This course will delve deeper into questions of digitalisation within big and small enterprises from the perspectives of information systems, knowledge management, and digital ecosystems. In concrete projects and driven by concrete research questions within enterprises, we will touch on one or several of the following umbrella topics (which might be subject to extensions):

• Digital Transformation of small and medium-sized enterprises: Digitalization provides unprecedented opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Although structurally flexible, many SMEs lack the  organizational resources (e.g., capital, knowledge) necessary to leverage digital technology compared to large enterprises. Therefore, SMEs must not only build digital dynamic capabilities and establish corresponding business models and strategies, but also nurture a supportive corporate philosophy and organizational culture, which are prerequisites for a profound digital transformation of the company.
• Digital Transformation, sustainability and public procurement: Every year, around 2 trillion € is spent by over 250,000 public sector organisations in the European Union (EU) on supplies, services and works. This equates to approximately 14% of the Union’s gross domestic product (GDP). With this, public procurement constitutes a substantial policy lever. For example, from an economic perspective, public procurement can play an important role in attempts to dampen the effects of recessions. Also, procurement policies and laws can be designed in a way to facilitate participation of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), which constitute the vast majority of businesses globally. In addition, public procurement can be used for stimulating innovation, for example by creating new markets for start-ups or for improving labour standards of employees. Moreover, public buyers contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set out by the United Nations (UN). Importantly, according to the European Commission, public procurement can lead to substantial savings of taxpayer’s money, and it is estimated that every percent of efficiency gain manifests in 20 billion € annual savings. Public buyers have to deal with multiple challenges that arise from demands with respect to legal, economic, compliance, risk, digital transformation and sustainability (environment, maintenance of social standards, good governance) aspects, to name a few. The latter two challenges have recently gained a lot of interest and have been coined as the “twin transition”. The Research and Industry Lab will focus on various sub-questions of how public buyers are affected by the challenges brought about by the “twin transformation”.
• [Lab 3]

Upon completion of the course, students are able to

• Choose an appropriate set of research methods to tackle an applied research question in interaction with a “real customer”.
• Develop technical prototypes or socio-technical processes to address real-world problems faced by small, medium-sized or large enterprises in the digital economy.
• Evaluate different proposed prototypes against the background of the specific situation in the enterprise.
• Plan a research project to answer a developed research question.
• Perform a structured literature search on a given topic.
• Design an experiment, prototype, or empirical study for a specific research question.
• Identify and deploy appropriate analysis and evaluation methods and interpret their results.
• Write a research report according to current academic standards from the relevant disciplines describing the research project and its outcomes, including a perspective of how the research results could be implemented in the enterprise.
• Translate the specific project results into generalizable suggestions for other companies facing similar problems (e.g., design patterns)

Attendance is mandatory.

In this course, students bridge the ‘theory-practice gap’ by conducting an interdisciplinary practice-triggered and research-based project. Students go through  all phases of the project from developing the research question, conducting a literature research, generating hypotheses, implementing experimental or  empirical studies, analyzing experimental data or empirical data, to interpreting the results and critically interpreting them. In addition to methodological and  technical knowledge, students gain practical experience in planning and implementing a research project in collaboration with practitioners. Students work  together in groups and are regularly coached by the course instructors.

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