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Vacancy regarding position as Full Professor in Corporate Entrepreneurship

<st1:placename w:st="on">Rotterdam</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">School</st1:placetype> of Management, <st1:placename w:st="on">Erasmus</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype>, the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Netherlands</st1:place></st1:country-region>

The Position

The Department of Strategic Management and Business Environment at Rotterdam School of Management, <st1:placename w:st="on">Erasmus</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype>, <st1:city w:st="on">Rotterdam</st1:city>, the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Netherlands</st1:place></st1:country-region>, is inviting qualified scholars to apply for a new position. The successful candidate will together with the already existing nucleus of researchers contribute to establishing an international reputation in this field. This document discusses (1) the field at which the professor is to be appointed, (2) the position of the chair within the Department and Rotterdam School of Management, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Erasmus</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place> and the University, and (3) the tasks of the professor to be appointed.

The Field

In today's environment of globalization and increasing rates of change, there is a growing interest in how firms can sustain and renew themselves through corporate entrepreneurship. Following a traditional Schumpeterian logic, wealth is created by new firms who replace the established order of firms. Albeit true, contemporary research and practice has also shown that many established firms continue to exist through innovation and by frequently renewing themselves. Guth and Ginsberg (1990: 5) laid the foundation for the domain of corporate entrepreneurship, which "encompasses two types of phenomena and the processes surrounding them: (1) the birth of new businesses within existing organizations, i.e. internal innovation and venturing, and (2) the transformation of organizations through renewal of the key ideas on which they are built, i.e. strategic renewal." 

The field of corporate entrepreneurship is clearly distinct from traditional management and organization practices, as it involves creating new opportunities instead of exploiting existing ones. Corporate entrepreneurship is also clearly distinct from start-up entrepreneurship in new organizations, because corporate entrepreneurship activities are bounded by the practices prevalent in the parent organization. Yet, there has been relatively little systematic research on managing corporate entrepreneurship within large established firms like Royal Dutch Shell, Unilever, and Intel. Recent findings suggest that firms need to balance exploration and exploitation to achieve sustainable profitability (Jansen, Van den Bosch and Volberda, 2006; March, 1991; Gibson and Birkinshaw, 2004; Gupta et al., 2006; He and Wong, 2004; Tushman et al., 2007). This suggests that there are many synergies to be achieved by joining advantage-seeking strategic management with opportunity-seeking corporate entrepreneurial management (Burgelman, 1983; Hitt et al., 2001; Ireland et al., 2003).

Besides using internal corporate venturing activities as triggers for strategic renewal (Burgers, Jansen, Van den Bosch, Volberda, 2008; Floyd and Lane, 2000; Volberda et al., 2001), there is also a growing realization that established firms can benefit from external venturing activities. Tools such as open innovation, corporate venture capital, and external venturing provide the organization with access to new technologies, capabilities and knowledge that can renew the firm's core businesses. Moreover, it also allows viable, but strategically less relevant ideas to be commercialized by spinning ventures out the firm to create value.

An area in the domain of corporate entrepreneurship that has drawn increasing attention is developing corporate entrepreneurship in an international setting (Oviatt and McDougall, 2005; Zahra, 2005). The notion of international corporate entrepreneurship investigates corporate entrepreneurship in an international setting, which is very relevant due to the growing globalization of markets and industries. This field can draw on findings of research in strategic management and international business.

Next to the relation with strategic management and the various mechanisms to create corporate entrepreneurship, attention should also be paid to creating a supportive organizational and strategic context for corporate entrepreneurship (Burgers et al., 2008; Volberda, Baden-Fuller and Van den Bosch, 2001; Volberda, 1998; Baden-Fuller and Stopford, 1994; Burgelman, 1985).

In summary, the key concepts of researching and teaching regarding this chair are:

New business creation within incumbent firms through corporate venturing, open innovation and international corporate entrepreneurship.

Strategic renewal processes following internally generated variation and external pressures from stakeholders and the competitive environment.

Managing external opportunities for corporate entrepreneurship, including academic entrepreneurship, spin-offs, and the role of corporate venture capital.

Creating a supportive intrapreneurial climate through social innovation and the role of ambidextrous organizational forms.

The Position within the Department, Research Program, and the School

Rotterdam School of Management, <st1:placename w:st="on">Erasmus</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype> is generally regarded as one of <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>'s leading business schools. From a research perspective the School is ranked in the top twenty-five in the world and in the top three of <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place>. It offers a variety of educational programs at the undergraduate, graduate, and post- graduate level.

The Department of Strategic Management and Business Environment of the School plays a leading role in the School's programs by providing several core courses in which an integrated approach to management is the distinguishing focus. These core courses deal with main areas such as International Business, Strategic Management, Strategic Renewal, Managing Interorganizational Relations, Corporate Entrepreneurship and Business Plans. The Department's education and research activities are highly integrated. The chaired professors of the Department are jointly responsible for offering research driven and coherent education programs and for contributing to and managing of the Department research program that meets the highest scientific criteria in terms of quality of the publications, focus and novelty.

The Department also holds the office of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Erasmus</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Strategic</st1:placename> <st1:placename w:st="on">Renewal</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Center</st1:placetype></st1:place> (see www.erasmusstrategicrenewal.nl; see also www.strategyaterasmus.nl). The Department of Strategic Management and Business Environment is ranked on research output as the number one in the <st1:country-region w:st="on">Netherlands</st1:country-region>, and the number two in Europe (CWTS, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Leyden</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place>, 2006).

At present, the Department consists of two chaired professors, one in Strategic Management and Business Policy (Prof. Dr Henk W. Volberda; chairman of the Department; www.rsm.nl/hvolberda) and one in Managing the Relationships between Firms and their Business Environments (Prof. Dr Frans A.J. Van Den Bosch; www.rsm.nl/fvandenbosch) and there is a vacancy for a full professorship of International Business. Recent visiting professors and research collaborators have included Charles Baden-Fuller, Arie Lewin, Jeff Reuer, Alain Verbeke, Mike Wright and Edward Zajac. Furthermore, the Department has eight associate professors and seventeen assistant professors, each active in the broad area of the Department. Eight PhD candidates are working on their PhD-thesis including topics like Strategic Renewal, Corporate Entrepreneurship, Organizational Ambidexterity, Strategic Innovation. Faculty are from countries like <st1:country-region w:st="on">Belgium</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">France</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Germany</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Greece</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">India</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Israel</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Pakistan</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">Poland</st1:country-region>, <st1:country-region w:st="on">UK</st1:country-region> and the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">USA</st1:country-region></st1:place>. The working language of the Department is English.

The Department is also involved in fostering Corporate Entrepreneurship within the University through the so-called HOPE-program. In this program two other Universities are involved: <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Leiden</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place> and Technical University Delft.

The Research Program

The Departments' research program focuses on a variety of management topics, including managing strategic renewal, strategic innovations including management innovation, knowledge absorption, corporate entrepreneurship, strategic analysis and implementation, International Business and corporate governance. The Chair of Corporate Entrepreneurship is expected to address related topics like strategic renewal and strategic innovation. Further information about the program and papers published can be found on our websites (www.strategyaterasmus.nl and www.erasmusstrategicrenewal.nl). Recently, a new scientific research institute INSCOPE has been established with a grant of the University board. This institute aims to investigate how innovations in management, organization and work practices contribute to a firm's innovativeness and competitive performance, see also www.inscope.nl. 

Members of the Department publish in leading journals like AMJ, JBV, JIBS, JMS, Org. Science, Org. Studies, Management Science, SMJ, and LRP. The Department cooperates with scholars in the Economic Faculty working in related research areas. This cooperation has resulted in a joint ERIM-Research Program on Strategy.

The School and Research Institute

The School is expanding its research and teaching programs and the research institute (ERIM) is growing rapidly. New programs and new executive development activities are being launched by the School and its partners. Within these programs a number of Masters are offered. One of the leading Masters is the Strategic Management and International Business Master offered by the Department. Courses dealing with Corporate Entrepreneurship will be extended. The Department also participates in the School's PhD -, MPhil - and MBA program and the full-time and part-time post-graduate programs.  In the  Financial Times ranking, the MBA program is ranked number 24 in the world and 9^th  in <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place> and 6^th in the category of research.

The Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM) is the officially accredited research school of the university (see the website www.erim.nl) and provides the Department members the opportunity to reduce teaching load depending on the realized research output; the higher the quality of the journal publication output, the larger the size of the research voucher. The coordinators of this joint research program are Professors Van den Bosch and Professor Volberda and Professor Sleuwaegen of the Economic Faculty. The chair in Corporate Entrepreneurship will be involved in the coordination of the research as well.

The University

The Erasmus University Rotterdam consists of 8 Faculties with more than 2200 staff members and about 15.000 students of which the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University is the largest Faculty with about 400 staff members and about 6000 students.

The city of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Rotterdam</st1:place></st1:city>

<st1:city w:st="on">Rotterdam</st1:city> is the second largest city of the <st1:country-region w:st="on">Netherlands</st1:country-region> with it's own airport ("Zestienhoven") and about 40 minutes by train from the capital <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Amsterdam</st1:city></st1:place> and the national airport Schiphol.

Tasks of the professor to be appointed

Like any professor within Rotterdam School of Management, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Erasmus</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">University</st1:placetype></st1:place>, the candidate will have three main tasks: research, teaching, and administration.

The research activities of the candidate will take place within the research school ERIM and will typically include: developing research projects and applying for research grants, carrying out high quality research, and supervising PhD students. The publication focus of the candidate, however, should be on research in management as listed in the ERIM Journal List and the research output of the candidate will be corresponding to the ERIM high performance level. RSM uses a rating system to qualify the maturity of its scholars; candidates are expected to qualify as an ERIM Star Member (see www.erim.nl).

The candidate possesses a broad teaching experience and will develop and carry out a balanced portfolio of teaching activities in the different programs offered by the School. Teaching will be selective and focused, including occasional (guest) lectures in the pre-experience MScBA programme and in the post-experience MBA curricula and in ERIM's MPhil programme preparing students for a PhD trajectory. The MScBa programme Strategic Management increasingly attracts students from all over <st1:place w:st="on">Europe</st1:place> and in 2008 a Minor Strategic Renewal & Corporate Entrepreneurship has been successfuly launched. Courses are taught in English.

In addition to conducting high-impact research and teaching in the field of Corporate Entrepreneurship, the candidate will contribute to the management of the Department. As such the candidate will also have administrative duties, at the Department, and occasionally on the School, or University level.

In line with the tasks described, candidates considering application have to be productive in scientific top journals, possess a broad teaching experience and a past performance in managing administrative duties.

Further information

For information please contact the chairman of the Department and of the appointment committee Prof. Dr Henk W. Volberda (+31.10.4082761; e-mail: hvolberda@rsm.nl; www.rsm.nl/hvolberda) The Department's Websites (www.strategyaterasmus.nl  and www.erasmusstrategicrenewal.nl) contains information about the research etc. Information about the School and the Erasmus University Rotterdam is provided by the websites www.rsm.nl and www.eur.nl. For information about the ERIM-Research Institute see www.erim.eur.nl

Applications

Please send your application letter before November 30, 2008 including your CV by e-mail. Please send your application to: hvolberda@rsm.nl.