Unternehmensnachfolge: Eine Zielgruppenanalyse von externen Unternehmensnachfolgern (Management-Buy-In-Kandidaten)

📌 Key facts

• Mission: Investigate the problems and needs of external company successors and build a specialized knowledge which will make you an expert in a thriving business - company succession. Moreover, you will work closely together with a fintech startup and gain hands on experience. • When: Start anytime. Applications are open! • How to apply: Send us an e-mail (at the end of this page) with your CV and a grade report and a tentative research idea (research question, data, and methods, possible outcomes with a tentative outline all in word as *.docx)

Contents

• 💡 Background
• 🦾Who We Are
• 🎯 Goals
• 🧠 Topics of Interest
• 🎓 Profile
• 📚 Further Reading
• 📄 Requirements to any Work
• 📬 How to Apply

💡 Background

According to a recent IfM report, 190.000 German companies are in need of a successor in the following 5 years. A successor is a person or company that acquires the shares of a company and takes over the management responsibility.

While in the past the takeover by a daughter or son was the rule in many owner-managed companies, demographic change and broader career opportunities for the younger generation mean that more and more company owners have to find external successors. For many owners, the acquisition by a private person, so-called management-buy-in candidates, is the preferred solution, as they continue the life's work in the interest of the owners. Management buy-in candidates are essentially start-up entrepreneurs who, instead of founding a new company, seek to succeed an existing one. But what are characteristics of these management-buy-in candidates? What are the different types of management-buy-in candidates? What are their requirements and needs? What support do these candidates need in the takeover process? Within the scope of a target group analysis of management-buy-in candidates in the German speaking market, these questions, among others, will be answered. The work will be done in cooperation with the spin-off start-up of the chair, Weitergründer. In addition to insights into scientific work, you will also get direct insights into the work of a start-up.

🦾Who We Are

The Chair for Strategy and Organization is focused on research with impact. This means we do not want to repeat old ideas and base our research solely on the research people did 10 years ago. Instead, we currently research topics that will shape the future. Topics such as Agile Organizations and Digital Disruption, Blockchain Technology, Creativity and Innovation, Digital Transformation and Business Model Innovation, Diversity, Education: Education Technology and Performance Management, HRTech, Leadership, and Teams. We are always early in noticing trends, technologies, strategies, and organizations that shape the future, which has its ups and downs.

🎯 Goals

🧠 Topics of Interest

• Company Succession
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Management-Buy-In

🎓 Profile

• Fluency in German is required
• Reliable and self-driven
• Enthusiasm for entrepreneurship, company succession and research
• Ability to do sophisticated internet, desk research, and connect with practitioners
• Willing to do interviews with practitioners
• Passion to learn more about the future and do research with impact

📚 Further Reading

Unternehmensnachfolgen in Deutschland 2022 bis 2026

Wegen fehlender amtlicher Statistiken schätzt das IfM Bonn seit Mitte der 1990er Jahre die Anzahl der Unternehmen in Deutschland, die vor der Übergabe stehen. Die vorliegende Schätzung kommt zum Ergebnis, dass im Zeitraum 2022 bis 2026 etwa 190.000 Unternehmen zur Übergabe anstehen.

www.ifm-bonn.org

📄 Requirements to any Work

We do not want your research to gather dust in some corner of bookshelf but make it accessible to the world. Thus, we warmly encourage you to create some or all of the following:

• Infograph - visually represent some of your work (find examples here)
• Slide Deck - summarize your research and possibly present it
• optional: Medium Article - let people outside the university know about your research and start your personal brand

📬 How to Apply

If you are interested, please contact Dr. Nicholas Folger & Prof. Dr. Isabell Welpe (e-mail below) by submitting a short motivation letter, your CV and grade report

We're greatly looking forward to hearing more about you!

👉 nicholas.folger@tum.de; welpe@tum.de