Research Focuses
Venture Capital - Early Stage Financing
For entrepreneurs, the financing of star-up ideas often presents problems. Frequently, they are limited by their own financial means and no assurances are available for securing credit from the bank. These gaps in finance are filled by venture capital companies. Furthermore, these companies offer support for the management in order to increase the worth of the company.
The department investigates success factors in supporting management and investing in new businesses through venture capital companies. Another field we research is the structuring of agreements and contracts. In comparison to other studies, more perspectives and longitudinal time periods were analyzed. Julia Wöhler investigates early-stage Venture Capital financing in her dissertation project. See here for more details about the project: strategic risk management in start-up funds
PAST RESEARCH PROJECTS
Higher Entrepreneurship Education Diagnostics (HEED)
Nachwuchsforschergruppe InnoTech4Health
Technology Acceptance and Resistance against Innovation
Why do some consumers accept new technologies with curiosity, while others react with resistance? Current debates about GMOs, E10 fuel, or Facebook show that consumers react differently and can decide the fate of a new innovation. This social-science research focus also deals with success and failure factors in the acceptance of innovations by the population.
Stakeholder Integration in New Product Development Processes
Successful new products have to fulfill the wishes and needs from a multitude of diverse stakeholders. Traditional approaches focus mainly solely on the wishes of the customers. In reality, that is only a part of the whole story. In many fields, the term “customer” refers to multiple stakeholder groups, such as those who decide which product to buy, those who pay for the product, and those who use the product. Furthermore, other stakeholder groups can play an important role in the acceptance and success of new products.
At the Chair for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, we focus on how to better incorporate all of these stakeholder groups during product development, leading to more successful products.