Thomas Kohler explores how to design effective innovation platforms at the interface between academic thinking and real-world practice. He is a former Associate Professor at Hawaii Pacific University, visiting scholar at UC Berkeley, and currently a lecturer at WU Vienna, TU Berlin, and Management Center Innsbruck. His research has been published in journals such as the MIS Quarterly, California Management Review, and R&D Management Journal. Emerald selected his Technovation article on the opportunities virtual worlds offer for open innovation as one of the top 50 management articles published in 2010.

Over 2000 students participated in project-based courses built around the InnoDays from universities such as UC Berkeley, Stockholm School of Economics, or the TU Vienna.

As the CEO of Conui GmbH, he works with organizations to build innovation programs. Thomas is the co-founder of travel2change, a nonprofit organization with the mission to connect travelers and local communities to create a positive impact.

Selected publications

Kohler, T. & Chesbrough, H. (2019) From collaborative community to competitive market: The quest to build a crowdsourcing platform for social innovation, R&D MANAGEMENT, 49 (3), 356-368

Kohler, T. (2018) How to scale crowdsourcing platforms, CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW, 60 (2), 98-121

Kohler, T. (2016) Corporate accelerators: Building bridges between corporations and startups, BUSINESS HORIZONS, 59, 347-357

Kohler, T. (2015) Crowdsourcing-based business models: How to create and capture value, CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW, 57 (4), 63-84

Matzler, K., Bailom, F., von den Eichen, F., Kohler, T. (2013). Business model innovation, JOURNAL OF BUSINESS STRATEGY, 34 (2), 30 – 37

Kohler, T., Füller, J., Matzler, K., & Stieger, D. (2011) Co-creation in virtual worlds: The design of the user experience, MIS QUARTERLY, 35 (2), 773-778

Kohler, T., Matzler, K., & Füller, J. (2009) Avatar-based innovation: Using virtual worlds for real-world innovation, TECHNOVATION, 29 (7-8), 395 – 407