Faculty of Management, Economics and Society

    Chair for Human Resource Management and Organization, especially in Family Businesses (WIFU)

    Univ.-Prof. Dr. Marcel Hülsbeck, scholarship student Dr. Anne Katarina Heider, Dr. Maike Gerken & scholarship student Julian Grunewald
    Univ.-Prof. Dr. Marcel Hülsbeck, scholarship student Dr. Anne Katarina Heider, Dr. Maike Gerken & scholarship student Julian Grunewald
    Chair Professor Dr. Marcel Hülsbeck
    Chair Professor Dr. Marcel Hülsbeck
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    The research and teaching activities of the endowed chair of the Witten Institute for Family Business (WIFU) focus on management and organizational functions, especially in family businesses, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurial firms.

    Objective

    The overall objective of the WIFU endowed Chair for Human Resource Management and Organization, especially in Family Businesses, is to contribute to the professionalization of the human resource and organizational functions, especially in family businesses, SMEs and entrepreneurial firms.

    In many companies – not necessarily in SMEs only – the departments of human resources and organizational development lead a shadowy existence. This is partly due to the elusive interdisciplinarity of these areas, which have to master the balance between psychology (e.g. employee motivation) and economy (e.g. payment systems), and are thus always caught between two stools. Moreover, HR departments enjoy developing into ecological niches which are occupied by the 'do-gooders' of the company (Legge 1995, S. 7). Subsequently, they begin to live their own life leading them further and further away from the original business purpose (Stewart 1996).

    The following questions are of interest in this context
    Linking theory and practice

    In our courses the students have the opportunity to deal with various topics concerning human resources management and organizational theory. The following topics are relevant in particular.

    • Human resources
    • Strategy, structure and culture of the organization
    • Psychology of management
    • Power, micro policy and morals in organizations
    • Managing and coaching people at work
    • Qualitative research methods

    The research activities of the Chair focus on further developing the human resources department (or human resource management) into a professional management and advisory function:

    • Scientific reflection of management actions
    • Theoretical foundation of education
    • Developing a code of conduct and ethics
    • Definition and enforcement of exclusive powers in the company
    • Technical and objective decision-making autonomy
    • Self-regulation by professional associations

    Detailed information on research topics, projects and publications of the Chair is available on the WIFU homepage  www.wifu.de.

    Team of the Chair for Human Resource Management and Organization, especially in Family Businesses (WIFU):

    Maike Gerken

    Dr.
    Maike Gerken

    Fakultät für Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft (Department für Management und Unternehmertum)
    WIFU-Stiftungslehrstuhl für Management von Familienunternehmen

    Phone: +49 2302 / 926-554

    E-Mail: Maike.Gerken@uni-wh.de

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    Other team members

    • Dr. Anne Katarina Heider (scholarship student)
    • Julian Grunewald (scholarship student)

    Die Universität Witten/Herdecke ist durch das NRW-Wissenschaftsministerium staatlich anerkannt und wird – sowohl als Institution wie auch für ihre einzelnen Studiengänge – regelmäßig akkreditiert durch: