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Univ.-Prof. Dr. Christopher Lettl

Teaching       

Professor Christopher Lettl is Director of the Institute for Strategy, Technology and Organization at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Vienna). He is also Academic Director of the Vienna Innovation Program, a collaboration of WU Vienna with Top Universities from the United States.

His research focuses on the paradigm-shifting phenomenon of open and user innovation. He studies how organizations may best manage the opportunities and threats induced by this phenomenon with a specific focus on implications for strategy and organization design. Beyond this and more generally, he is interested in the areas of entrepreneurship, innovation management, strategic management, and organization theory. He has been cooperating in his research with scholars from renowned international institutions such as for example Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Berkeley University of California, Bocconi University, Copenhagen Business School, University of Zurich and ETH Zurich. He received extensive research funding from various renowned funding organizations. The results of his research have been presented on international conferences and published in leading academic journals like Organization Science, Journal of Consumer ResearchStrategic Management JournalResearch Policy or Journal of Product Innovation Management. His research has been featured in leading business media, including the New York Times and Handelsblatt. He received numerous research and teaching awards.

He serves the scientific community in numerous functions as Co-Editor and Referee for international journals, conferences, search committees, and funding organizations. For example, he has been a Referee for leading academic journals such as for example Management Science, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal or Journal of Consumer Research, and he is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Product Innovation Management and the Journal of Organization Design. He served as Key Note Speaker at distinguished policy events and as Key Note Speaker at distinguished academic conferences such as for example the Open and User Innovation Conference 2014 at Harvard Business School. He has been serving as Academic Advisor for the G8-G5 Heiligendamm Process on Innovation and Intellectual Property Rights, for the UK Minister of Science and Innovation, and for the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Resort: Invest in Denmark). At the European Forum Alpbach he repeatedly contributed as Speaker and Organizer of breakout sessions.

He consulted numerous companies including for example IBM, Johnson & Johnson, Siemens, Lego, or Bang & Olufsen in their entrepreneurship and innovation initiatives. He has founded and established several educational programs in entrepreneurship and innovation management and teaches in the EDEN doctoral program of the European Institute of Advanced Studies in Management (EIASM). He is founding member of the Open and User Innovation Society and Organizer of the Doctoral Consortium at the Open and User Innovation Conference. Beyond leading the Institute and contributing to the development of the Department, he serves WU in numerous other positions such as for example as Member of the Advisory Board of the WU-OMV Energy and Strategy Think Tank or as Co-Organizer of the Speaker Series at the Department of Strategy and Innovation.

From October 2016 until September 2019 he served as Chairman of the WU Senate and as Representative of WU’s Full Professors.

Curiculum Vitae

2009Vienna University of Economics and Business
2006 - 2009Full Professor, Chair of Technology and Innovation Management, Aarhus School of Business, University of Aarhus
2006Habilitation in Business Administration
2003 - 2006Assistant and Associate Professor (wissenschaftlicher Assistent & Privatdozent), Berlin University of Technology
2003Doctoral Degree in Business Administration, Hamburg University of Technology
2000 - 2003Lecturer (wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter) and doctoral student, Hamburg University of Technology
1999 - 2000Lecturer (Vertragsassistent), Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration
1993 - 1998University of Hamburg

Honors

  • Finalist of the 2018 Page JPIM (The Journal of Product Innovation Management) Best Paper Award for the article: Value creation and value capture in open innovation. Journal of Product Innovation Management (together with Henry Chesbrough and Thomas Ritter).

  • Winner of the 2016 Thomas P. Hustad JPIM Best Paper Award for the article: The Social Network Position of Lead Users (together with Jan Kratzer, Nikolaus Franke and Peter Gloor)

  • Best Paper Selection for AOM Conference 2016, Anaheim, for the article: Exploring motivations of participants in grand challenges: A comparative case study in the space sector (together with Christian Garaus and Florian Schirg)

  • Nominated for  2014 JPIM (The Journal of Product Innovation Management) Best Paper:  "Synergies among Producer Firms, Lead Users, and User Communities: The Case of the Lego Producer- User Ecosystem” (together with Christoph Hienerth and Peter Keinz)

  • Selected as one of 9 articles included in the first virtual issue of The Journal of Product Innovation Management on the topic of co-creation: "Synergies among Producer Firms, Lead Users, and User Communities: The Case of the Lego Producer- User Ecosystem” (together with Christoph Hienerth and Peter Keinz)

  • Symposium Proposal on Linking Open Innovation to Business Models selected for inclusion in the All-Academy Theme (AAT) program, AOM Conference 2015, Vancouver (together with Henry Chesbrough, Thomas Ritter, Christopher Tucci).

  • Best Paper Selection for AOM Conference 2015, Vancouver, for the article: “Drivers of positive attention on firm-hosted user design platforms” (together with Morten Berg Jensen and Christoph Hienerth).

  • Best Paper Award Finalist, Academy of Management Conference 2014, Philadelphia, Technology and Innovation Management Division, for the article: "Does God play Dice?" Randomness vs. Deterministic Explanations of Crowdsourcing Success" (together with Nikolaus Franke, Susanne Roiser und Philipp Türtscher).

  • Best Paper Selection for AOM Conference 2014, Philadelphia, for the article: “Does God play Dice?” Randomness vs. Deterministic Explanations of Crowdsourcing Success” (together with Nikolaus Franke, Susanne Roiser und Philipp Türtscher).

  • Best Paper Selection for AOM Conference 2012, Boston, for the article: “From funding to founding - The changing role of investors” (together with Stephan Jung).

  • WU Award: Cooperation Representative of the Year (2011) - Granted by the WU Vienna International Office.

  • WU Teaching Award 2010 in the category „Excellent Teaching“ for the course “Exploring Core Challenges in Open Innovation".

  • Best Paper Selection for AOM Conference 2010, Montreal, for the article: “Forecasting the attractiveness of user-generated designs via online data: An empirical study within the LEGO community” (together with Morten Berg-Jensen and Christoph Hienerth).

  • Research Grant from Danish Strategic Research Council for research program on the Governance of Community-based Innovation (together with Professor Sören Salomo from the Danish Technical University, Copenhagen) – Funds provided by the Council: Euro 2.5 Million.

  • Finalist for the Danish Elite Research Award 2009.

  • Elite Teaching Award 2009 by the Danish Ministry of Education for the course concept „Collaborative New Business Development“.

  • Active Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Art.

  • Nominated and selected for Election Ballot for the position as Division Representative-at-Large of the TIM Division - Academy of Management.

  • Winner of the Tudor Rickards Best Paper Award 2008 for the article “Towards a social network perspective of lead users and creativity: An empirical study among children”, Creativity and Innovation Management 17, with Jan Kratzer).

Buch (Monographie)

2004 Lettl, Christopher. 2004. Die Rolle von Anwendern bei hochgradigen Innovationen: Eine explorative Fallstudienanalyse in der Medizintechnik. Mehr erfahren

Beitrag in Sammelwerk

2020 Lettl, Christopher. 2020. Lead users and the organization In: Managing Innovation in a Global and Digital World. Meeting Societal Challenges and Enhancing Competitiveness. Hrsg. Tiwari, Rajnish, Busse, Stephan. Mehr erfahren
2015 Lettl, Christopher, Perkmann Berger, Stefan, Roiser, Susanne. 2015. Exploring why and to what extent lead users share knowledge with producer firms In: Revolutionizing Innovation: Festschrift for Eric von Hippel. Hrsg. Lakhani, K., Harhoff, D. Mehr erfahren
2014 Lettl, Christopher, Speckbacher, Gerhard. 2014. Collaborative Communities als Organisationsform für Innovation In: Motoren der Innovation: Zukunftsperspektiven der Innovationsforschung. Hrsg. Schultz, C.; Hölzle, K. Mehr erfahren
2011 Herstatt, Cornelius, Lüthje, Christian, Lettl, Christopher. 2011. Relying on experts: How to effectively gather information for innovative projects from market specialists In: Managing Innovation Driven Companies. Hrsg. H., Herstatt, C., Probert, D., Gemuenden, H.G., Colombo, M., De Weerd-Nederhof, P., Schweisfurth, T. Mehr erfahren
2009 Snow, Charles, Strauss, Doreen R., Lettl, Christopher. 2009. Blade.org: A collaborative community of firms In: New Approaches to Organization Design: Theory and Practice of Adaptive Enterprises. Hrsg. Bøllingtoft, A.; Håkonsson, D.D.; Nielsen, J.F.; Snow, C.C.; Ulhøi, J. Mehr erfahren
2009 Kratzer, Jan, Gemuenden, Hans Georg, Lettl, Christopher. 2009. The Dynamics of Formal and Informal Networks in Complex Multi-Team Product Development Cooperations Throughout Project Stages In: Projekte als Kulturerlebnis. Hrsg. Dorn, M. Engstler, C.J. Fitsimons, G. Kerber, K. Wagenhals, R. Wagner. Mehr erfahren
2006 Herstatt, Cornelius, Lettl, Christopher. 2006. Marktorientierte Erfolgsfaktoren technologiegetriebener Entwicklungsprojekte In: Management von Innovation und Risiko. Hrsg. Gassmann, O.; Kobe, C. Mehr erfahren
2005 Lettl, Christopher, Zboralski, Katja, Gemuenden, Hans Georg. 2005. Trust in virtual teams In: Encyclopaedia of Communities of Practice in Information and Knowledge Management. Hrsg. Clarke, S.; Coakes, E. Mehr erfahren
2003 Herstatt, Cornelius, Luethje, Christian, Lettl, Christopher. 2003. Fortschrittliche Kunden zu Breakthrough-Innovationen stimulieren In: Management der frühen Innovationsphasen: Grundlagen – Methoden – Neue Ansätze. Hrsg. Herstatt, C.; Verworn, B. Mehr erfahren
2003 Luethje, Christian, Lettl, Christopher, Herstatt, Cornelius. 2003. Zukunftsorientierung und Kundenbezug im Innovationsprozess sichern: Der Einsatz der Lead User Methode zur Entwicklung neuartiger Medizinprodukte In: Mass Customization und Kundenintegration. Hrsg. Piller, F. T.; Stotko, Ch. M. Mehr erfahren
2003 Lettl, Christopher. 2003. Breakthrough-Innovationen in der Medizintechnik - Eine Analyse der frühen Phasen In: Management der frühen Innovationsphasen: Grundlagen – Methoden – Neue Ansätze. Hrsg. Herstatt, C.; Verworn, B. Mehr erfahren
2001 Herstatt, Cornelius, Lettl, Christopher. 2001. Durchbruchinnovationen gezielt fördern In: Das innovative Unternehmen. Hrsg. Barkse, H.; Gerybadze, A.; Hünninnghausen, L.; Sommerlatte, T. Mehr erfahren
2000 Herstatt, Cornelius, Lettl, Christopher. 2000. Management von technologiegetriebenen Entwicklungsprojekten In: High Risk Projekte. Hrsg. Gassmann, O.; Kobe, C.; Voit, E. Mehr erfahren

Originalbeitrag in Fachzeitschrift

2020 Garaus, Christian, Izdebski, Nadine, Lettl, Christopher. 2020. What Do Crowd Equity Investors Do? Exploring Post-Investment Activities in Equity Crowdfunding. Mehr erfahren
2018 Ritter, Thomas, Lettl, Christopher. 2018. Wider Implications of Business Model Research. Mehr erfahren
2018 Chesbrough, Henry, Lettl, Christopher, Ritter, Thomas. 2018. Value creation and value capture in open innovation. Mehr erfahren
2017 Hienerth, Christoph, Lettl, Christopher. 2017. Understanding the Nature and Measurement of the Lead User Construct. Mehr erfahren
2016 Kratzer, Jan, Lettl, Christopher, Franke, Nikolaus, Gloor, Peter. 2016. The Social Network Position of Lead Users. Mehr erfahren
2015 de Araújo Bucharth, Ana Luiza, Lettl, Christopher, Ulhøi, John Parm. 2015. Extending organizational antecedents of absorptive capacity: Organizational characteristics that encourage experimentation. Mehr erfahren
2014 Lettl, Christopher, Speckbacher, Gerhard. 2014. Business Model Innovation. Mehr erfahren
2014 Hienerth, Christoph, Lettl, Christopher, Keinz, Peter. 2014. Synergies among producer firms, lead users, and user communities: The case of the LEGO producer-user ecosystem. Mehr erfahren
2014 Berg-Jensen, Morten, Hienerth, Christoph, Lettl, Christopher. 2014. Forecasting the commercial attractiveness of user-generated designs using online data.An empirical study within the LEGO user community. Mehr erfahren
2013 Houman Andersen, Poul, Kragh, Hanne, Lettl, Christopher. 2013. Spanning across organizational boundaries to manage creative processes: The case of LEGO. Mehr erfahren
2012 Keinz, Peter, Hienerth, Christoph, Lettl, Christopher. 2012. Designing the organization for user innovation. Mehr erfahren
2012 Fjelstad, Oystein, Snow, Charles, Miles, Raymond, Lettl, Christopher. 2012. The architecture of collaboration. Mehr erfahren
2011 Kratzer, Jan, Lettl, Christopher. 2011. Die Identifizierung von Lead Usern über soziale Netzwerke: Eine empirische Untersuchung unter jungen Konsumenten. Mehr erfahren
2011 Snow, Charles, Fjeldstad, Øystein, Lettl, Christopher, Miles, Raymond. 2011. Organizing continuous product development and commercialization: The collaborative community of firms model. Mehr erfahren
2011 Kratzer, Jan, Gemuenden, Hans Georg, Lettl, Christopher. 2011. The organizational design of large R&D collaborations and its effect on time and budget efficiency: The contrast between blueprint and reality. Mehr erfahren
2011 Hienerth, Christoph, Keinz, Peter, Lettl, Christopher. 2011. Exploring the nature and implementation process of IT-based user-centric business models. Mehr erfahren
2011 Hienerth, Christoph, Lettl, Christopher. 2011. Exploring how peer communities enable lead user innovations to become the industry standard: Community pull effects. Mehr erfahren
2010 Miles, Raymond, Snow, Charles, Fjeldstad, Øystein, Miles, Grant, Lettl, Christopher. 2010. Designing organizations to meet 21st-century opportunities and challenges. Mehr erfahren
2010 Snow, Charles, Fjeldstad, Øystein, Lettl, Christopher, Miles, Raymond. 2010. Introduction to the special issue. Mehr erfahren
2009 Kratzer, Jan, Lettl, Christopher. 2009. Distinctive roles of lead users and opinion leaders in the social networks of schoolchildren. Mehr erfahren
2009 Lettl, Christopher, Rost, Katja, Von Wartburg, Iwan. 2009. Why are some independent inventors 'heroes' and others 'hobbyists'? The moderating role of technological diversity and specialization. Mehr erfahren
2008 Kratzer, Jan, Lettl, Christopher. 2008. A social network perspective of lead users and creativity: An empirical study among children. Mehr erfahren
2008 Kratzer, Jan, Gemuenden, Hans Georg, Lettl, Christopher. 2008. Revealing dynamics and consequences of fit and misfit between formal and informal networks in multi-institutional product development collaborations. Mehr erfahren
2008 Grunert, K. G., Jensen, B. B., Sonne, A., Brunsø, K., Byrne, D. V., Clausen, C., Friis, A., Holm, L., Hyldig, G., Kristensen, N. H., Lettl, Christopher, Scholderer, J. 2008. User-oriented innovation in the food sector: Relevant streams of research and an agenda for future work. Mehr erfahren
2008 Kratzer, Jan, Gemuenden, Hans Georg, Lettl, Christopher. 2008. Balancing creativity and time efficiency in multi-team R&D projects: The alignment of formal and informal networks. Mehr erfahren
2008 Lettl, Christopher, Hienerth, Christoph, Gemuenden, Hans Georg. 2008. Exploring how lead users develop radical innovation: Opportunity recognition and exploitation in the field of medical equipment technology. Mehr erfahren
2007 Lettl, Christopher. 2007. User involvement competence for radical innovation. Mehr erfahren
2006 Dammer, Henning, Gemuenden, Hans Georg, Lettl, Christopher. 2006. Qualitätsdimensionen eines Multiprojekt-Managements - Eine konzeptionelle Analyse. Mehr erfahren
2006 Dammer, Henning, Gemuenden, Hans Georg, Lettl, Christopher. 2006. Organisatorische Einflussfaktoren des Multiprojektmanagements. Mehr erfahren
2006 Lettl, Christopher, Herstatt, Cornelius, Gemuenden, Hans Georg. 2006. Learning from users for radical innovation. Mehr erfahren
2006 Gemuenden, Hans Georg, Hoelzle, Katharina, Lettl, Christopher. 2006. Formale und informale Determinanten des Innovationserfolges: Eine kritische Analyse des Zusammenspiels der Kräfte am Beispiel der Innovatorenrollen. Mehr erfahren
2006 Lettl, Christopher, Herstatt, Cornelius, Gemuenden, Hans Georg. 2006. Users' contributions to radical innovation: Evidence from four cases in the field of medical equipment technology. Mehr erfahren
2005 Lettl, Christopher. 2005. Users as inventors and developers of radical innovation. Mehr erfahren
2005 Lettl, Christopher, Gemuenden, Hans Georg. 2005. The entrepreneurial role of innovative users. Mehr erfahren
2005 Lettl, Christopher. 2005. The emergence of radically new health care technologies: Inventive users as innovation networkers. Mehr erfahren
2004 Herstatt, Cornelius, Lettl, Christopher. 2004. Management of 'technology push' development projects. Mehr erfahren
2003 Lüthje, Christian, Lettl, Christopher, Herstatt, Cornelius. 2003. Knowledge distribution among market experts: A closer look into the efficiency of information gathering for innovation projects. Mehr erfahren
2002 Herstatt, Cornelius, Luethje, Christian, Lettl, Christopher. 2002. Wie fortschrittliche Kunden zu Innovationen stimulieren. Mehr erfahren

Beitrag in Konferenzband

2022 Staub, Alexander, Grad, Tom, Lettl, Christopher. 2022. Heavy Medal - The Consequences of Introducing Symbolic Awards on Contribution Behavior in Online Communities In: Digitization for the Next Generation. Mehr erfahren
2022 Staub, Alexander, Lettl, Christopher, Grad, Tom. 2022. The Impact of Symbolic Award Introductions on Contribution Behavior in Online Communities In: Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings. Mehr erfahren
2016 Garaus, Christian, Lettl, Christopher, Schirg, Florian. 2016. Exploring motivations of participants in grand challenges: A comparative case study in the space sector In: Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings. Hrsg. Academy of Management. Mehr erfahren
2015 Berg-Jensen, Morten, Hienerth, Christoph, Lettl, Christopher. 2015. Drivers of positive attention in firm-hosted user design platforms. An empirical study of the LEGO DesignByMe platform In: Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings. Hrsg. Academy of Management. Mehr erfahren
2014 Franke, Nikolaus, Lettl, Christopher, Türtscher, Philipp, Roiser, Susanne. 2014. Does God Play Dice? - Randomness vs. Deterministic Explanations of Crowdsourcing Success In: Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings. Hrsg. Academy of Management. Mehr erfahren
2012 Jung, Stephan, Lettl, Christopher. 2012. From funding to founding - The changing role of investors In: Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings. Hrsg. Academy of Management. Mehr erfahren
2010 Berg-Jensen, Morten, Lettl, Christopher, Hienerth, Christoph. 2010. Forecasting the attractiveness of user-generated designs via online data: An empirical study within the LEGO community In: Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings. Hrsg. Academy of Management. Mehr erfahren

Sonstige wissenschaftliche Veröffentlichung

2019 Staub, Alexander, Lettl, Christopher, Grad, Tom. 2019. Symbolic incentives and member behavior in online communities. Mehr erfahren
2019 Staub, Alexander, Lettl, Christopher, Grad, Tom. 2019. Level Up: How symbolic incentives affect online community members‘ contributions. Mehr erfahren

Sammelband (Herausgeberschaft)

2018 Lettl, Christopher, Ritter, Thomas. 2018. Business Models and Business Model Innovation: Wider Implications for Research and Practice. Mehr erfahren
2010 Snow, Charles, Fjeldstad, Oystein, Lettl, Christopher, Miles, Raymond. 2010. Guest Editors: Designing Organizations for the 21st-Century Global Economy. Special Issue. Organizational Dynamics 39(2). Mehr erfahren