Chair of Technology and Innovation Management
![](/fileadmin/_processed_/c/d/csm_Chair_of_Technology_and_Innovation_Mgmt_Team_ab0e1adeef.jpg)
About us
The Chair of Technology and Innovation Management (TIM) has been at WHU since 2000 and is a member of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Group.
The TIM chair at a glance:
- Main research areas: strategy, innovation, technological disruption and corporate transformation, new product development, intellectual property, corporate entrepreneurship and big data/analytics
- Many publications in leading international journals such as Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Research Policy etc.
- Memberships in editorial boards of leading international journals such as Journal of Product Innovation Management, Creativity and Innovation Management, Journal of Knowledge Management (Prof. Ernst)
- Thought leadership and impact (> 10,000 citations in google scholar of Prof. Ernst’s research)
- Winner of multiple research awards (Prof. Ernst)
- Multiple publications in leading practitioner journals such as World Patent Information, MIT Sloan Management Review, California Management Review etc. and newspapers/magazines such as the Wall Street Journal
- Authors of multiple, award-winning teaching case studies
- Multiple international research collaborations, especially strategic alliance with the Center for Research in Technology & Innovation at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA
- Excellent teaching performance in all WHU programs and winner of multiple WHU teaching awards (Prof. Ernst)
- Large number of sponsored research projects (from companies and research institutions)
- Knowledge transfer of research results into best practices and tools for firms and managers; especially the Innovation Success Panel (ISP®) and the ipXellence project
- Interdisciplinary initiatives (e.g. PREPARE - The Entrepreneurs‘ Academy together with the RWTH Aachen)
- Entrepreneurship: From research to successful commercialization (Prof. Ernst as a Co-Founder of the WHU spin-off PatentSight (based on Prof. Ernst’s groundbreaking research on patent valuation and analytics)
If you are interested in collaborating with us, please get in touch with anke.siedenkamp(at)whu.edu. We are looking forward to working with you!
Our team
![Professor Holger Ernst Professor Holger Ernst](/fileadmin/_processed_/3/b/csm_WHU_Ernst_Holger_portrait_d72ae17525.jpg)
![Anke Siedenkamp Anke Siedenkamp](/fileadmin/CONTENT/whu.edu/2_Faculty___Research/2.5_Entrepreneurship___Innovation_Group/2.5.8_Chair_of_Technology_and_Innovation_Mgmt/Chair_of_Technology_and_Innovation_Mgmt_Siedenkamp_Anke.png)
![Prof. Dr. James G. Conley Prof. Dr. James G. Conley](/fileadmin/_processed_/7/b/csm_Chair_of_Technology_and_Innovation_Mgmt_Prof._Conley_1580b4d10b.jpg)
![Prof. Dr. Anthony Di Benedetto Prof. Dr. Anthony Di Benedetto](/fileadmin/_processed_/b/1/csm_Chair_of_Technology_and_Innovation_Mgmt_Prof_Di_Benedetto_d58ddd8912.jpg)
![Prof. Dr. Mohan Subramaniam Prof. Dr. Mohan Subramaniam](/fileadmin/CONTENT/whu.edu/2_Faculty___Research/2.5_Entrepreneurship___Innovation_Group/2.5.8_Chair_of_Technology_and_Innovation_Mgmt/Chair_of_Technology_and_Innovation_Mgmt_Prof_Subramaniam.png)
![Krista Charlier Krista Charlier](/fileadmin/_processed_/7/7/csm_crop_ae26f14c55.jpeg)
![Gabor Juche Gabor Juche](/fileadmin/_processed_/6/5/csm_bild_GJ_5c89ae7af3.jpg)
- Marius Hatzenbühler
- Marc Heiden
- Lucas Lange
- Dr. Philipp Bubenzer
- Dr. Michael Bartl
- Dr. Michael Baur
- Dr. Judith Behrens
- Dr. Peter Bican
- Dr. Marcel Coulon
- Dr. Anna Dubiel
- Dr. Martin Fischer
- Dr. Sebastian Glöckner
- Dr. Alexander Götz
- Dr. Nari Kahle
- Dr. Jana Kirchheim
- Dr. Stefan Kohn
- Dr. Katrin Krieger
- Dr. Ulrich Lichtenthaler
- Dr. Simon Papies
- Dr. Daniela Piper
- Dr. Enzio Reincke
- Dr. Carsten Rübsaamen
- Dr. Jan Henrik Soll
- Dr. Carsten Vogt
- Dr. Kevin Wohlhauser
Our research
In our research, we aim at publishing novel, outstanding and relevant theoretical and/or empirical contributions in the leading international journals of our field. Our main research areas include strategy, innovation, technological disruption and corporate transformation, new product development, intellectual property, corporate entrepreneurship and big data/analytics. We have published our research in leading international journals such as the Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Research Policy etc. Key publications are summarized under "Top publications" below.
Our research has impact because it gets cited frequently by other scholars (> 10,000 citations in google scholar of Professor Ernst’s research) and we have won multiple research awards. The top 5 most frequently cited publications are the following:
- Ernst, H. 2002. Success Factors of New Product Development: A Review of the Empirical Literature, in: International Journal of Management Reviews, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 1-40. (> 1000 citations)
- Ernst, H. 2003. Patent Information for Strategic Technology Management, in: World Patent Information, Vol. 25, Issue 3, pp. 233-242. (> 800 citations)
- Ernst, H. 2001. Patent Applications and Subsequent Changes of Performance: Evidence from Time-Series Cross-Section Analyses on the Firm Level, in: Research Policy, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 143-157. (> 600 citations)
- Ernst, H. 1998. Patent Portfolios for Strategic R&D Planning, in: Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, Vol. 15, No. 4, pp. 279-308. (> 400 citations)
- Ernst, H., Hoyer, W.D., Rübsaamen, C. 2010. Sales, Marketing and R&D Cooperation across New Product Development Stages: Implications for Success, in: Journal of Marketing, Vol. 74 (5), pp. 80-92. (> 400 citations)
We collaborate with multiple international partners in our research projects. An important strategic research partner is the Center for Research in Technology & Innovation at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, Evanston, USA.
Professor Ernst has done some podcasts to explain the relevance of his research to a larger audience, especially master students, PhD candidates and other scholars; e.g. a recent podcast about the following paper: Ernst, H., Hoyer, W., Krafft, M., Krieger, K. 2010. Customer Relationship Management and Company Performance – The Mediating Role of New Product Performance, in: Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 39, pp. 290–306.
Research fields:
- Strategy
- Innovation
- Technological disruption and corporate transformation
- New product development
- Intellectual property
- Corporate entrepreneurship
- Big data and analytics
Entrepreneurship
Patent Sight and entrepreneurial acitivities of Professor Holger Ernst
The TIM chair has a very strong entrepreneurial orientation. We encourage and support entrepreneurs. Professor Ernst has supervised many business plans written by WHU students and he has served on the advisory board of start-up firms and he provides support to start-ups as a business angel and/or advisor. Professor Ernst has been a successful entrepreneur himself (see below). If you have a great idea and need our help and/or support, do not hesitate to contact us at holger.ernst(at)whu.edu.
Professor Ernst co-founded PatentSight, located in Bonn, Germany, that specializes in the development and selling of software products and consulting services in the field of business intelligence based on patent data. PatentSight is a market leader in its field and serves well-known clients worldwide. PatentSight was acquired by RELX (Lexis Nexis) in 2018. PatentSight’s unique products are based on Professor Ernst’s long-term and groundbreaking research on patent analytics, patent valuation and patent management. His first key work is his PhD dissertation published in 1996 (Patentinformationen für die strategische Planung von Forschung und Entwicklung, DUV-Verlag, Wiesbaden. (received two best dissertation awards from “Unternehmensverband Schleswig-Holstein” and from “Stiftung Industrieforschung”)). Based on this and many other publications, Professor Ernst became a thought leader, invited speaker and successful consultant in the field of patent analytics and patent valuation worldwide. He developed and implemented new applications and indicators for patent analytics and especially new metrics to assess the quality of patents since this is the fundamental prerequisite for reliable and meaningful patent-based analytics. Another key publication about applications of patent analytics and a new method to assess the quality of patents was made in 2003 (Patent Information for Strategic Technology Management, in: World Patent Information, Vol. 25, Issue 3, pp. 233-242). This paper had a huge impact in the field as indicated by very high citation rates (# 1 cited paper in WPI). As early as in 1996, Professor Ernst established a consulting business in which he conducted many patent analytics projects based on a self-developed proprietary software solution with many blue chip firms across multiple industries, mainly in Germany. In 2009, Prof. Ernst was approached by a long-term client and asked to develop a scientifically robust method to value and benchmark entire patent portfolios of firms across industries and regions. This led to the development of the Patent Asset Index (Ernst, H., Omland, N. 2011. The Patent Asset Index – A New Approach to Benchmark Patent Portfolios, in: World Patent Information, Vol. 33, pp. 34-41). The Patent Asset Index developed by Professor Ernst was the first patent-based metric that made it into the annual report of a leading firm such as the BASF in a very prominent form. The Patent Asset Index was endorsed and quickly adapted by many other firms as well, also outside the chemical industry.
“This method provides an accurate, overall view of the impact and efficiency of an enterprise’s investment in innovation." Dr. William F. Banholzer, Former Executive Vice President and Former CTO, The Dow Chemical Company
“The method is valuable not only to demonstrate the importance of our patent portfolio to investors, but also to internally evaluate our patent strategy over time." Dr. Andreas Kreimeyer, Former Member of the Board of Executive Directors and Former Research Executive Director, BASF
This big milestone led to the founding of PatentSight in 2009. PatentSight continued to develop a novel and unique back-end and front-end software solution for many sophisticated patent analytics applications, where the Patent Asset Index became the unique metric build into the proprietary PatentSight software. Today, the Patent Asset Index has become the scientifically proven standard to objectively value patents or larger patent portfolios. The EU commission, e.g., has used the Patent Asset Index to assess the impact of big mergers on innovation and competition in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries (Ernst, H., Guderian, C., Richter, M. 2020. The Innovation Environment and Knowledge Diffusion: Improving Policy Decisions through Patent Analytics. WTO Handbook on Trade in Knowledge (forthcoming)). Based on its superior product and its solid scientific foundation, PatentSight became the market leader for patent analytics solutions in Europe. Professor Ernst, based on his excellent contacts and reputation in Japan, initiated and helped to establish PatentSight Japan. That was an important strategic move for PatentSight because Japan is one of the most important markets for patent analytics software. After selling his stake in PatentSight to RELX (Lexis Nexis), Professor Ernst continues to do research in the field of patent analytics and valuation and he helps and supports PatentSight if he can and whenever time allows him to do so.
![Logo Patentsight Logo Patentsight](/fileadmin/_processed_/3/7/csm_Chair_of_Technology_and_Innovation_Mgmt_Reserve_I_f154f98e8f.png)
Insights for businesses
Collaboration with companies
The Chair of Technology and Innovation Management (TIM) maintains close contacts with companies from the business sector. The focus areas of this collaboration are the optimization of the new product development process, intellectual property management (patents and other commercial intellectual property rights), as well as strategic aspects of innovation management.
Publications for managers
Our research always aims at generating new and actionable insights for managers. To extent our research to managers, we have published some of our research findings in journals that are mostly read by practitioners or experts in a specific field. Some of these publications have appeared in World Patent Information, MIT Sloan Management Review, California Management Review etc. Three sample publications include the following:
- Conley, J.G., Bican, P., Ernst, H., 2013. Value Articulation - A Framework for the Strategic Management of Intellectual Property, California Management Review - Special Issue on Intellectual Property Management, Vol. 55, Nr. 4, pp. 102-120.
- Siebdrat, F., Högl, M., Ernst, H. 2009. How to Manage Virtual Teams, in: MIT Sloan Management Review, Vol. 50 (4), pp. 63-68. (winner of the Robert Beckhard Memorial Prize of the MIT Sloan Management Review 2010).
- Ernst, H. 2003. Patent Information for Strategic Technology Management, in: World Patent Information, Vol. 25, Issue 3, pp. 233-242. (most frequently cited paper in WPI)
Case studies
We have written and published multiple, sometimes award-winning teaching case studies. These case studies are used in post-experience MBA and customized executive education programs to offer students and managers a novel, unique, relevant and actionable learning experience. Examples of these cases studies include:
- Ernst, H. Guderian, C. Bican, P. 2017. From crisis to world champion. Lessons from German football. More
- Guderian, C. Bican, P. 2016. Martin Bauer Group: Corporate social responsibility with Eindollarbrille. More
- Dubiel, A. 2009. How to build and manage a global R&D centre – The case of GE in India. More
- Kukreja, A., Dubiel, A. 2009. Paris-Piteşti – How the Dacia Logan is changing the innovation rules in the automotive industry. More
Podcasts
Professor. Ernst has done some podcasts to explain the relevance of his research to a larger audience, especially managers. Examples of these podcasts include:
- IP Fridays Podcast (2019) "Trends in Innovation and Patent Management" with Prof. Dr. Holger Ernst (EN). More
- TRENDONE Podcast (2021) "Die Eigenschaften der Top Innovatoren" with Prof. Dr. Holger Ernst (DE).
Benchmarking tools for companies
Based on our research, we have built benchmarking tools for firms and managers to improve their innovation management: the Innovation Success Panel (ISP®) and the ipXellence Project.
The Innovation Success Panel (ISP®) benchmarks your firm on important success factors of innovations (product, service, business model innovation) against innovations leaders. This is a very efficient and scientifically proven method for firms to increase their innovativeness and the contribution of innovations to sales and profits. To find out more about the ISP® please download the following pdf-file: "IsP_Info_English". For further information or inquiries please contact: holger.ernst@whu.edu.
The ipXellence tool benchmarks your firm on multiple dimensions of excellence in Intellectual Property (IP) Management against leading firms in specific industries and across industries and regions, esp. Europe and USA (Japan is being currently added to the data base). This is a great tool for firms to improve their IP management and to maximize financial and strategic value from their existing and future IP assets. To find out more about the ipXellence tool, please download the following pdf-file: "ipXellence". For further information or inquiries please contact: holger.ernst@whu.edu.
Our teaching
Within its teaching approach, the Chair aims to teach students the latest insights into international technology and innovation management. The curriculum should provide not only theoretical but also practically relevant knowledge - therefore, guest lectures are regularly integrated into teaching events. The curriculum is also based on the findings of the Chair's own research and is conveyed to the students by means of innovative and interactive teaching methods. The students will apply the acquired knowledge in practical exercises and case studies.
Program | Course | Time | Contact person |
BSc | Innovation Management | Fall semester | Gabor Juche |
MSc | Strategic Technology and Innovation Management | Spring semester | Krista Charlier |
MSc | Heinz-Nixdorf-Vorlesung: Strategic Intellectual Capital Management (Prof. James G. Conley, Northwestern University, USA) | Fall semester | Lucas Lange |
FTMBA | Innovation Management | Fall semester | Professor Holger Ernst |
PTMBA | Innovation Management | Spring semester | Professor Holger Ernst |
EMBA | Strategic Innovation and Corporate Renewal | Spring semester | Professor Holger Ernst |
Guest lectures:
- Mr. Swen Klußmeier (ALDI Nord) and Dr. Jörg Niesenhaus (ALDI Süd): Shaping the future of RetailTech
- Mr. Thomas Nieraad and Mr. Carsten Kehrein: Rastal - Tradition meets Innovation: How a Hidden Champion Re-Invents Itself
- Mr. Thomas Kipp (Deutsche Post DHL Group): The StreetScooter - A case study on corporate innovation
- Dr. Michael Spira (Boston Consulting Group): Artificial Intelligence and Innovation
- Mr. Ralf Lamberti: Trends and Challenges in the Global Automotive Industry
- Mr. Brian Berg (Accenture Strategy): Industry X.0 – Reinventing the Product
- Dr. Johannes Triebs: Commercializing Research-Based Innovations: The E-Mobility Start-Ups from the RWTH Aachen
- Dr. Frank Heinricht: Our passion for glass – strategy and innovation at Schott AG
- Mr. Julian Fieres: 100 years and rolling – How ZF is reinventing itself with Digitalization & Innovation
- Dr. Malte Klein: Innovation at Mercedes-Benz
- Mr. Claudius zur Linden: Vapiano’s Diversification towards a Multi-Channel Guest Journey
- Mr. Jürgen Griebs: Radical Transition of Consumer Electronics – Implications for BSH
Information for students
- Journal of Product Innovation Management
- R&D Management
- Journal of Business Venturing
- Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice
- Research Policy
- IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management
- Technovation
- Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal
- Technological Forecasting and Social Change
- International Journal of Technology Management
- Academy of Management Journal
- Academy of Management Review
- Journal of Marketing
- Journal of Marketing Research
- Management Science
- Organization Science
- Strategic Management Journal
- Other journals and further information can be found e.g. on the website of the Erasmus Research Institute of Management (University of Rotterdam)
- California Management Review
- Harvard Business Review
- Innovationsmanager
- MIT Sloan Management Review
- Research Technology Management
Technologie- und Innovationsmanagement-Institutionen:
- Product Development and Management Association (PDMA)
- TIM-Division at the Academy of Management (AoM)
Einstiegsliteratur (Deutsch und Englisch):
- Gabler Lexikon Technologiemanagement; Dieter Specht & Martin Möhrle (Hrsg.)
- Handbuch Produktmanagement; Sönke Albers & Andreas Herrmann (Hrsg.)
- Handbuch Technologie- und Innovationsmanagement; Sönke Albers & Oliver Gassmann (Hrsg.)
- Innovationsmanagement; Jürgen Hauschildt, & Sören Salomo
- Lexikon Technologie- und Innovationsmanagement; Reinhold Achatz, Michael Braun & Tom Sommerlatte (Hrsg.)
- Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation; Robert Burgelman, Clayton Christensen & Steven Wheelwright
- The PDMA ToolBook 3 for New Product Development; Abbie Griffin & Stephen Sommermeyer (Hrsg.)
Empfehlenswerte Linksammlung:
- Academy of Management
- PDMA - Product Development and Management Association
Get in touch with us –
![Professor Holger Ernst Professor Holger Ernst](/fileadmin/_processed_/3/b/csm_WHU_Ernst_Holger_portrait_d72ae17525.jpg)
Our location
Chair of Technology and Innovation Management
56179 Vallendar