Research
My research addresses questions of organizational design, learning, and adaptation. In particular, my focus is on two broad questions:
- How does organizational design affect a firm’s ability to deal with complex (interdependent) decision problems?
- How does organizational design affect a firm’s ability to learn and adapt?
Publications
How Mixed Performance Feedback Shapes Exploration: The Moderating Role of Self-Enhancement (with Franziska Lauenstein and Daniel Newark). Organization Science, 36 (2025): 166–185.
Pick Up the Slack: Modelling Resource Availability and Search Processes in Organizations (with Stefano Benincasa). In: Friederike Wall, Shu-Heng Chen, and Stephan Leitner (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Agent-based Computational Management Science, Oxford University Press.
Organizing for good — using organization design to take on grand challenges (with Gerald F. Davis, Sven Kunisch, Jioa Lua and Brian Wu). Journal of Organization Design, 12 (2023): 165–176.
Managerial hierarchy in AI-driven organizations (with Brian Wu). Journal of Organization Design, 12 (2023): 1-5.
Learning to Search Collaboratively: How Dyads Overcome Complexity and Misaligned Incentives in Imperfect Modular Decompositions (with Stephan Billinger, Stefano Benincasa, Tobias Kretschmer and Terry Schumacher). Industrial and Corporate Change, 32 (2023): 208-233.
The many dimensions of research on designing flat firms (with Brian Wu). Journal of Organization Design, 11 (2022): 1-3.
Ensuring Adaptation While Seeking Efficiency: Tiered Outsourcing and Skip-Level Supplier Ties in the Airbus A350 Program (with Markus C. Becker and Isabel Horrmann). Organization Science, 31 (2020): 1176-1197.
Colleagues and Competitors: How Internal Social Comparisons Shape Organizational Search and Adaptation
(with JP Eggers and Nils Stieglitz). Administrative Science Quarterly, 64 (2019), 275-309.
Effective Search in Rugged Performance Landscapes: A Review and Outlook (with Jens Schmidt and Nils Stieglitz). Journal of Management, 45 (2019): 258-318.
Reviewing, Revisiting, and Renewing the Foundations of Organization Design (with John Joseph, Richard Burton and Kannan Srikanth). Organization Design (Advances in Strategic Management) 40 (2018), Emerald Publishing Limited, 1-23.
Rocket Internet: Organizing a Startup Factory (with Carsten Bergenholtz, Lars Frederiksen, Robert M. Grant, Rebecca Köhler, David L. Preston and Scott Shane). Journal of Organization Design 7 (2018).
Models of Complex Adaptive Systems in Strategy and Organization Research
Mind & Society, 14 (2015): 169-183.
Distributed Problem Solving in Modular Systems: The Benefit of Temporary Coordination Neglect
Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 32 (2015): 124-136.
Rewarding Value-Creating Ideas in Organizations: The Power of Low-Powered Incentives
(with Nils Stieglitz). Strategic Management Journal 35 (2014): 358-375.
Learning from a Drastic Failure: Lessons from the Airbus A380 Program
(with Isabel Dörfler). Industry and Innovation, 21 (2014): 197-214.
Dealing with Complexity: Integrated vs. Chunky Search Processes
(with Nicolaj Siggelkow). Organization Science, 24 (2013): 116-132.
Complexity in the Telecommunications Industry: When Integrating Infrastructure and Services Backfires
(with Nico Grove). Telecommunications Policy, 36 (2012): 40-50.
Evaluating the New: The Contingent Value of a Pro-Innovation Bias (with Dirk Martignoni). Schmalenbach Business Review, 63 (2011): 349-371.
Search, Failure, and the Value of Moderate Patience Schmalenbach Business Review, 62 (2010): 233-258.
Innovation in komplexen Systemen: Wann zahlt es sich aus, Fehlschläge geduldig zu tolerieren? zfo – Zeitschrift Führung und Organisation, 4 (2010): 240-244.
The Relevance of Organization Theory to the Field of Business and Information Systems Engineering
(with Arnold Picot). Business & Information Systems Engineering 1 (2009): 62-69.
Die Bedeutung der Organisationstheorie für die Entwicklung der Wirtschaftsinformatik
(with Arnold Picot). Wirtschaftsinformatik 51 (2009): 72-81.
Firm Boundary Decisions: The Market for Health-Related R&D Services with an Empirical Case Study for Germany
(with Hariolf Grupp). International Economics and Economic Policy, 5 (2008): 297-321.
Modularität in der verteilten Entwicklung komplexer Systeme: Chancen, Grenzen, Implikationen
(with Arnold Picot). Journal für Betriebswirtschaft, 57 (2007): 221-246.