives between the School and the university may also provide the chance to improve recruitment on the post-doctoral level. First, the collective labor agreement introduces tenure track positions, though they are only available in very limited number. This will clearly improve the chances to recruit high quality postdoc researchers nationally and internationally. Second, the School is now allowed to fill postdoc positions for a period of six years instead of only four years. A period of six years is generally seen to be necessary to achieve Habilitation. This will also contribute to improve the conditions of employment for junior researchers. The School views the close connection between research centers and teaching on the Masters level as a strategic asset. This is, on the one hand, a distinguishing feature in terms of quality. It is an explicit strategy to include recent research findings into teaching thus upholding the university tradition of research-based teaching ("forschungsgeleitete Lehre") and differentiating the School of Management from its competitors, specifically the polytechnics, which are in a very strong position in Austria. On the other hand, research-based teaching proves a valuable channel of recruiting promising PhD candidates and research/ teaching assistants. The close connection between departments, research centers, and Masters programs will be a major focus of further strategic development. Specifically, cooperation with selected international partner institutions shall be strengthened. A new PhD Program started in the fall of This introduced a major change in doctoral education. Doctoral or PhD programs are also subsumed under the "free access" policy of Austrian University Law. This implies that the only requirements to enroll the program is a Diploma or Masters degree. The School is not allowed to select candidates. Therefore, signaling the influence prospective students' self-selection is utmost importance. While

20 Research report. University of Innsbruck School of Management. 20 the previous Doctoral Program only comprised very little coursework and attracted mostly students who were interested in doing a professional doctorate, the new program includes much more coursework and is explicitly designed for a high-quality scientific education. In parallel to the Masters programs, the PhD program is even more closely integrated with the research centers via specific research seminars for PhD students. We expect a threefold effect on the School's research performance from the introduction of this program. First, we expect the program to produce promising postdoc candidates for recruitment. Second, as we encourage PhD students to attend conferences and to publish, we expect an increase in research output. Third, in the long run we expect that a successful PhD program enhances the reputation of the School.