Prof. Dr.
Ann-Kristin Zobel
Associate Professor of Management
Ann-Kristin Zobel is Associate Professor of Management at the University of St.Gallen. She received her B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. from the School of Business and Economics at Maastricht University. Prior to her appointment at the University of St.Gallen, she held a postdoctoral position at the Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley and a senior researcher position at ETH Zurich. Ann-Kristin Zobel’s research focuses on how firms strategically manage collaborative forms of innovation.
Since February 2020, Prof. Dr. Ann-Kristin Zobel has been Associate Professor of Management at the University of St.Gallen. She holds a B.Sc. in International Business, an M.Sc. in Business Research, and a Ph.D. titled ‘Open Innovation: A Dynamic Capabilities Perspective’ from Maastricht University in the Netherlands. During her doctoral studies, she held a visiting researcher position at the University of California Berkeley (USA). Upon completing her Ph.D., she took a postdoctoral position from 2013 to 2015 at the Haas School of Business at the University of California Berkeley (USA). In 2015 she joined the Group for Sustainability and Technology at the Department of Management, Technology and Economics, ETH Zurich as a senior researcher. Ann-Kristin Zobel’s research focuses on how firms strategically manage collaborative forms of innovation (e.g. open innovation, innovation ecosystems, meta-organizations). In particular, she investigates how firms search for and absorb knowledge residing outside their boundaries, how they coordinate and govern more complex multi-party collaborations, and how they capture value in a collaborative innovation setting. In these fields, she has published numerous articles in leading academic journals (e.g. Journal of Management Studies, Academy of Management Perspectives, Journal of Product Innovation Management). In her current work, she focuses on the energy sector as an ideal setting for empirically investigating collaborative strategies in a technologically complex and turbulent environment. In a recently acquired project from the National Research Program “Digital Transformation” (NRP 77), she extends her analysis of collaborative strategies to the digital transformation of energy and mobility solutions in the context of smart cities. Prof. Zobel is a member of the organizing committee of the “World Open Innovation Conference”, a leading innovation conference that combines academic and industry perspectives. Since 2016, she has been co-leading (with a colleague at the Stanford Graduate School of Business) a research project on “Free Electrons”, a consortium of ten international energy utilities and works closely with these industry partners to transfer her scientific findings into practice. She also served as a member of the board and head of the work package “Energy, Innovation & Management” of the SCCER-CREST (Competence Center for Research in Energy, Society and Transition), which works in close cooperation with industry partners and develops strategic and political recommendations for the energy transition in Switzerland.
Education
- 2013, Ph.D., Maastricht University, the Netherlands
- 2012, Visiting Ph.D., Haas School of Business, University California Berkeley, USA
- 2010, M.Sc., Maastricht University, the Netherlands
- 2008, B.Sc. in International Business, Maastricht University, the Netherlands
- 2008, Visiting Student, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada
Work Experience
- 2013-2015, Postdoctoral researcher, Haas School of Business, University of California Berkeley, USA
- 2015-2020, Senior researcher, Group for Sustainability and Technology, Department of Management Technology, and Economics, ETH Zurich
Awards
- 2022, Abbie Griffin High Impact Award for the article “Benefiting from Open Innovation: A Multidimensional Model of Absorptive Capacity” awarded by the Journal of Product Innovation Management
- 2020, NRP 77 ‘Digital Transformation’, Swiss National Science Foundation
- 2020, Most cited article, Industry and Innovation
- 2015, Maastricht University Best Dissertation 2013, Maastricht University
- 2010, Top 3% Students of the Academic Year 2009/2010, Maastricht University
Journal Articles
- Lukas Falcke, Ann-Kristin Zobel, Stephen Comello (2023). How firms realign to tackle the grand challenge of climate change: An innovation ecosystems perspective. Journal of Product Innovation Management. Wiley. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jpim.12687
- Ann-Kristin Zobel, Lukas Falcke, Stephen Comello (2023). A temporal perspective on boundary spanning: engagement dynamics and implications for knowledge transfer. Organization Science. Informs. https://pubsonline.informs.org/doi/abs/10.1287/orsc.2023.1677
- Lukas Falcke, Ann-Kristin Zobel (2023). Unlocking Metaverse Potential for Open Innovation: Leveraging Digital Features to Build Trust with Partners. California Management Review. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/118291
- Ann-Kristin Zobel, Hagedoorn, J. (2020). Implications of open innovation for organizational boundaries and the governance of contractual relations. Academy of Management Perspectives, 34(3). Academy of Management Perspectives. https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/amp.2016.0175
- Hagedoorn, J., Lokshin, B., Ann-Kristin Zobel (2018). Partner Type Diversity in Alliance Portfolios: Multiple Dimensions, Boundary Conditions and Firm Innovation Performance. Journal of Management Studies, 55(5), 809-836. Blackwell Publishing Limited. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joms.12326
- Ann-Kristin Zobel, Lokshin, B., Hagedoorn, J. (2017). Formal and informal appropriation mechanisms: The role of openness and innovativeness. Technovation, 59, 44-54. Elsevier Scientific Publishing Co.. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166497216303339?via%3Dihub
- Ann-Kristin Zobel (2016). Benefiting from Open Innovation: A Multidimensional Model of Absorptive Capacity. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 34(3), 269-288. Wiley. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jpim.12361
- Bogers, M., Ann-Kristin Zobel, Afuah, A., Almirall, E., Brunswicker, S., Dahlander, L., Frederiksen, L., Gawer, A., Gruber, M., Haefliger, S., Hagedoorn, J., Hilgers, D., Laursen, K., Magnusson, M., Majchrzak, A., McCarthy, I., Moeslein, K., Nambisan, S., Piller, F., Radziwon, A., Rossi-Lamastra, C., Sims, J., ter Wal, A. (2016). The open innovation research landscape: established perspectives and emerging themes across different levels of analysis. Industry and Innovation, 24(1), 8-40. Taylor & Francis. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13662716.2016.1240068?scroll=top&needAccess=true&role=tab&aria-labelledby=full-article
- Ann-Kristin Zobel, Balsmeier, B., Chesbrough, H. (2016). Does patenting help or hinder open innovation? Evidence from new entrants in the solar industry. Industrial and Corporate Change, 25(3), 307-331. Industrial and Corporate Change. https://academic.oup.com/icc/article-abstract/25/2/307/2357471?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false
- Hagedoorn, J., Ann-Kristin Zobel (2015). The role of contracts and intellectual property rights in open innovation. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, 27(9), 1050-1067. Taylor & Francis. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09537325.2015.1056134
Book Sections
- Ann-Kristin Zobel, Comello, S., Falcke, L. (2023). Accelerating the Race to Net-Zero through Open Innovation. Handbook on Open Innovation. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/107949
Conference Papers
- Ann-Kristin Zobel, Lukas Falcke, Lukas Rickling, Qinli Lu, Rhea Riemke (2023). Decarbonizing, together, faster: How configurations of (open) innovation and governance advance corporate low-carbon transformations. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/118673
- Falcke, L., Ann-Kristin Zobel, Comello, S. (2022). Not-invented-here or belonging to the world: Identifying with and giving sense to open innovation. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/108115
- Falcke, L., Ann-Kristin Zobel, Comello, S. (2022). Tackling the Grand Challenge of Climate Change with Ecosystem Innovation. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/116955
- Falcke, L., Ann-Kristin Zobel, Comello, S. (2022). Tackling Grand Challenges with Ecosystem Innovation. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/116953
- Falcke, L., Ann-Kristin Zobel, Comello, S. (2022). Tackling the Grand Challenge of Climate Change with Ecosystem Innovation. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/108644
- Falcke, L., Ann-Kristin Zobel, Comello, S. (2022). Tackling Grand Challenges with Ecosystem Innovation. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/116956
- Falcke, L., Comello, S., Ann-Kristin Zobel (2021). Tackling Grand Challenges with Ecosystem Innovation: How Ecosystem Configurations in the Electricity Sector contribute to climate-related Sustainable Development Goals. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/116867
- Ann-Kristin Zobel, Comello, S. (2021). Keeping it together: A process perspective of forming and sustaining meta-organizations without a central architect. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/116866
- Falcke, L., Comello, S., Ann-Kristin Zobel (2021). Sourcing External Digital Solutions: The Interplay of Digital Technology Architecture and Knowledge Exchange Processes. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/110041
- Ann-Kristin Zobel, Comello, S. (2021). Keeping it Together: A Process Perspective of Forming and Sustaining Meta-Organizations without a Central Architect. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/110068
- Falcke, L., Comello, S., Ann-Kristin Zobel (2021). Sourcing external digital solution: Digital technologies' architecture and knowledge exchange. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/110151
- Falcke, L., Comello, S., Ann-Kristin Zobel (2021). Sourcing external digital solution: Digital technologies' architecture and knowledge exchange. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/110252
- Falcke, L., Comello, S., Ann-Kristin Zobel (2021). Sourcing External Digital Solutions: The Interplay of Digital Technology Architecture and Knowledge Exchange Processes. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/110351
- Falcke, L., Comello, S., Ann-Kristin Zobel (2020). How Open Innovation makes your Company Smart: A Framework for Integrating Digital Solutions from External Partners. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/111506
- Ann-Kristin Zobel, Falcke, L., Comello, S. (2020). Crossing Firm Boundaries: How Boundary Spanners Search Over Time and Across Organizational Contexts. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/111932
- Ann-Kristin Zobel, Falcke, L., Comello, S. (2020). Crossing Firm Boundaries: How Boundary Spanners Search Over Time and Across Organizational Contexts. Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, 2020(1). Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceeding. https://journals.aom.org/doi/10.5465/AMBPP.2020.184
- Ann-Kristin Zobel, Comello, S. (2019). How to organize meta-organizations when there is no central architect? New mechanisms of heterarchical design. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/99738
- Ann-Kristin Zobel, Comello, S. (2017). Organizing the open: new mechanisms of or-ganization design in open innovation systems. https://www.alexandria.unisg.ch/handle/20.500.14171/101706