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 took over as acting holder of the Chair of Marketing at UW/H in mid-2014 and has held the Chair of Marketing 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
The main areas of research focus 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.
The common thread running through all research projects is a behavioural science focus, namely 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
Marketing at the Chair at Witten/Herdecke University is characterised by teaching that 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 brought about 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 modules are therefore interactive, challenging and supportive – in-depth discussions form an integral part of the course.
In addition to imparting knowledge, the lecturer’s role is, in particular, to confront students with problems and challenges from research and practice and to discuss possible solutions 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.
Personalised teaching
Through personalised support, we are not only able to impart 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 effectively to the target group, for example by offering modules that take into account students’ varying levels of prior knowledge or learning outcomes.
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 require theoretical and methodological knowledge. At the same time, we aim to enable 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
We are not talking about lone wolves who are out to get ahead at any cost. Complex real-world problems require effective and efficient collaboration between diverse groups. The aim of the modules is therefore to support teamwork and develop key skills.
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 safe yet realistic environment. 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