You will conduct academic research within the Innovation Management (IM) research group in close collaboration with the Business Informatics (BINF) research group, both at the Faculty of Business Economics of Hasselt University, to obtain a doctoral degree in business economics. Artificial intelligence (AI) is an exciting general purpose technology with profound implications for business. This vacancy deals with the research topic of AI-augmented innovation management, and more specifically the role of AI in innovation ecosystem orchestration. Innovation ecosystems refer to multi-organizational collaborations to develop and commercialize innovative solutions to problems. Such innovation ecosystems generally require orchestration by a keystone firm (“the orchestrator”) to ensure proper coordination and control of interrelated innovation activities. The central question of this PhD project is how new developments in AI can assist keystone firms in orchestrating larger innovation ecosystems, such that more demanding innovation problems can be effectively handled.

As innovation ecosystems grow more complex, with a larger number of participating organizations and stronger interdependencies between these organizations, ensuring effective orchestration with adequate coordination and control gets increasingly difficult. This PhD project is aimed at (a) identifying how emerging AI technologies can support keystone firms with their ecosystem orchestration tasks, (b) examining organizational and strategic challenges for AI-augmented ecosystem orchestration and how these can be overcome, and (c) verifying how AI adoption affects the performance of innovation ecosystems in terms of the problem complexity they can address and the quality of their innovation outputs. The primary focus of this PhD project is to study strategic and organizational aspects in relation to AI-augmented innovation management, but a strong interest in learning more about AI technologies is also required. As such, in this project you will be able to complement your business skills with technical competencies, to develop a profile that is in high demand in the labor market within and beyond academia.

We are looking for a highly motivated and talented individual to join our research team as a PhD candidate. You will publish the results of your work in academic journals, participate in international conferences and seminars, and build an international network. You will also have many opportunities for further professional development, especially through the offerings of the Doctoral School of Humanities and Social Sciences. A number of teaching tasks are also part of your assignment. This includes guiding work sessions, grading exams, and supervising master thesis students.

New developments in artificial intelligence (AI) have a profound impact on the business world and how companies organize themselves. Within this doctoral project, the aim is to investigate how AI can support innovation ecosystems in solving complex innovation problems. For this research project, there is a collaboration between the research groups Innovation Management (IM) and Business Informatics (BINF) at Hasselt University.

The doctoral student will be formally appointed at the IM research group, but will receive guidance from both the IM group (promotor) and the BINF group (co-promotor). The IM research group is part of the Marketing & Strategy (MARS) capacity group. The central theme of this research group is strategic innovation management, with a special focus on the disruptive forces of digitalization and sustainability and how these affect businesses. The research group strives for scientific research that is both academically outstanding and practically relevant. Research conducted at the IM research group is published in leading international scientific journals such as the Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, and Research Policy, as well as in practitioner magazines with a global reach such as Harvard Business Review, and MIT Sloan Management Review.

• You have, or will have by October 2024, a master’s degree in Management, Business Administration, (Business) Economics, Business Engineering, Business and Information Systems Engineering (or equivalent)
  Final-year students are (likewise) encouraged to apply.
• You have a strong interest in scientific research in general and in the PhD topic specifically, which combines the themes of business and technology.
• You demonstrate the necessary critical attitude as a researcher.
• You have excellent project management skills.
• You have strong problem-solving skills.
• You work accurately with a focus on high-quality end results.
• You are proactive and show initiative.
• You can work systematically and in a self-directed manner.
• You can work independently as well as in a team.
• You have good oral and written communication skills in English.
• Knowledge of Dutch is a plus.

You will be appointed and paid as PhD student.
We offer you a full-time position in a fixed-term contract (2 x 2 years, subject to positive interim evaluation). Start planned from 16/10/2024.

The selection procedure consists of a preselection based on application file and an interview.

Apply now
Apply up to 09.08.2024