Faculty of Economics and Business

Digital transformation, the adoption of digital technology in all areas of a business, will have deep consequences for how companies operate and the way they create and deliver value. Thus, firms need to find a way to integrate such technology successfully to be future proof. Nicolai Fabian, Assistant Professor of Information Systems at FEB, finds it fascinating how organizations adopt technologies and manage the process of change. After Covid 19 hit us, that becoming more digital is vital for companies is nothing new. In his PhD thesis, which he will defend on 31 October, Fabian sheds light on the implications of digital transformation for organizations, with focus on small to medium enterprises (SME) in the third chapter.

Recent empirical evidence in economics indicates the existence of internal constraints as a potential barrier to women empowerment, which can take the form of internalized psychological barriers such as lack of aspirations, low perceived agency (or belief in oneself) or low hope, and more. To understand how these internal constraints can be alleviated to promote women’s empowerment and spur development, the Faculty of Economics and Business is involved in two international projects. One in collaboration with a microfinance institution in Vietnam, and another aimed at improving food and nutrition security by enhancing women's empowerment in Bangladesh and Ethiopia. Claire Stein, a PhD candidate at FEB, is part of the Vietnam project’s research team. To acquire input for the further project, she met with local organizations in the country and performed qualitative research with women in Vietnam to understand empowerment in the local context.

In his work, Associate Professor Stefan Pichler focuses on the economic consequences of infectious diseases and is an expert on sick leave. In recent research together with Johanna Catherine Maclean (George Mason University) and Nicolas R. Ziebarth (ZEW Mannheim), Pichler and his co-authors study the coverage, utilization, and welfare effects of mandated sick pay in the US.

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, assistant professors Stephanie Rizio and Ahmed Skali decided to make a change. They moved their family from Australia to Groningen and continued their research at FEB. They told us about their experiences here, their research and their future plans.

Research is often an international endeavor, a collaborative effort together with colleagues from other universities abroad. FEB Research spoke to Nevena Ivanovic and Guido Berends, PhD candidates at FEB who both recently visited universities in the US for their projects. They are now back in the Netherlands and told us about their research and their experiences abroad.

Bernard Nijstad, professor at the department of Human Resource Management & Organizational Behavior, received a prestigious Vici grant by the Dutch Research Council (NWO) in 2016. The grant enabled him to delve deep into the topic of creativity and study how people come up with creative ideas and explore how creativity can be man-aged within organizations in such a way that it can actually be used to create profitable innovation. As his Vici project comes to a close, he shares his main findings with FEB Research and looks to the future.

It has been a while since the slogan “war-for-talent” emerged. Especially, established firms in Europe still struggle in finding and retaining talent. On the other hand, many start-up firms succeeded by establishing employee ownership programs and thus became more attractive in the eyes of the employees. Now, also more and more established firms introduce these programs, not only for their managers but also for rank-and-file employees. However, little is known about whether these programs actually help retain the talents in the firm.

Dennis Veltrop, Reggy Hooghiemstra and Floor Rink received a research grant of approximately € 510.000 from the Foundation for Auditing Research (FAR) with € 265.000 matching from FEB, this amounts to a total grant of € 775.000 to fund a six year thematic research project in cooperation with Dutch audit firms.

In line with increased attention for Diversity & Inclusion  in Dutch Higher Education[1], specifically focusing on anti-racism interventions, the Dutch Research Council (NWO) has initiated a call for ‘ Advancing Equity in Academia through Innovation’. Researchers, diversity officers, and possible collaboration partners were invited to apply for a Sandpit Workshop 27-30 June 2022. From FEB, Edwina Wong (PhD candidate Human Resource Management/Organizational Behavior) and Ella Sebamalai (Diversity & Inclusion Officer) were selected after an application procedure earlier this year.