PhD student graduates successfully: Summa cum laude for Andreas Reinhardt
Andreas Reinhardt has defended his dissertation and becomes the first PhD student to receive his doctorate at the Chair of International Management. His research helps to develop a better understanding of the dynamics behind performance, innovation, and change in Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs).
Reaching out for the highest academic degree is not necessarily on everyone’s agenda, though Andreas says:
“I always had the idea to dive very deeply into a topic I found interesting and would like to understand more thoroughly.”
After his master studies, he started working as a strategy consultant and got involved in projects in various industries. Having had the opportunity to learn more about non-profit organizations through his work, he developed a growing interest for the topic. When a colleague then got him in contact with Prof. Dr Susanne Schmidt, Andreas decided to give it a go and began his PhD studies at the Otto-von-Guericke University in Magdeburg.
PhD research on innovation in NPOs is still rare
More than three years later, Andreas has submitted his dissertation on “Performance, Innovation, and Change in Non-Profit Organizations: A Mixed Method Analysis on the Individual and the Organizational Level”.
According to Andreas, “non-profit organizations matter because they provide important services and goods, and because they are a major contributor to the labor market and GDP. However, NPOs are still by far not as often addressed in research as other sectors of the economy. In particular, there is not sufficient knowledge available on what drives performance, innovation, and change in the non-profit sector.”
To close this gap, he specifies a list of determining factors on both the individual and the organizational level. For instance, a healthy level of passion for the organization’s cause has been found to impact a manager’s intention to innovate and stakeholder’s openness to change seems to increase when they have more power over an NPO.
Prof. Susanne Schmidt is delighted to see her PhD student graduate: “Andreas did a great job in defending his doctoral thesis. All his hard work paid off - now it’s time for him to celebrate.”
How to successfully finish your PhD
After submitting his dissertation, Andreas went back to strategy consulting and now focusses on climate-related projects. His advice for fellow and future students writing their theses:
“Be curious and focused: You will never be able to work on something for so long that you don’t find interesting enough. But you also need to stop reading and running different models at one point and get your results on paper. After all, please also try to have some fun: Meet fellow students, learn from them but also laugh with them. And let them challenge you. If possible, find someone to start a race to the ‘finish line’ (the hand-in date) – there will be a point where you need the extra motivation.”
We congratulate Andreas on his great work and wish him all the best for the future.
You are also interested in performance and innovation management? Check out our website for more information. Click here to find engaging seminars and lectures on the topic.