Chair of Strategic Management and Innovation

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Gersdorf, Thomas

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Thomas Gersdorf
ETH Zurich, Chair for Strategic Management and Innovation
WEV H 308
Weinbergstr. 56/58
8092 Zuerich, Switzerland 

 

Phone: +41 44 632 98 50
E-Mail:

Short Biography

Thomas (external pageLinkedIn profile) was a research associate and doctoral student (PhD candidate) at the Chair of Strategic Management and Innovation. He studied Physics and Interdisciplinary Sciences at ETH Zurich and graduated with a MSc degree in Physics in March 2013. During his studies he gained over 1 year of full-time research experience at the Department of Physics and the Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences. As a visiting graduate student he then worked 1 year at the external pageMIT-Harvard Center for Ultracold Atoms (Cambridge MA, USA) building external pagea new quantum gas microscope apparatus (multi-million dollar research project, 4 researchers) for examining external pagefundamental properties of matter at extreme conditions.

He gathered experience in both industrial and academic institutions, including external pageSensirion AG (CH), S&P data GmBH (DE), German Armed Forces (DE), the external pageGSI Center for Heavy Ion Reseearch and the external pageMax-Planck-Institute for Polymer Research (DE). After working for Sensirion AG as a Product Management Trainee, Thomas joined the SMI group in November 2013.

His research interests focus on the management of innovation in organizations and alliances as well as the resulting implications for the strategic management of firms. A key goal of his dissertation is to understand how firms can continuously innovate through knowledge generation that spans the firm boundary. His research projects aim to answer how knowledge is created in cross-boundary research partnerships (e.g., when a pharmaceutical company collaborates with a public research institution) and on the role of project management and leadership in knowledge creation. 

Professional Interests

Focus topics

Management of innovation, organizational knowledge creation, impact of leadership on innovation, cross-organizational collaboration, coordination of knowledge-intensive work 

Focus industries

Pharmaceutical industry, biotechnolgoy, drug discovery, manufacturing industry, ICT

Theoretical perspectives

Organizational innovation, collaborative innovation, open innovation, knowledge-based view of the firm, traditional and pluralistic leadership theory

Publications

Conferences presentation (peer-reviewed)

  • Gersdorf, T., He, F. & von Krogh, G. (2017).  Many Conductors, One Symphony? Leading Knowledge Creation in Multidisciplinary Teams. Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Atlanta, USA.
  • He, F., Gersdorf, T. & von Krogh, G. (2017). Are you being understood? Coordinating knowledge work in
    interorganizational collaboration. DRUID Conference 2017 in New York, USA.
  • Gersdorf, T., He, F. & von Krogh, G. (2017). Many conductors, one symphony? Leading scientific knowledge
    creation in multidisciplinary teams”. DRUID Conference 2017 in New York, USA.
  • Gersdorf, T., He, F., & von Krogh, G. (2017). Leading Knowledge Creation Across the Firm Boundary. Organization Science Winter Conference in Park City, USA. 
  • He, F., Gersdorf, T. & von Krogh, G. (2016). Many conductors, one symphony: The emergence of shared leadership structure in collaborative knowledge creation. Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Anaheim, USA. 
  • Gersdorf, C., He, F. & von Krogh, G. (2016). Knowledge creation across multiple boundaries. Open and User Innovation Conference, Harvard Business School, Boston, USA
  • He. F., Gersdorf, C. T. & von Krogh, G. (2015). “What glues it all together?” The role of leadership and goal orientation in multi-boundary teams. European Groups for Organizational Studies Colloquium, Athens, Greece.
  • Gersdorf, C. & He, F. (2015). Towards a Model of Collective Boundary Spanning Activities in Collaborative Innovation. Strategic Management Society Annual Meeting, Denver, USA

Teaching Acitivies

Master Theses Supervision

If you are interest in discussing a specific topic for a Master thesis, please feel free to contact me via the coordinates on top of the page.

Supervised Master Theses

  • Customer Satisfaction with Delivery Performance in After-Sales Business: A Study at a Machining Solutions Provider (MSc Thesis, October 2016)
  • Catalysing joint research projects between Academia and the Life Science sector. What drives successful setting up and maintaining inter-organisational collaborations? (MSc Thesis, April 2016)
  • How Competitive Strategy and Manufacturing Strategy Come Together – Customer Needs, Strategic Choices and Organizational Issues in a Swiss Technology Firm (MSc Thesis, September 2015)
  • Strategic Portfolio Management in the Pharmaceutical Industry (MSc Thesis, August 2015)
  • Goal orientations in research collaborations between industrial and academic partners within IMI projects (MAS Thesis, June 2015)
  • From Technological Innovation To A New Business Model: Insights From A Swiss Machine-Tool Supplier (MSc Thesis, August 2014)
  • Serve Globally or Locally? A Flexible Long-Term Strategy for the Service Business of a Global Technology Firm (MSc Thesis, August 2014)
  • Wissensmanagement: Departmentsübergreifende Wissensnutzung bei einem Entwicklungsdienstleister (MAS Thesis, August 2014)
  • Strategic Positioning in the Content Delivery Network Market (co-supervised, MAS Thesis, May 2014)
  • Project Management Outsourcing: Developing a Business Model for a Project Management Offering of Combined Products and Services (co-supervised, MSc Thesis, June 2014)
  • How Incumbent Firms Attempt to Dominate Technology-Driven Nascent Fields: The Case of Next Generation Sequencing (co-supervised, MAS Thesis, June 2014)
  • Zusammenarbeit im Netzwerk statt Abteilungen: Ideen für eine moderne Unternehmensführung in einem stetig wachsenden Software-KMU (MAS Thesis, May 2014)+

 

 

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