On this page, you will find more information about our distinct research areas, knowledge hubs and research projects.
Section Head: Prof. dr. Wouter Stam
Team page: Entrepreneurship
More information about the Entrepreneurship group will be available soon.
Section Head: Prof. dr. Svetlana Khapova
Team page: Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management
The purpose of the VU Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management (HRM) research group is to create knowledge that can enable organisations to understand and proactively manage the current realignments and shifts in employment practices, technology, demography, and organisational structures. Our research is organized in five core themes: careers and meaningful work, the future of work design, leadership and organisational change, talent management, and diversity management and inclusion.
Global economic changes are forcing organizations and workers alike to search for greater flexibility in employment forms and relations. These shifts in the nature of work and the workforce hold the promise to dramatically and sustainably improve the efficiency of organisations. However, to reap the benefits organisations must be able to adapt, employ, and regulate these changes in a responsible manner. At the same, workers must become proactive agents in the construction of their own careers and take responsibility to overcome any constraining forces. Creating sustainable careers is an essential lever to fuel future economic growth and pave the way for the next generation of workers. Yet, a concerning factor is the extent to which opportunities for creating stable, meaningful work have increasingly become polarized, favouring those fortunate enough to be living in certain geographies and to be holding certain in-demand skills. Our research group therefore focuses on how organisations can anticipate and proactively manage societal shifts to shape a future of work that expands economic growth and opportunities for all.
Vision and Strategy
The VU Organizational Behaviour and HRM research group is focused on producing high impact research that is internationally excellent and serves to create knowledge that enables organisations, teams, and individuals to understand and proactively lead the current developments in employment relations, careers and meaningful work, work design, leadership, talent management, and diversity.
We share a business-relevant research strategy that crosses disciplinary boundaries and utilises innovative methodologies (including survey research, experimental field studies, and qualitative research approaches). Our combined skills and interests allow us to unpack the complex patterns of influence present in society and organisations. We offer organisational practitioners theoretical and practical insights into how they can shape a sustainable future of work. We are always looking for organisational partners who are interested in starting joint research projects. To find out about opportunities for collaborations, please contact Prof. dr. Maria Tims (m.tims@vu.nl)
Academic Services
In 2019/2020, our research group (co)organised several conferences and small group meetings, including the EAWOP “Future of Work and Organizational Psychology Day” in Turin, the “Careers in Context” conference in Vienna, the Dutch-Flemish network meeting on selection research, and the EAWOP small group meeting on "Antecedents of Work Design". In addition, two members of the group have representative roles (e.g., as executive board member) in the Careers Division of the Academy of Management. Furthermore, several members of the research group serve as an associate editor for international journals, including the Journal of Vocational Behavior and the International Journal of Selection and Assessment.
Research themes
In the VU Centre for Organizational Behaviour and HRM group, we address research on organisational behaviour from the following five key perspectives:
Education
Our team consists of dedicated, award-winning teachers and researchers, who use their research to deliver excellent teaching in the following programmes:
Section Head: Prof. dr. ir. Elco van Burg
Team page: Organization Theory
The Organization Theory group broadly addresses the processes in which individuals, and groups, and corporate structures interact and how these processes influence and are influenced by their contexts.
In particular, we focus on organizational transformation from multiple perspectives and using a multi-disciplinary approach. First, we study idealtypes of organizational transformation: ideas (e.g., agile, sustainability, new organizational forms) that have the potential to transform organizations. Second, we research transformers of organizations: actors inside and outside organizations that hold the ability to transform both ideas and organizations (e.g., consultants, gurus, managers, professional service firms). Third, we explore conditions for (e.g., communication, identity construction, emotions) and effects of organizational transformation, including 'unintended' implications (e.g., exclusion, paradoxes of organizing).
Section Head: Prof. dr. Brian Tjemkes
Team page: Strategic Management
Research in the Strategic Management group is diverse but united by a common desire to understand and explain organizational phenomena in the context of global competition. Our research ethos reflects an appreciation for multiple form of inquiry and we bring together expertise in quantitative and qualitative methodologies, ranging from on-site field-work and in-depth participant observation to experimental studies in laboratory settings. We study organizations and their strategies applying a multifaceted toolkit of theories, such as contingency theory, the resource-based view, institutional theory, and identity theory.
We are interested in organizational phenomena such as inter-organizational partnerships, joint venture and strategic alliances in international and culturally diverse business contexts, different forms of innovation, as well as corporate social responsibility and sustainability. Members of our group have further published on topics such as new product development, post-merger integration, competition in times of technological disruption, organizational scandals and dispute resolution
Our research directly informs our teaching. We are involved specifically in the MSc Business Administration programmes Strategy & Organization and International Management, the BSc programme in International Business Administration, as well as in the Research Master Business in Society.
Directors: Prof. dr. Svetlana Khapova
Hub homepage: VU Knowledge Hub for Corporate Governance and Boards Development
The VU Knowledge Hub for Corporate Governance and Boards Development aims to contribute to a deeper understanding of factors influencing the decision-making of boards, including board members and CEO characteristics, behavioural patterns, governance structures and regulatory requirements. With a mission to create knowledge that can help top management teams to develop and to better lead contemporary organisations, we aim to explore the interplay of multiple factors that shape the performance of boards and top executives within the boards through a deeper understanding of leadership effectiveness, socio-cognitive and communicative behaviours and leadership teams in general.
Director: Dr. Sylvia van de Bunt
Center homepage: SERVUS
Is a leadership principle embedded in a way of life, which has been recognized and expounded upon in all parts of the world from ancient times on, and across all cultures. At its simplest, Servant-Leadership is driven by the motivation of enabling others to work more effectively and be successful.
The Servant-Leadership Centre for Research and Education originated from an active group of researchers and practitioners at amongst others the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Greenleaf Centre Europe, THTConsulting, VUMedical Centre and VU School of Business and Economics (former FEWEB). During the last two decades fundamental research on dilemma reconciliation in organizations demonstrated the key role of servant-leaders.
Directors: Dr. Sabrine El Baroudi, Dr. Sergey Gorbatov
Knowledge Hub homepage: VU Knowledge Hub for Feedback Culture
Why should organizations cultivate a feedback culture? The science is clear: feedback is effective in developing individuals’ skills, team competencies and organizational capabilities. It also motivates and engages individuals and thus drives overall organizational performance. Paradoxically, as an effective tool for increasing organizational performance, feedback is a challenging and scarce commodity. Contemporary organizations have diverse workforces in which differences in personal traits and characteristics such as age, gender, race, religion, or ethnic origin influence how employees accept feedback and incorporate it in their daily work activities.
Societal movements emphasizing diversity issues such as the #MeToo, #EqualPay, #ILookLikeAnEngineer, #IStandWithAhmed, #TakeAKnee and #OscarsSoWhite have made diversity a sensitive topic in organizations making it even more complicated for managers to give constructive feedback. Therefore, not surprisingly, often feedback given by managers falls short of expectations. To address these issues, a new feedback approach is called for. Organizations should be now more concerned with cultivating a strong feedback culture, in which shared norms and values guide how individuals accept and incorporate feedback in their daily work activities. Ultimately, a strong feedback culture improves the performance of individuals, teams and organizations.
The VU Knowledge Hub for Feedback Culture is a hub of expertise that aims to be a platform for research to examine how feedback culture can be cultivated in organizations in different fields and across different countries. As a research platform, the Knowledge Hub offers opportunities for research and executive education collaborations between scholars and practitioners who are interested in the topic. Specifically, the Knowledge Hub aims to bring researchers and practitioners together by organizing sessions where practices and insights can be shared to further enhance our understanding of this topic. The VU Knowledge Hub for Feedback is led by experienced researchers and practitioners in the field.
Director: Dr. Oli Mihalache
Knowledge Hub homepage: VU Knowledge Hub for Global Business Development
The VU Knowledge Hub for Global Business Development acts as a platform for researchers, students and professionals striving to master the intricacies of international business. With an expansive research agenda encompassing digital innovation and cross-cultural leadership, we offer tailored educational experiences to equip students and professionals for the global economy. Our collaborative environment and focus on practical application of knowledge empower you to become a visionary in the realm of global business.
Directors: Prof. dr. Brian Tjemkes, Prof. dr. Ard-Pieter de Man
Knowledge hub homepage: VU Knowledge Hub for Ecosystems
Organizing for Agility, Disruption, and Resilience
Traditional (linear) strategic thinking and execution has become ineffective. Organizations must move away from repetitive-function hierarchies with rules, enforcement and silo-thinking. Instead, companies need to formulate and effectuate strategies that allow them the flexibility to deal with unexpected and unpredictable changes in their environments. This requires decision-makers to rethink, reconsider, and redevelop their organizational boundaries and strategic practices. In today’s VUCA environment, success lies in organizations’ ability to develop and execute ecosystem practices, allowing them to navigate the unknown. Ecosystem thinking enables strategists to build agile organizations that are ready to not only benefit in the present, but also be prepared for an unexpected future or, more ambitiously, to create the very future that makes current capabilities obsolete. Even best-in-class organizations need to continuously explore, experiment, and develop new collaborative resources that make their own best-in-class capabilities antiquated.
Ecosystem are different from – and encompass often – other collaborative organizational arrangements, as they are (1) organized around a core product/service/technology supported by a wide-range of complementary product/services/technologies, (2) accelerate growth and innovation, and (3) continuously co-evolve through learning and adaptation. An ecosystem thus represents a constellation of organizations that continuously realign capabilities, resources, roles, and investments to create and distribute value. Ecosystem members come together to create and deliver a shared value proposition in a partially intentional, highly self-organizing, manner, such that members provide contributions that fill out and complement those of the others. Against this background the VU Knowledge Hub for Ecosystems generates and disseminates actionable knowledge in pursuit of answering the following questions.
The nature and forms of Ecosystems
The Governance of Ecosystems
Ecosystem Dynamics
Organizations as Ecosystems
The VU Knowledge Hub for Ecosystems is a hub of expertise, which aims to be platform for research, education, and valorization. Propagating cross-disciplinary and multi-level research into the emergence, governance, and transformation of ecosystem organizing the center organizes research colloquia (e.g. mini-conferences) to advance a research community on ecosystems. Furthermore, focusing on the diffusion of knowledge across practitioners the hub organizes roundtable sessions where academic and practitioner engage in meaningful conversations. Furthermore, the hub will disseminate the results of its an annual ecosystem survey assessing state-of-the-art ecosystem practices.
For information, please contact Brian Tjemkes (b.v.tjemkes@vu.nl).
Director: Dr. Maarten de Groot
Center homepage: VU Center for Enterprise Family Research
Enterprise families share ownership of multiple assets and multiple entities across multiple generations. Enterprise families face specific challenges in sharing ownership in business, investments, property, philanthropic endeavors and often a family office. Some of the main concerns that enterprise families have are: Do we have a good family member successor lined up? Who is going to lead? How do we involve the passive family owner group? Should we split up our wealth? How do we untangle financial and non-financial family considerations? Do we aim for short-term profit or long-term impact? Answering these questions cannot be delegated to advisors outside the family because including family members in the decision making process enhances trust and meaning, and thus commitment to collective family action.
In effect, enterprise families have a major impact on our society: They contribute significantly to global economic growth, employment, philanthropic capital, start-up finance, technological innovation, and even to the performance of capital markets. However, according to research by Williams and Preisser (2003), there is a 70% failure rate among enterprise families in continuing the enterprise beyond the next generation, regardless of country, tax laws, or economic cycle. Two main reasons for this are that, in many cases, family dynamics negate sound decision making together and crumble internal relationships. Notwithstanding, some multigenerational enterprise families, like the Rockefeller family now in its seventh generation, show that successful family governance and strong social capital are achievable across several generations.
The public debate on wealth generation and the economic importance of enterprise families is deeply polarized. Therefore, it seems counterintuitive that in the field of family business research, where the family is the crucial variable theoretically distinguishing family businesses from other firms, the academic literature has so far paid less attention to the family itself as a unit of analysis and has focused overwhelmingly on the business system.
The VU Center for Enterprise Family Research (CEFR) studies enterprises at the family level and aims to be a platform of expertise on how to best prepare the rising generation (siblings or cousins who inherit family assets) to be responsible enterprise owners and figure out for themselves which role they want to play in the oversight and management of the enterprise family. As a research platform, the Center offers opportunities for research and executive collaboration between scholars and practitioners.
We explore the root causes on why many enterprise families fail to be prosperous for multiple generations and provide advice and insights in what it takes to ensure continuation of family enterprises. CEFR will develop the curriculum to support emergent and established enterprise family leaders and their rising generation family members to master the skills to maneuver the challenges of transgenerational enterprise families. We bring stimulating learning, pragmatic skills development, open and accessible faculty and excellent networking opportunities to the hospitable VU Amsterdam campus.
The CEFR research and executive learning program are designed to benefit siblings, cousins and advisors of enterprise families that lead and/or manage the family business, the family office, the family foundation or the family investments. The CEFR program participants will gain confidence, knowledge and expertise; explore different approaches to common enterprise challenges and learn how to choose the solution that best fits the enterprise family; and develop skills that prepare for future roles in the family enterprise and understand the roles and responsibilities of owners, the council, the board and the family office.
The VU Center for Enterprise Family Research is led by experienced researchers and practitioners in the field. Scientific director dr. Maarten B.T. de Groot and associate director dr. Lotte Glaser both have considerable experience working with enterprise families and family offices, as well as with qualitative and quantitative analysis.
For information, please contact Maarten de Groot (m.b.t.de.groot@vu.nl).
Director: Dr. Christopher Wickert
Knowledge hub homepage: VU Business & Society Knowledge Hub
AIMS AND SCOPE
The VU Business & Society Knowledge Hub aspires to advance research on the role of business in society, driven by the broader question of how businesses are managed, led and organized in order to ensure social and ecological sustainability and contribute to the greater good.
In light of pressing societal grand challenges that require business firms large and small to develop responses that contribute to solving the world´s most pressing challenges such as climate change, inequality, and access to healthcare and education, the VU Business & Society Knowledge Hub intends to be recognized globally as a leading knowledge hub for research that makes a notable impact to our understanding of the role of business in society.
OUR VISION AND MISSION
The VU Business & Society Knowledge Hub is devoted to interdisciplinary, collaborative and impactful research and be recognized as a global thought leader in research on sustainable business practices in and around organizations, markets and society at large.
Our mission is to provide both the scholarly community as well as business organizations and leaders research-based knowledge to make meaningful contributions to a sustainable society, and mobilize our expertise and research to help us get there. We are committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for action and for the promotion of sustainable business models and responsible management. We also aspire to play a leading role in support of the mission of the VU’s School of Business & Economics to do Science with Purpose.
Coordinator: Dr. Kathleen Stephenson
Knowledge Hub homepage: VU Knowledge Hub for Diversity and Inclusion in Organisations
What can organisations do to ensure that all employees feel like they belong and are valued? What interventions can firms employ to address disparity, and enhance diversity and inclusion? How can organisational initiatives inspire efforts for a more inclusive society? The VU Knowledge Hub for Diversity and Inclusion in Organisations brings together academics, practitioners, policy makers and other stakeholders to engage in research and find solutions to complex gender and diversity challenges facing organisations. Besides taking a stand, and doing what is right, research continues to show that inclusive organisations outperform organisations in which this topic is taken for granted. The VU Knowledge Hub for DIO is committed to continually identifying, confronting, and addressing key challenges organisations face when trying to create a space that is inclusive for all.
The purpose of the VU Knowledge Hub for Diversity and Inclusion in Organisations is to advance scholarly, organisational and societal understandings of the diverse and inclusive organisations and to offer evidence-based solutions.
To achieve this purpose, the center operates at a nexus of diversity and inclusion in organisations research and practice. It does this by connecting researchers who study various facets related to the topic through organizing PhD colloquia and conferences, supporting organisational leaders in developing rigorous research to complement their inquiry-based diversity and inclusion polices implementation, and sharing scientifically grounded research insights in both academic and business arenas. With this focus, we contribute to realizing the VU’s School of Business & Economics mission to do Science with Purpose.
For more information, please contact Dr. Kathleen Stephenson (k.a.stephenson@vu.nl)
Labour forces have become increasingly diverse. Therefore, we need a future in which a range of options open up for the many, not just for the few. Our main research activities deal with age, gender, and ethnic diversity in job transitions. Specifically, we focus on the impact of implicit biases and normative beliefs on career systems, patterns, and outcomes. Our research also explores gendered distribution of social and psychological resources at work. Our research projects help build the evidence base and provide managerial implications in terms of HR practices for dealing with problems related to diversity and inclusion.
Recent key publications:
Director: Prof.dr.ir. Victor A. Gilsing
Knowledge Hub homepage: VU Knowledge Hub for Strategizing & Organizing Innovation
The VU Knowledge Hub for Strategizing & Organizing Innovation is dedicated to groundbreaking research and advice on how companies and other organizations can structurally boost their innovation performance and become world-class innovators.
Our mission is to provide businesses, their leaders, and the academic community with key insights how to make innovation into a structural success, instead of aiming for incidental hits.
Our approach is unique.
We start from the core belief that every company or organization can become a world-class innovator, and are guided by the key question what has prevented it from becoming one until now?
We offer a deep understanding and empirically-validated practical insights into how companies and organizations can overcome the traps and hurdles that stand in their way of becoming world-class innovators.
Director: Dr. Onno Bouwmeester
Knowledge Hub homepage: VU Knowledge Hub for Consulting and Professional Service Firms
The VU Knowledge Hub for Consulting and Professional Service Firms is known for its engagement in management consulting research and practice. Many of the Hub’s members have worked as consultants before turning to academia, and some still do. We hold theoretical backgrounds in organisation theory, strategy, economics, business ethics, organizational behaviour, organizational development and change. We are thus characterized by a multidisciplinary focus and a strong orientation towards combining theoretical and practice based knowledge. Methods that we most draw upon include interview studies, case studies, action research and discourse analysis but we also conduct quantitative studies. Our research approach aims to be developmental, critical and thought provoking, for instance by challenging general theories when applied in the context of consulting, or in related professional contexts.
Directors: Dr. Jonathan Schad, Prof. dr. Brian Tjemkes
Knowledge Hub homepage: VU Knowledge Hub for Navigating (Strategic) Paradoxes
The aim of the hub is to serve as a platform for paradox thinking. This entails three core activities:
Kwetsbaar in Amsterdam is een 2-jarig onderzoeksproject naar de gevolgen van de corona-pandemie voor kwestbare groepen, gefinancierd door ZonMw. In dit onderzoek staat de organisatie van de hulpverlening aan kwestbare groepen centraal. Prof.dr.ir. Elco van Burg, dr. David Kroon, dr. Rebecca Ruehle en Sanaz Kateb MSc voeren vanuit de Management & Organization groep dit urgente project uit, samen met een aantal partners in Amsterdam.
De meest kwetsbare mensen worden door de Covid-19 crisis het hardst geraakt. Eerst direct door het virus, want een onevenredig groot deel van de coronapatiënten bestaat uit mensen uit achtergestelde groepen, zoals migranten. Vervolgens door de maatregelen tijdens de lockdown, toen het wegvallen van mantelzorg en andere vormen van fysieke ondersteuning grote gevolgen had. Zeker voor groepen die verminderd zelfredzaam zijn, zoals zorgmijders, mensen met een verstandelijke beperking, psychiatrische stoornis of een verslaving. Het economische vervolg van deze crisis raakt deze groepen nogmaals.
Veel organisaties hebben op grote schaal hulp verleend aan kwetsbare mensen tijdens de crisis. In deze hulp aan kwetsbaren zijn keuzes gemaakt op basis van de gegeven richtlijnen. Zoals: wie krijgt hulp? Hoe kunnen we afstand houden? Welke online mogelijkheden hebben we? Vaak ging dit goed, soms bestaat het gevoel dat het beter zou kunnen. Nu moeten gemeente, GGD en zorg- en welzijnsorganisaties beslissingen nemen over het vervolg: wat betekent de coronacrisis op middellange termijn voor de kwetsbare groepen, voor de organisatie van hulp en voor de hulporganisaties zelf? Gezien een mogelijke tweede COVID-19-golf is het van groot belang om de organisatie van de hulpverlening aan kwetsbare groepen tijdig te onderzoeken en daar lessen uit te trekken.
Het project Kwetsbaar in Amsterdam heeft als doel om inzicht te krijgen in de gevolgen van de coronacrisis voor verschillende kwetsbare groepen in de regio Amsterdam en te onderzoeken hoe hulp verleend is en hoe hulpverlening op midden- en lange termijn georganiseerd kan worden. Onderzoekers, hulpverleners en ervaringsdeskundigen maken samen een inventarisatie van de kennis en ervaringen die opgedaan zijn en ontwikkelen hulpoplossingen, rekening houdend met het spanningsveld tussen gezondheidszorg, economie en sociale effecten. Dit project besteedt expliciet aandacht aan de ethische dilemma’s bij hulp aan kwetsbare groepen.
De doelen van het project zijn:
Het project Kwetsbaar in Amsterdam wordt gefinancierd door ZonMw en NWO. In het projectteam zijn vanuit de School of Business and Economics van de VU prof.dr.ir. Elco van Burg, dr. David Kroon, dr. Rebecca Ruehle en Sanaz Kateb MSc betrokken. De andere projectpartners zijn GGD Amsterdam, het Leger de Heils in Amsterdam, HVO-Querido en De Regenboog Groep. Ook wordt samengewerkt met Meetellen in Amsterdam.
Heeft u een vraag over dit project? Neem dan contact met ons op.
Tussentijdse rapportage januari 2021: Hulpverleners worstelen met morele dilemma’s coronacrisis
Tweede tussentijdse rapportage: E-health en veerkracht medewerkers
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