Max von Zedtwitz

Max von Zedtwitz
Max von Zedtwitz
Born	Switzerland
Residence	California, United States
Education	M.Sc. (Computer Science) MBA (Technology Management) Ph.D. (Management)
Alma mater	ETH Zurich University of St. Gallen
Occupation	Academia, researcher, consultant, executive education, coach
Employer	GLORAD
Website	http://www.glorad.org/zedtwitz

Max von Zedtwitz (born in Switzerland) is a scholar of global R&D and innovation with a focus on emerging countries. He is Managing Director of GLORAD, a research network with locations in China and Switzerland, and professor at universities in Europe and China.

Scientific work

Von Zedtwitz's work is at the intersection of international business, innovation, and R&D Management. With collaborator Oliver Gassmann, he proposed a behavioral model of organizational evolution of global R&D organization.^[1] This model contends that firms follow a limited number of strategic paths when internationalizing R&D activities, requiring internal actors (business units and R&D centers) to behave, collaborate and communicate in ways commensurate with the complexity and maturity of the global R&D organization.^[2] He and Gassmann also formulated a supply-and-demand model for innovation globalization, which suggests that global R&D organization is strongly influenced by two principal external drivers, namely access to markets and access to technology.^[3] In managerial writings, especially his book on Managing Global Innovation,^[4] he outlined support mechanisms appropriate to lead global innovation teams within such R&D organizations.^[5]

One of the first to focus on R&D in China,^[6] he worked on the theory of reverse innovation and innovation in emerging countries,^[7] both inbound R&D investments and management of innovation in China and outbound internationalization of R&D by Chinese firms. In this context, he refined organizational growth models for individual units as well as networks of units. He also contributed to the theory of global R&D flows, pharmaceutical innovation, and business incubator management.^[8]

Awards

• 2009 IAMOT Award for Research Excellence (top-50 researcher worldwide in technology management) ^[9]

Selected publications

• Keupp, M.; Friesike, S.; von Zedtwitz, M. (2012): How Do Foreign Firms Patent in Emerging Economies with Weak Appropriability Regimes? Archetypes and Motives. Research Policy, Vol. 41, No. 8, 1422-1439.
• von Zedtwitz, M.; Gassmann, O. (2002): Market versus Technology Drive in R&D Internationalization: Four different patterns of managing research and development. Research Policy, 31, 4, 569–588.
• Gassmann, O.; von Zedtwitz, M. (1999): New Concepts and Trends in International R&D Organization. Research Policy, Vol. 28, 231–250.
• von Zedtwitz, M.; Birkinshaw, J.; Gassmann, O. (2008, Editors): Management of International Research and Development. Edgar Elgar: Cheltenham.
• Sun, Y.; von Zedtwitz, M.; Simon, D. (2008, Editors): Global R&D and China. Routledge: Oxford.
• Boutellier, R.; Gassmann, O.; von Zedtwitz, M. (2008): Managing Global Innovation – Uncovering the Secrets of Future Competitiveness. 3rd ed. Springer: Heidelberg.
• Festel, G.; Kreimeyer, A.; Oels, U.; von Zedtwitz, M. (2005, Editors): The Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industry in China – Challenges and Threats for Foreign Companies. Springer: Heidelberg.

See also

• R&D Management
• Global R&D management

References

External links

• Max von Zedtwitz at GLORAD
• Max von Zedtwitz at Tongji University
• Max von Zedtwitz at University of St. Gallen
• Publications through Google Scholar