The research and teaching activities of the Interdisciplinary Institute of Management and Organisational Behaviour concentrate mainly on processes that affect behaviour in organisations.

Central research topics include career, leadership and management issues as well as human resource management. Several current projects concern themselves with career issues. The Vienna Career Panel Project (ViCaPP) is a study following the career development of three cohorts of graduates of academic programs in social and economic studies (graduates of the classes of 1970, 1990 and 2000). The long-term orientation of this study makes it unique in the German-speaking world.

Another current international study is examining the intercultural similarities and differences in the concept of "career" as perceived by different professional groups (Cross-Cultural Contemporary Careers Collaboration, 5C).

In the field of human resource management, the Interdisciplinary Institute of Management and Organisational Behaviour is a member of the CRANET network, which has been conducting research on personnel management throughout Europe since 1989. The study aims to gather data on current industry standards and on trends in international personnel management. Currently, data has been compiled from 34 European countries, including information from 30,000 companies with over 200 employees. This represents the largest database of its kind worldwide.

As the latest addition to the institute's research, the use of the French theory "Économie des Conventions" promises to give new insights into topics of Human Resource Management like work, employment, critique and coordination.

5C

5C, the Cross-Cultural Collaboration on Contemporary Careers, explores the central question of how individual conceptualizations of career, career success and career transitions differ in different cultures, generations and occupational groups and what effects contextual framework conditions such as digitalization have on the careers of different professions in different countries.

Universities from about 40 countries are now involved in this project: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lithuania, Malawi, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, United States.

Initiated in 2005, the research project is currently in its third phase. In the first phase, interviews were conducted in eleven countries in the respective national languages and were subsequently content-analyzed. The categories were summarized in a "Global Coding Book" to ensure comparability. The sample included three occupational groups (business graduates, skilled workers, nurses) at earlier and later stages of their careers.

In the second phase, a written survey was conducted on the basis of the qualitative results, which served to develop a multidimensional scale of subjective career success criteria. This scale formed the core of an initial extensive survey of about 20,000 professionals in 30 countries. The collected data has resulted in international comparative studies on a wide range of topics, which were presented at international conferences and published in renowned journals. Topics include, for example, organizational career management and career satisfaction, international work experience and employability, career goals and proactivity, employability of older workers, etc.

In what is now the third phase, the effects of digitalization and pandemic-related lockdowns on work processes and structures, well-being and health, career goals, planning, management and development, as well as various dimensions of career success were examined in 40 countries. Comparisons between different occupational groups, career phases and, in particular, enabling and restrictive institutional contexts of the respective countries always play a central role. 

For all those interested in career topics, the network also offers a blog in which a new topic related to careers is discussed critically and inspiringly every month. The research network’s latest publication is the open access book “Understanding Careers Around the Globe: Stories and Sourcebook”, written for a diverse audience including scholars, practitioners, and the interested general public.

Fides Publications ivm