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E&I Institute
This section offers background information on the Institute for Entreprenurship & Innovation.
Our mission statement
Entrepreneurship is the driving force for business start-ups and innovation processes. These dynamic activities are of particular importance for the economy as a whole. New ideas can be successfully implemented by new companies, but existing organizations also have to reinvent themselves through innovations in order to be successful in international competition.
In teaching, our goal is to provide our students with first-class knowledge in the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation. In doing so, we are guided by the leading international universities and business schools.
We teach theories, methods and scientific knowledge in our courses. However, we do not stop with the knowledge transfer, but rather shape the entrepreneurial thinking and behavior of our students in real innovation and start-up projects.
Through their entrepreneurial profile, our graduates qualify for various career paths. In addition to owning or acquiring an existing company, occupations such as innovation managers, assistants in management, analysts in venture capital companies or company consultants are typical starting positions. In research, we are working on open problems in the fields of entrepreneurship and innovation. Due to the dynamism and the goal of entrepreneurial processes, this research field is challenging, but there are laws and patterns that can be discovered. Our scientific approach is real-theoretical. This means that we focus on problems of general relevance, structure them by economic and behavioral theories, and empirically test them against reality. We publish the results of our research activities in international scientific journals and make them accessible to corporate practice.
In teaching and research, we work closely with practice as well as national and international research institutions.
The History of the Institute
In 1999, the Federal Ministry of Science and Transport of the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration approved the setting up of a foundation professor. The founder of the WU Vienna, Prof. Hans Robert Hansen, the Austrian National Bank, Bank Austria, the Austrian Economic Chamber, the Vienna Economic Chamber and Berndorf AG were able to win the prize. Promotors of this promotion were among others. General Secretary Christian Domany, Dr. Rene Alfons Haiden, Governor Dr. Klaus Liebscher, President Dr. Christoph Leitl, Federal Chancellor Leopold Maderthaner, Senator h.c. Komm. Advice Walter Nettig, KR Dkfm. Gerhard Randa, Vice Governor Gertrude Tumpel-Gugerell, KR Adolf Wala and Mag. Norbert Zimmermann.
In the autumn of 2001, Prof. Franke took over the coordination of the WU's research focus on "Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management". In 2002, the first „E&I Touchdown“ was held, the semester closing event, which gives students the opportunity to present their achievements from the application projects to the public - usually between 200 and 300 audience members from business, politics and the media. In 2003, the E & I Club was founded, the aim of which is to connect students and graduates among themselves as well as externally. In 2004, the Entrepreneurship Center Vienna (ECV) was set up together with the Vienna University of Technology, a transfer institution that strengthens the link between technology and economy as well as science and practice in the CENTROPE region. In 2005 the User Innovation Research Initiative Vienna was created. It bundles the research activities and worldwide cooperations of the institute with this dynamic topic area also known as "Open Innovation", "Wikinomics", "Innovation 2.0" or "Crowd Innovation". Since then, the Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation has been one of the world's leading research centers in this field. In 2005 the formal transformation of the department into an institute took place. In 2006, the donor status ended and the institute was included in the regular WU budget. In 2006, in cooperation with the Vienna University of Technology (Prof. Adolf Stepan), the first year of the MBA in Entrepreneurship and Innovation began, a postgraduate, professional course, which is aimed at technicians, engineers and scientists. Since 2006 the E & I Institute has been supported by the Kathryn and Craig Hall Distinguished Chair for Entrepreneurship in Central Europe at WU of the Fulbright Commission. In 2009, the institute also launched Prof. Christopher Lettl, who in 2012 founded the Institute for Strategy, Technology and Organization. In 2009/2010, the transition to the Bologna-architecture in Bachelor and Master took place step by step. The Entrepreneurship Center Network (ECN) was established in 2012. It promotes awareness and cross-institutional, i.e. inter-university networking on entrepreneurship and is headed by Dr. Rudolf Dömötör. Started with the six Viennese universities WU, TU, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Medical University, University of Veterinary Medicine and Academy of Fine Arts, the ECN already comprises 24 Austrian universities.
Prizes and Awards
| 2017 | Best Paper Award Journal of Product Innovation Management (Thomas J. Hustad Award) Niolaus Franke zusammen mit Christopher Lettl, Jan Kratzer, and Peter A. Gloor für den Artikel "The Social Network Position of Lead Users" | |
| 2017 | WU Best Paper Award 2017 Nikolaus Franke zusammen mi tJulia Bauer und Philipp Türtscher für den Artikel "Intellectual Property Norms in Online Communities: How User-Organized Intellectual Property Regulation Supports Innovation" (Information Systems Research) | |
| 2017 | Jürgen-Hauschildt-Award 2017 Julia Bauer, Nikolaus Franke und Philipp Türtscher für den Artikel „Intellectual Property Norms in Online Communities: How User-Organized Intellectual Property Regulation Supports Innovation” | |
| 2016 | Best Reviewer Award 2016, Journal of Product Innovation Management Nikolaus Franke | |
| 2016 | WU Innovative Lehre 2016 Philip Bradonjic und Franziska Metz für die Lehrveranstaltung E&I Project: Consulting in Creative Industries | |
| 2015 | Best Paper Award der Academy of Management Nikolaus Franke, Julia Bauer und Philipp Türtscher für den Artikel "‘The Seven IP Commandments of a Crowdsourcing Community: How Self-Organized Norms-Based IP Systems Overcome Imitation Problems" | |
| 2015 | WU Exzellente Lehre 2015 Beate Edl und Ilse Klanner zs. mit Frederike Findler für die Lehrveranstaltung E&I Zone: Entrepreneurial Marketing and Brand Management | |
| 2015 | 1. Platz Businessplan-Wettbewerb "i2b & GO!“ 2015 E&I Studententeam für das Projekt "BRI-Tech" | |
| 2015 | WU-Top Publikation 2015 Nikolaus Franke zs. mit Marion Poetz u. Martin Schreier für den Artikel "Sometimes the best ideas come from outside your industry." Harvard Business Review. | |
| 2014 | Best Paper Award Innovation Management der European Business School 2014 Nikolaus Franke zs. mit Marion Pötz und Martin Schreier für den Artikel "Integrating Problem Solvers from Analogous Markets in New Product Ideation" Management Science | |
| 2014 | WU-Top Publikation 2014 Peter Keinz zs. mit Christoph Hienerth und Christopher Lettl für den Artikel "Synergies among producer firms, lead users, and user communities: The case of the LEGO producer-user ecosystem." Journal of Product Innovation Management | |
| 2014 | Best Paper Award 2014 Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Technology and Innovation Management Division Nikolaus Franke, Philipp Türtscher und Susanne Roiser zs. Mit Christopher Lettl für den Artikel ‘Does God Play Dice?’ Randomness vs. Deterministic Explanations of Crowdsourcing Success" (Finalist) | |
| 2014 | WU-Top Publikation 2014 Nikolaus Franke zs. mit Marion Pötz und Martin Schreier für den Artikel "Integrating Problem Solvers from Analogous Markets in New Product Ideation" Management Science | |
| 2013 | 2. Platz Businessplan-Wettbewerb "i2b & GO!“ 2013 E&I Studententeam für das Projekt "Elektroroller LEA" | |
| 2013 | Jürgen-Hauschildt-Preis 2013 Nikolaus Franke, Peter Keinz u. Katharina Klausberger für den Artikel "Does This Sound Like a Fair Deal? Antecedents and Consequences of Fairness Expectations in the Individual's Decision to Participate in Firm Innovation" Organization Science | |
| 2013 | WU-Top Publikation 2013 Nikolaus Franke, Peter Keinz u. Katharina Klausberger für den Artikel "Does This Sound Like a Fair Deal? Antecedents and Consequences of Fairness Expectations in the Individual's Decision to Participate in Firm Innovation" Organization Science | |
| 2013 | WU Exzellente Lehre Award 2013 Peter Keinz, Julia Bauer, Ilse-Maria Klanner u. Peter Vandor für die Lehrveranstaltung "E&I Project: New Business Development" | |
| 2012 | WU-Top Publikation 2012 Christopher Lettl zs. mit Jan Kratzer für den Artikel "Die Identifizierung von Lead Usern über soziale Netzwerke: Eine empirische Untersuchung unter jungen Konsumenten." Zeitschrift für Betriebswirtschaft (ZfB) | |
| 2012 | Rudolf Sallinger Preis Ulrike Kaiser für die Dissertation "Self-design effects on brand extension." | |
| 2012 | WU Exzellente Lehre 2012 Peter Vandor u. Reinhard Millner für die Lehrveranstaltung "E&I Social Entrepreneurship" | |
| 2012 | WU-Top Publikation 2012 Peter Keinz u. Christopher Lettl zs. mit Christoph Hienerth für den Artikel "Exploring the nature and implementation process of ITbased user-centric business models." Long Range Planning | |
| 2012 | WU Exzellente Lehre 2012 Ilse-Maria Klanner u. Susanne Roiser für die Lehrveranstaltung "E&I InnoLAB" | |
| 2012 | WU-Top Publikation 2012 Christopher Lettl zs. mit OystenFjeldstad u. Charles Snow für den Artikel "The architecture of collaboration." Strategic Management Jounal | |
| 2012 | WU-Top Publikation 2012 Christopher Lettl zs. mit Christoph Hienerth für den Artikel "Exploring how peer communities enable lead user innovations to become standard equipment in the industry: Community pull effects" Journal of Product Innovation Management | |
| 2012 | 2. Platz Business Concept Challenge Veranstaltung "VT Knowledge Works Global Partnership Week" Virgina Tech (USA) E&I Studententeam für das Projekt "VIBEAT" | |
| 2011 | WU-Top Publikation 2011 Nikolaus Franke u. Martin Schreier für den Artikel "Why customers value mass-customized products: The importance of process effort and enjoyment." Journal of Product Innovation Management | |
| 2011 | Rudolf Sallinger Preis Katharina Klausberger für die Dissertation "Fair Play? Die Rolle von Fairness bei der Entscheidung zur Teilnahme an Crowdsourcing-Systemen" | |
| 2011 | WU-Top Publikation 2011 Christopher Lettl zs. mit Charles Snow, Oysten Fjeldstad u. Raymond Miles für den Artikel "Organizing continuous product development and commercialization: The collaborative community of firms model." Journal of Product Innovation Management | |
| 2011 | WU Exzellente Lehre 2011 Thomas Funke u. Stefan Perkmann-Berger für die Lehrveranstaltung "E&I Garage" | |
| 2011 | Theo Schöller Preis - Munich Best Paper Award Innovation Management 2011 Nikolaus Franke, Martin Schreier u. Ulrike Kaiser für den Artikel "The ‘I designed it myself' effect in mass customization." Management Science | |
| 2011 | Top-Publikation der WU 2011 Nikolaus Franke u. Martin Schreier für den Artikel "Product uniqueness as a driver of customer utility in mass customization." Marketing Letters | |
| 2010 | Rudolf Sallinger Preis Peter Keinz für die Dissertation "Wenn Kunden Kunden helfen: Erfolgswirkungen bei der Nutzung von ‚Toolkits for User Innovation and Design‘" | |
| 2010 | Rudolf Sallinger Preis Philipp Türtscher für die Dissertation "The Emergence of Architecture in Modular Systems: Coordination across Boundaries at ATLAS, CERN" | |
| 2010 | WU Exzellente Lehre 2010 Christopher Lettl für die Lehrveranstaltung "Exploring Core Challenges in Open Innovation: A Harvard Case Study." | |
| 2010 | Best Paper Award 2010 of the German Academic Association for Business Research Nikolaus Franke, Martin Schreier u. Ulrike Kaiser für den Artikel "The ‘I designed it myself’ effect in mass customization." Management Science | |
| 2010 | Theo Schöller Preis - Munich Best Paper Award Innovation Management 2010 Nikolaus Franke, Peter Keinz u. Christoph Steger für den Artikel "Testing the Value of Customization: When Do Customers Really Prefer Products Tailored to Their Preferences?" Journal of Marketing | |
| 2010 | WU Best Paper Award 2010 Nikolaus Franke, Peter Keinz u. Christoph Steger für den Artikel "Testing the Value of Customization: When Do Customers Really Prefer Products Tailored to Their Preferences?" Journal of Marketing | |
| 2010 | Rudolf Sallinger Preis Christian Franz Fabsich für die Diplomarbeit "Eine explorative Analyse des Potenzials der Suchmethode Pyramiding zur Identifikation von Problemlösern aus analogen Märkten" | |
| 2010 | WU Best Paper Award 2010 Christopher Lettl zs. mit Raymond Miles, Charles Snow, OystenFjeldstad u. Miles Grant für den Artikel "Designing Organizations to Meet 21st-Century Opportunities and Challenges." Organizational Dynamics | |
| 2010 | talenta 2010 Konrad Karner für die Diplomarbeit "The Effect of Cross-Cultural Adjustment on the Intention to Found a Company – A Quantitative Analysis" | |
| 2010 | Leadership Award der "14th Annual Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers 2010 Conference" E&I Institut | |
| 2010 | Best Paper Award 2010 des Verbandes der Hochschullehrer (VHB) 2010 Nikolaus Franke, Ulrike Kaiser u. Martin Schreier für den Artikel "The ‘I designed it myself’ effect in mass customization" Management Science | |
| 2010 | Top-Publikation der WU 2010 Nikolaus Franke, Ulrike Kaiser u. Martin Schreier für den Artikel "The ‘I designed it myself’ effect in mass customization" Management Science | |
| 2010 | Top-Publikation der WU 2010 Nikolaus Franke u. Martin Schreier für den Artikel "A Meta-Ranking of Technology and Innovation Management / Entrepreneurship Journals." Die Betriebswirtschaft (DBW) | |
| 2010 | Rudolf Sallinger Preis Stefan Hauer für die Diplomarbeit "Explorative Analyse der Zusammenhänge einzelner Aspekte von firmeninitiierten Crowdsourcing-Geschäftsmodellen und dem Fairness- und Zufriedenheitsempfinden der User" | |
| 2010 | Top-Publikation der WU 2010 Nikolaus Franke u. Reinhard Prügl zs. mit Eric von Hippel. für den Artikel "Pyramiding: Efficient search for rare subjects." Research Policy | |
| 2010 | 3. Platz i2b & Go! Businessplanwettbewerb ("Studentenkategorie") E&I Studententeam für das Projekt "DG* Premium Snow" | |
| 2010 | 1. Platz i2b & Go! Businessplanwettbewerb ("Dienstleistung & Handel") Katharina Klausberger für das Projekt "Finderly" | |
| 2009 | WU Best Paper Award 2009 Nikolaus Franke, Peter Keinz u. Martin Schreier für den Artikel "Complementing mass customization toolkits with user communities: How peer input improves customer self-design" Journal of Product Innovation Management | |
| 2009 | INFORMS TMS Dissertation Award Philipp Türtscher für die Dissertation "The Emergence of Architecture in Modular Systems: Coordination across boundaries at ATLAS, CERN" | |
| 2009 | talenta 2009 Christian Fabsich für die Diplomarbeit "Eine explorative Analyse des Potenzials der Suchmethode Pyramiding zur Identifikation von Problemlösern aus analogen Märkten" | |
| 2009 | "Besondere Leistungen in der Forschung" (WU Prämienveranstaltung 2009) Nikolaus Franke, Peter Keinz u. Martin Schreier für den Artikel "Complementing mass customization toolkits with user communities: How peer input improves customer self-design" Journal of Product Innovation Management | |
| 2009 | 2. Platz Accenture Campus Challenge 2009 E&I Studententeam für das Projekt "FM Favela" | |
| 2009 | 1. Platz Henkel Innovation Challenge Österreich E&I Studententeam | |
| 2009 | Top-Publikation der WU 2009 Martin Schreier u. Reinhard Prügl für den Artikel "Extending lead user theory: Antecedents and consequences of consumers' lead userness." Journal of Product Innovation Management | |
| 2009 | 1. Platz bei i2b Wettbewerb 2009 E&I Studententeam für das Projekt "riscreen" | |
| 2009 | 3. Platz bei i2b Wettbewerb 2009 E&I Studententeam für das Projekt "Picoma" | |
| 2009 | WU Innovative Teaching Award 2009 Peter Vandor zs. mit Prof. Michael Meyer für die Lehrveranstaltung "E&I Social Entrepreneurship" | |
| 2008 | Rudolf Sallinger Preis Christoph Steger für die Dissertation "Segmentiertung oder Individualisierung? Ein Vergleich von Produktstrategien zur Befriedigung heterogener Kundenbedürfnisse" | |
| 2008 | Dr. Maria Schaumayer Preis Karin Schmit (E&I Absolventin) für die Diplomarbeit "Identifikation von Lead Usern mithilfe der Broadcasting Suchmethode: eine explorative Analyse" | |
| 2008 | Rudolf Sallinger Preis Marion Pötz für die Dissertation "Die Bedeutung von analogen Märkten bei der Entwicklung innovativer Problemlösungen. Eine empirische Analyse intermarkt-bezogener Analogieeffekte" | |
| 2008 | talenta 2008 Peter Vandor, MIM (CEMS) für die Diplomarbeit "Studentische Einstellungen bezüglich Entrepreneurship und internationaler Mobilität - sind potentielle Unternehmer eher bereit auszuwandern als andere?" | |
| 2008 | Top-Publikation der WU 2008 Philipp Türtscher zs. mit Raghu Garud u. Sanjayp Jain für den Artikel "Incomplete by Design and Designing for Incompleteness." Organization Studies | |
| 2008 | Rudolf Sallinger Preis Rudolf Dömötör für die Dissertation "Erfolgsfaktoren der Innovativität von kleinen und mittleren Unternehmen: Konzeptualisierung und empirische Messung" | |
| 2008 | Rudolf Sallinger Preis Christan Schwarzott für die Diplomarbeit "Einfluss unternehmerischer Rollenmodelle auf die Gründungsneigung von Studenten" | |
| 2008 | Rudolf Sallinger Preis Peter Vandor für die Diplomarbeit "Student attitudes towards entrepreneurship and international mobility - are potential entrepreneurs more willing to leave than others?" | |
| 2008 | WU prämiertes Forschungsprojekt 2008 Nikolaus Franke für das Projekt "Die komplementäre Wirkung von User-Innovationsnetzwerken" (Fördergeber: FWF) | |
| 2008 | WU prämiertes Forschungsprojekt 2008 Nikolaus Franke für das Projekt "NK defense and therapy (Management von Biotech-start-ups)" (Fördergeber: EU) | |
| 2007 | WU Best Paper Award 2007 Christoph Hienerth für den Artikel "How user innovations become commercial products: A theoretical investigation and case study" Research Policy | |
| 2007 | Highly Commended Winner at the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence 2007 Nikolaus Franke zs. mit Josef Mazanec für den Artikel "The six identities of marketing: A vector quantization of research approches'" European Journal of Marketing | |
| 2007 | "Outstanding Paper Award" at the Summer Educator Conference of the American Marketing Association (Track: New Product Development, Product Management and Entrepreneurship) Nikolaus Franke u. Christoph Steger für die Arbeit "Does Individualization Pay? Measuring Customer Value of Individualized, Segment-Specific, and Mass Marketing Products in the Newspaper Market." | |
| 2007 | Dr. Maria-Schaumayer-Preis Ulrike Kaiser für die Diplomarbeit "Implikationen von User Empowerment durch Mass Customization für das Attachment zur Marke: eine empirische Untersuchung" | |
| 2007 | Best Paper Presentation Award, OCIS Division, 2007 Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Philadelphia Philipp Türtscher für den Artikel "Mapping the Field of Virtual Work: A Co-citation Analysis." Information Systems Research | |
| 2007 | I2B Businessplanwettbewerb: 1. Platz 1 " Technologie" & Gesamtsieg E&I Studententeam für das Projekt "Nano Dispersionsabscheidung" | |
| 2007 | 1. Platz i2b & Go! Businessplanwettbewerb E&I Studententeam für das Projekt "meublounge" | |
| 2006 | Lafarge Award E&I Studententeam für das Projekt "E&I Idea Generation Objekt Asamer & Hufnagel" | |
| 2006 | 1. Platz i2b & Go! Businessplanwettbewerb (Studentenkategorie) E&I Studententeam für das Projekt "Wolkenstein" | |
| 2006 | Rudolf Sallinger Preis Reinhard Prügl für die Dissertation "Die Identifikation von Personen mit besonderern Merkmalen: eine empirische Analyse zur Effizienz der Suchmethode Pyramiding" | |
| 2005 | "Best Paper Award" American Marketing Association (AMA) Summer Conference, Track New Product Development, Product Management and Entrepreneuriship Nikolaus Franke u. Reinhard Prügl zs. mit Eric von Hippel. für den Artikel "Efficient Identification of Lead Users: Screening vs. Pyramiding" | |
| 2005 | Stephan-Koren-Preis Martin Schreier für die Dissertation "Wertzuwachs durch Toolkits for User Innovation and Design" | |
| 2005 | Dr. Maria-Schaumayer-Preis Sandra Wollein für die Diplomarbeit "Die Innere Kündigung – Bedingungsfaktorenund Gegenmaßnahmen. Eine Erhebung der Arbeitszufriedenheit von Lehrenden unter Einsatz des Job Characteristics Models" | |
| 2005 | 2. Platz i2b & Go! Businessplanwettbewerb (Studentenkategorie) E&I Studententeam für das Projekt "European Aircraft Cleaning System" | |
| 2005 | Rudolf Sallinger Preis Martin Schreier für die Dissertation "Wertzuwachs durch Toolkits for User Innovation and Design" | |
| 2004 | Senator Wilhelm Wilfling Research Award Nikolaus Franke | |
| 2004 | Best Scientific Paper Award, EDAMBA Research competition Marion Pötz u. Reinhard Prügl für den Konferenzbeitrag "The Lead User Method: A Successful approach for integrating customers into the innovation process." | |
| 2004 | 1. Platz i2b & Go! Businessplanwettbewerb (Studentenkategorie) E&I Studententeam für das Projekt "Business Plan zu Metal Plating Chemicals" | |
| 2004 | WU Innovative Lehre Award 2003/2004 Marion Pötz für die Lehrveranstaltung "Sources of Innovation" | |
| 2003 | Kardinal Innitzer Award Nikolaus Franke für die Habilitation | |
| 2003 | WU Best Paper Award 2003 Nikolaus Franke zs. mit Christian Lüthje für den Artikel "The 'making' of an entrepreneur'" R&D Management | |
| 2003 | Rudolf Sallinger Preis Christoph Hienerth für die Dissertation "Theorie und Realität unternehmerischer Strategien" | |
| 2003 | WU Innovative Teaching Award 2002/2003 Prof. Jared Curhan für die Lehrveranstaltung "E&I Skills: Power & Negotiatons" | |
| 2002 | WU Innovative Teaching Award 2001/2002 Christoph Hienerth für die Lehrveranstaltung "E&I Business Planning" | |
| 2002 | WU Innovative Teaching Award 2001/2002 Reinhard Prügl für die Lehrveranstaltung "E&I Idea Generation" | |
| 2002 | WU Innovative Teaching Award 2001/2002 Nikolaus Franke zs. mit Christina Lüthje u. Jutta Müschen für die Lehrveranstaltungen "User Innovations", "Entrepreneurial Marketing" und "Entrepreneurship & Innovation Research" | |
| 1997 | POCO Retail Marketing Award Nikolaus Franke für die Dissertation | |
| 1997 | German Marketing Research Award Nikolaus Franke für die Dissertation | |
| 1994 | German Marketing Research Award Nikolaus Franke für die Diplomarbeit | |