Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (MUT)
Chair of Marketing
Building bridges between businesses and customers: theory, practice and digital business models
The Chair of Marketing focuses on the challenges of digitalisation that companies must address. It covers topics in the following areas: retail, B2B sales, digital business models, brand management and new product development/preference measurement.
We
- publish our research findings in high-impact international journals,
- place great emphasis on practice-oriented teaching that incorporates the latest research findings,
- promote teamwork in our teaching and
- collaborate closely with businesses in both research and teaching.
Prof. Dr. Michael Steiner became interim holder of the Chair of Marketing at Witten/Herdecke University in mid-2014 and has held the chair permanently since 2015.
The team at the Chair of Marketing: Prof. Dr Michael Steiner, M.Sc. Lisa Mottl, Tina Göge (Photo: Christian Köster)
News
Chair holder
Univ.-Prof. Dr.
Michael Steiner
Programme Coordinator B.Sc. Management
Faculty of Management, Economics and Society
Chair Holder
Faculty of Management, Economics and Society (Department of Management and Entrepreneurship) | Chair of Marketing
Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50
58455 Witten
Room number: C-1.157
Research
Main research areas are:
- Retail
- Online retail
- Digitalisation in B2B sales
- Brand management, private labels
- Limited editions & scarcity
- Luxury goods marketing
- Service management, B2B services, marketing of hybrid products
- Systems, platform business models
- Innovation & Technology Management
- Preference measurement, assessing willingness to pay
- Decision-making under risk, consumer protection.
All of our research projects are grounded in behavioral science, specifically consumer behaviour. The research focuses on analysing the decision-making behaviour and preferences of consumers, sellers, buyers and other market participants in consumer and industrial goods markets.
The research projects frequently address interdisciplinary issues. Accordingly, we collaborate with project partners from various research fields (e.g. operations research, finance, health management or computer science). Completed research projects cover the areas of multi-attribute utility theory, recommender systems and e-learning.
Current research projects
Publications
Teaching
Teaching at the Chair of Marketing at Witten/Herdecke University is both theoretically sound and practice-oriented.
Marketing is significantly influenced by digitalisation in both research and teaching. It enables entirely new business models and has a considerable impact on all areas of marketing, such as the marketing mix and customer management strategies. Furthermore, the methods used to analyse customer data are changing. All courses therefore focus intensively on the current changes caused by digitalisation.
Almost all courses are taught in English.
In our modules, students explore various subject areas, such as:
- Brand management
- Strategic marketing
- The 4 Ps (product, price, distribution, and communication strategies)
- Customer management
- Market-oriented business management
- Market research.
All courses are interactive, demanding, and supportive in equal measure, with in-depth discussion as a fixed component.
Beyond conveying knowledge, the lecturer's role is above all to confront students with problems and challenges drawn from research and practice, and to discuss possible solutions together with them. Through practical projects, students learn about the effects of marketing measures not only through abstract examples, but also through their own personal experiences. The development of innovative strategies and their flexible implementation, as well as critical thinking, are essential prerequisites for success in dynamic markets.
Individualised Teaching
Through individualised supervision, we are not only able to convey knowledge more efficiently; we also break down communication barriers and enhance interaction between lecturers and students. Furthermore, students receive early feedback on their individual strengths and weaknesses. On this basis, teaching can be adapted to students’ needs and tailored more closely to the target group, for example through courses that account for differing levels of prior knowledge or learning progress.
Interdisciplinary and Practice-Oriented Teaching
The course content meets the fundamental requirement that teaching must be both research-based and relevant to professional practice. Students need theoretical and methodological knowledge, but we also aim at enabling them to apply the knowledge they have acquired independently to solve real-world problems. To this end, for example, practitioners are involved in lectures, and seminars focus not only on case studies but also on real-world projects.
Solving complex practical problems often requires combining knowledge from different disciplines. Practical relevance therefore also means structuring teaching content in such a way that students understand the connections to related disciplines. We ensure that, wherever possible, they tackle interdisciplinary problems in seminars. The aim is to encourage them to ‘think outside the box’ and thereby highlight how the course content can be applied to a wider range of problems.
Promoting Teamwork
Our aim is not to produce lone wolves who elbow their way forward. Complex real-world problems require effective and efficient collaboration across diverse groups. A central aim of our courses is therefore to support teamwork and to develop key qualifications.
During seminars, students work on and present topics in groups. The problems are defined in collaboration with industry partners and presented to the respective company. This enables students to further develop their own key skills – such as teamwork, presentation and discussion – in a protected yet realistic setting. Case studies with industry partners are also designed to stimulate critical thinking and provide the collaborating companies with new insights.
The team at the Chair of Marketing
Tina Göge
Secretariat
Faculty of Management, Economics and Society (Department of Management and Entrepreneurship) | Chair of Marketing
Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50
58455 WittenRoom number: 1.229
Dr. rer. pol.
Lisa Mottl , M. Sc.
Researcher
Faculty of Management, Economics and Society (Department of Management and Entrepreneurship) | Chair of Marketing
Alfred-Herrhausen-Straße 50
58455 WittenRoom number: C-1.160