Ah, I almost forgot. There is a similar enjoyable book to learn the basic economic concepts. Try out the „Cartoon Introduction to Economics“ by Yoram Bauman (Ph.D.) and Grady Klein. This might also be helpful for teaching economics using some of the cartoon strips to tune up some boring powerpoint slides. I got my copy at a trip to Seoul (South Korea) in 2010.
Archiv für den Monat September 2012
Handelsblatt ranking 2012: Scholars pursuing innovation research
Despite the protest of 339 colleagues – including myself – the German newspaper „Handelsblatt“ still published its ranking of management scholars in German speaking countries. Among the Top 250 are 16 and among the 100 youngsters under age 40 are 14 colleagues from the innovation research domain. Although, I must admit not knowing everyone, here are the lists (ranks in brackets):
Top 250
Franz Wirl (1, Uni Wien), Thomas Hellmann (35, Vancouver UBC), Martin Högl (38, LMU), Knut Blind (40, TU Berlin), Dietmar Harhoff (44, LMU), Joachim Henkel (64, TU München), Ulrich Kaiser (79, Uni Zürich), Florian von Wangenheim (135, TU München), Erik E. Lehmann (137, Uni Augsburg), Johann Füller (155, Uni Innsbruck), Kurt Heidenberger (168, Uni Wien), Tobias Kretschmer (203, LMU), Joern Block (225, TU München), Ricarda B. Bouncken (229, Uni Bayreuth), Achim Walter (232, Uni Kiel), Katrin Talke (248, Uni Hamburg)
Under 40
Florian von Wangenheim (11, München TU), Joern Block (24, München TU), Katrin Talke (30, Uni Hamburg), Carolin Häussler (33, Passau Uni), Stefan Wagner (39, Berlin ESMT), Oliver Schilke(57, RWTH), Sven Voelpel (58, Bremen JU), Sebastian Raisch (62, Uni Genf), Tina Claudia Ambos (68, Uni Linz), Axel Winkelmann (79, Koblenz-Landau Uni), Marcus Matthias Keupp (87, St.Gallen), Karin Hoisl (88, LMU), Andreas Kuckertz (89, Duisburg-Essen), T. Taylor Aldridge (95, IRS).
Yes, one can enjoy learning statistics
Unbelievable, but true! There are better books to teach statistics than those of the Oldenbourg Verlag that I had to use in my undergraduate studies. Particularly recommendable for those, who do not enjoy statistics that much, is this one: „The Cartoon Guide to Statistics“ by Larry Gonick and Woollcoott Smith published by HarperCollins.
Out to Sea?
Must see! A current exhibition in the „Museum für Gestaltung“ in Zurich discusses the damages caused by huge amounts of plastic waste dumped into our oceans. Imagine, each minute 3 tons. Not only that the plastic takes hundreds of years to be decomposed, small particles get eaten by fishes and other animals, like scrimps, and thus get channeled back into our food chains. What a desaster. How can innovations be developed – and which ones are necessary – as possible solutions?
Reduce/Reuse/Recycle
That is the concept of the German Pavilion on the La Biennale di Venezia . A very much appreciated concept, where approaches are presented to do the above. Find out more here.
Apple vs. Samsung
I am affraid that journalist Matthias Hohensee of the German economic magazine „Wirtschaftswoche“ needs some basic training in the essentials of the patent system. In his article he argues that the recent jury decision will prevent future innovation in the mobilecom sector. Well, one could argue about this, however I fully support the decision. The authors miss an essential point. Apple had developed a truly innovative device when launching the IPhone and entering the rather mature cellphone market. What a risky move. They had developed some unique innovative technical solutions for which they got patents. That is the deal that society makes in order to set incentives that such stories happen. Would Apple have committed all their R&D investments without a patent system? From my perspective this is an example where the patent system really needs to be defended. The innovation happened to be developed by Apple, while Samsung very bluntly imitated. The jury decision is correct. Any other decision would have created just more uncertainty for other innovating firms: If we commit R&D investments, would we ever be able to appropriate the returns to break even?
Borderstep Conference, Berlin
I will be there. Just registered.