Research approach
The focus of the scientific research activities of the chair is in the field of behavioral science-based personnel and organizational research. They are always characterized by an interdisciplinary linking of economic, psychological, socio-psychological as well as sociological insights and theories.
Special attention is devoted to the theoretically well-founded and empirically supported description and explanation of the contexts of origin and interdependency of personnel role performance in medium-sized enterprises. In particular, for the group of small and medium-sized enterprises the scientific analysis of personnel issues and problems is still showing significant research deficits. Whereas large parts of the scientific personnel research are characterized by the influence of a "personnel management" perspective of rather large-scale companies, the interest in the field of SME and entrepreneurship research is mostly focused on problems from any other business functional fields (e.g. strategic management, technology and innovation management, marketing).
However, the mere identification of any differences with regard to the human resources work of SMEs compared to large companies is not only central for our research work in this context. In particular, special interest is also devoted to the "personnel domestic variability" within the group of small and medium-sized enterprises, that is the search for any appropriate explanatory approaches for the observable diversity of personnel behavior patterns in these companies.