Inspiration from science
The latest insights from Maastricht University right at your fingertips
CONTENT COLLECTION
The Viability of Vaccination Certificates
There is sufficient support among the Dutch population for the introduction of a vaccination certificate to actively encourage people to be vaccinated. This has become apparent from representative research among 1,640 Dutch people.
Indispensable Competences of the Future
Due to automation and robotisation, a lot of jobs will disappear in the coming years. What capacities and learning characteristics will professionals need for the 21st century in order to remain successful and relevant?
The Key Challenges of Digitalisation
The challenges of digitalisation for businesses are real and immediate. In this short video, Dominik Mahr shares some key insights into how to embrace these challenges and make them work for you, rather than against you.
How Businesses can Help Build a more Sustainable World
Businesses can have a positive societal and environmental impact and create a viable business strategy. The role they play can help drive slower forms of consumption and break the consumerist style that leads to a wasteful society.
How to Market Products in 2021 and Beyond?
In this podcast, Tim Hilken talks about the current status of technologies like AR and VR. How can they be further developed to better address consumer needs? And how could these technologies be used in the classroom or workplace environment?
What do YOU do to Save the World?
Business models can roughly be divided into two categories: sustainable and non-sustainable ones. In this podcast, Nancy Bocken takes us through existing business models and how to deal with the dimension of sustainability.
We Think You Might Like This
Recommender systems enable us to tailor the content of websites and match individual predicted user preferences and needs. Mark Graus explains how these systems influence our actual behaviour and how customers, organisations and society can benefit.
Women Taking a Stand to Move Up Managerial Chain
Gender pay disparities have been a long-time concern, but as female empowerment inspires a generation, who are the people that are shaping the businesses of the future? We delve into three areas of society that women are transforming.
AI and the People: Co-creating for the Future of Work
AI and automation will have an important impact on work and the workplace. Meet the research group that combines expertise from business, policy and academia to help society face the opportunities and challenges that come with technological change.
Crisis Innovation Guide: Ready to Act?
What do we learn from COVID-19? This is an excellent moment to start thinking not only about how to make our organisations more responsive to change, but also how to make them regenerative by investing in a culture of innovation.
The Human Side of Business
In working relations, functionality and financial rewards often override the human perspective, leading to less productive teams and organisations. In this webinar on 10 December, Marco Buschman presented a new framework to overcome this challenge.
Can Money Buy Happiness?
“It’s not a big flat screen tv or a new phone that makes you happy but rather cleaning help or delivery service”, says economist and ‘happiness professor’ Paul Smeets. "If you have money to spend, buy yourself some spare time!”.
The Double-edged Sword of Smart Services
“You can buy a car in any colour you like so long as it’s black” is the famous quote by Henry Ford, made at a time when sellers dictated the market. Things couldn’t be more different today. It’s the customer who’s in the driver’s seat now.
Crisis Innovation Guide: Organisation and Ecosystem
Successful innovation in times of crisis doesn’t only require a good look at your products and processes. It’s also about being able to see the bigger picture. How does the organisation function and which ecosystem is it part of?
How Will Automation and AI Affect the Labour Market?
More and more machines can make decisions independently. So how will this affect the labour market? Mark Levels and Raymond Montizaan explore these questions through the work they are doing as part of the EU-funded research project TECHNEQUALITY.
Does your Employer Need to Offer you Training?
The Dutch government's portal for development advice and training was reopened on December 1st. In this podcast, Annemarie Künn explains why employers should indeed be encouraged to offer training opportunities for their employees.
Crisis Innovation Guide: Product and Process
Before you get to the innovation drawing board, it is essential that you gain a thorough understanding of the exact challenges and opportunities that your organisation is facing. We provide guidelines on how to innovate your product and process.
How can you be Prepared for what’s Next?
Sometimes the best way to understand the future is to build on good, old fashioned research and logic, sorting and sizing knowns and unknowns, and networking the one thing we bring with us everyday: human intelligence.
A Taste of Big Data Analysis: Sour Milk or Luxury Ice Cream?
Simply applying smart algorithms without thinking about the data can lead to misleading results, but with good data and sound knowledge of both business and analytics, any firm can improve their decision-making and hence performance.
Crisis Innovation Guide: Survival Mode
The shock of the coronavirus has triggered a survival mode in many companies, yet a crisis like this facilitates rather than inhibits innovation. It creates a climate of opportunity that true innovators have been waiting for.
Tipping Point for Digitalisation in Procurement and SCM?
The COVID-19 crisis has made it very clear that professional buyers and supply chain managers are important for our economy. Experts argue that the pandemic puts us at a ‘tipping point’ with regard to digitalisation of Procurement and SCM.
Using Data as a Driver in Transformation
‘Data is the new oil’ is a much-used phrase but having ‘oil’ is nowhere near as valuable as knowing what to do with it. Chris Underwood explores the role of data strategy in leadership and how data can help leaders to instigate organisational change.
Crisis Innovation Guide: The New Normal
While uncertain times like these can be unnerving, they also offer opportunities to those who dare to innovate. Successful companies will be the ones that take immediate action and adapt their business models to the 'new normal'.
Opportunities and Pitfalls of Smart Customer Interactions
During this Breakfast Booster on November 12, 2020, Lisa Brüggen presented several ways in which smart customer interactions can improve your customer relations, but she also discussed the pitfalls of digital customer interactions.
Do we put our trust in predictions?
In our day-to-day, it is increasingly possible to receive prediction advice that has been generated by some algorithmic system. Dr. Emir Efendić and colleagues found that trust in these systems depends on how quickly or slowly a prediction is made.
Nudging for Positive Change
Planning for retirement, eating healthier, donating your organs upon death – we often know what we should do, but why then do we not do it (enough)? It all has to do with behavioural design, and biases that are common to our species.
How Choosing for Others Impacts our own Choices
Researchers Kelly Geykens, Anika Schumacher and Caroline Goukens examined how choosing for others impacts our own choices. In this video, you learn how trying to help others will influence your own behaviour.
Service Robots: Rising or Falling Stars?
Robots are everywhere, but how do we humans respond to robots? The truth is, we don’t know much about what effect robots have on our behaviour. This is why Gaby Odekerken and her team at Maastricht University want to find out more.
Hand Washing Angels: a High-impact Social Initiative
Most children in developing countries haven’t been raised with hand washing as a priority. Determined to break a vicious circle, UMIO’s Edward Huizenga together with a global team builds hand hygiene into a daily routine for young children.
Redefining the Purpose of Business in Society
We are experiencing one of the worst crises of leadership in our history. Our societies and organisations need and deserve transformational leaders who can bring communities together while promoting inclusion and a sense of belonging.
Learning at the workplace for auditors
Why do audit firms sometimes form insufficiently supported judgements on their clients’ financial statements? Therese Grohnert wanted to find out and she convinced the involved audit firms of an appropriate solution: learning at the workplace.
We Said ‘Let them Rot in Hell’
Piet Eichholtz was one of the co-signatories of an open letter criticising the Netherlands’ reluctance to help Southern Europe in its time of need. He reflects on how the coronavirus crisis is embedded in economic, political and ethical issues.
Learning to Lead with Authenticity
What makes a good leader? To really understand the essential qualities of leadership and how you can become a better leader, you need to do more than talk about it. You have to start at the very beginning, with yourself.
Transformation is about People rather than Technology
Digital transformation challenges traditional ways of organising work, of understanding competition, and of experiencing products and services. This article sheds a light on corporate learning as an accelerator of digital transformation.
Stay Ahead of the Game
If you can carry on being a valuable asset in the workplace, you and your employer will reap the benefits. In addition to subject-specific knowledge and skills, the importance of so-called “21st-century skills” is increasing.
How smart is your algorithm?
We have all heard success stories about the world of big data analytics. But is it really the solution to all problems? On October 8, Stephan Smeekes and Etienne Wijler take us through the myths and magic of smart algorithms.
How to make a success of digital transformation in your organisation
Understanding why some digital transformations succeed while at the same time so many fail can provide a critical piece of the digital transformation puzzle. Dominik Mahr shares his insight on how to pave the way for a smooth digital transformation.
Augmented Reality: Is this for Real?
Over the past three years, Tim Hilken has headed a research initiative about Augmented Reality to better understand what makes it so valuable. Find out how AR can empower you to make better decisions, reach your goals or even help others.
5 Skills You Need in the Digital Age
The Digital Age will fundamentally change how we work and how we live. Success in this new dawn requires ‘outsmarting’ evolving technology and remaining relevant through continuous learning and reinvention, or ‘Hyper-Learning’.
Creëer zonder stress de verandering die je beoogt
In deze WebTalks-sessie met leiderschapsexpert Frans Wilms verdiepen we twee inzichten, twee overtuigingen en twee vaardigheden, die samen zes onmisbare pijlers voor het leiderschap van nu vormen.
Bee Insights for Information Management
The world of bees and the world of information and management accountancy might not share the same end product, but parallels can be drawn between the two and some interesting learning insights can be gained from doing so.
Two Leadership Styles to Create Impact
Leadership styles come in all shapes and sizes. We outline a simple guide to keep focus amidst the diversity of appearances and definitions. We also show you the signals by which you can recognise each leadership style.
Finding opportunity in crisis
It has become clear that our current linear take-make-dispose economy is running out of time. The circular economy offers a redefinition of growth and a focus on societal benefits and sustainable solutions.
Why the Collective is so Important
We need to look after the planet much better than we have done over the past few decades, and that’s a collective responsibility that includes governments, businesses and individuals, says Simon Hill.
Working from home: how to create good management policies
Many companies struggle with their remote working or telecommuting policies. Katlijn Haesebrouck shares her research on how companies might want to adjust their policies when allowing their workforce to work remotely.
Stepping up to the Platform
The world looks quite different now from how it did 6 months ago. At a time when it is clear that one person or institution alone cannot solve the complex challenges of today, UMIO is very proud to introduce and welcome you to UMIO Prime.
“Invest in training your employees, especially now”
The corona crisis has affected many companies worldwide. One of the measures companies are considering taking to recover financially is to reduce training budgets for employees. However, that is not a wise move, argues Prof. dr. Andries De Grip.
Family Businesses in Times of Crisis
Do family businesses have greater resilience in times of crisis than non-family businesses? And why is that? Dr Anita Van Gils looked at existing research into these questions, which was primarily carried out after the previous crisis in 2008.
Preparing for the future of work and the workplace
The pandemic has led to the acceleration of digital transformation as organisations have been forced to adapt to remote working – but will this have an impact on the long-term future of work? Anino Emuwa finds out.
Female Entrepreneurship: The Way Forward
We delve into the paradigm shift caused by the rise in female leadership and female entrepreneurship. We show differences between male and female business leaders, and we illustrate how both can be combined to improve leadership practices.
Creativity, MBAs, and Competitive Advantage for Modern Businesses
When you think what might motivate you to do an MBA, ‘to become more creative’ is probably not top of the list. Yet, an MBA can increase your ability to have impact and open your eyes to the power of creativity within business, says Tom Gray.
Closing the Loop: The Power of Circular P&SM
We focus on the (business) opportunities that a switch in purchasing & supply management (P&SM) methodology can bring to your organisation and aim to boost your understanding of the opportunities, yet also the potential risks of circular P&SM.
Resolving Dilemmas: Privacy, Security & Public Health
How can businesses successfully manage their needs with data protection, privacy, and security requirements in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic where the sensitive personal data of employees, visitors and suppliers is systematically collected?
The Possibilities and Future of Online Education
UMIO | Maastricht University expanded its education portfolio with an online MBA study, called EuroMBA Online Track. We spoke with Dr. Boris Blumberg – MBA Captain – about the possibilities and future of online education.
Breaking Up the Status Quo
Exploring beyond our known borders is scary. As humans we have a strong tendency to stick to what we know. Unfortunately, this way of thinking may lead to inertia and may thus slow us down as professionals and as organisations.
Putting the Humanity back into Technology
In an age where algorithms answer our questions and robots do much of our ‘heavy lifting’, what we really need is a way of combining the best of technological capability with the best of human ability.
The Best of Both Worlds: Creating Sustainable Business Models
This webinar discusses the circular economy and its potential for small and large organisations. We will focus on positive examples of business model innovation for the circular economy, and we discuss approaches to inspire change.
Augmented Reality: A Means to Manage a 1.5-meters Economy?
Many organisations rely on physical means to deliver information to their customers. An obvious example is the information on product packages in supermarkets. But how to access information when physically touching products is not an option anymore?
Preparing for Extreme Scenarios
Due to the corona pandemic, organisations need to shift their strategy from a reactive to a pro-active approach. This webinar discuss the use of extreme scenarios to prepare for the upcoming challenges and make use of new opportunities?
Building Future-proof Business Models
In this short workshop you will get some practical tools how to engage in iterative experimentation and continuous improvement of your business model through a practical guideline to design future proof business models.
Digital Collaboration: Same, Same but Different
COVID-19 is maybe the largest test for digitalisation of work. This webinar addresses collaboration in a digital era: how to keep the higher goals in mind and bring in the various instruments at the right time and with the right tone.
Communications and the Importance of Framing
This webinar addresses the power of communications in relation to your actions, and how to effectively make use of a promise versus performance balance to get the results you were actually aiming for.
To Lead When Everything Seems Unpredictable
In a time of crisis when everything seems unpredictable, people easily turn to those that they trust to guide them to a better and more stable future. This webinar provides guidelines to prevent the creation of an illusion of control.
Boosting Intrapreneurship
What is the difference between Intrapreneurship and Entrepreneurship? In this WebTalk, Alexander Brüggen defines the two concepts and outlines the reasons why organisations wanting to be innovative are in need of intrapreneurship.
Preparing for Digitalisation
Alexander Brüggen outlines some of the key issues organisations are facing in light of the fast-moving digital developments and why the business model needs to change in order to respond to these innovations.
Increasing Employee Creativity
Research among adults shows that new and original ideas are often seen as difficult to implement. As a result, people tend to choose ideas that are more obvious when they think they also have to implement them.
Co-creating Excellent Services
Artificial intelligence, blockchain, digitalisation: all these developments force companies to speed up their innovation process. In this WebTalk, Frank Rozemeijer discusses the challenges and trends he currently sees in the procurement ecosystem.
Futurise Your Business
Organisations need to innovate to survive. At a time with so many technological advances, technology-driven innovation still is just a means to an end. The question discussed in this WebTalk is, does it provide value or not?
The Power of Hackathons
Human behaviour needs to evolve with disruptive innovation, as does the business world. In this environment, it is vital to empathise with consumers to design services that work for them. This is where ‘hackathons’ come in.
What if it All Started with Me?
In February 2020, Star Lectures took place in 14 different cities in 5 countries. UMIO’s director Mariëlle Heijltjes was responsible for the Star Lecture in Düsseldorf titled ‘The human leader: what if it all started with me?’.
Erasmus Grant on Service Design Thinking
Implementing Service Design Thinking at the highest level of organisations; that is the goal of the study module that the Department of Marketing & Supply Chain Management (SBE) and the Service Science Factory (UMIO) will co-develop.
Innovate with Service Design
Services are all around us. Gaby Odekerken and Damien Nunes discuss the meaning of service design in this WebTalk and the question of time as another key consideration of the process using the adage, fail early, learn fast.
Digitalise the Decision Making
This WebTalk uncovers how data is being generated and extracted, and why so many companies are investing heavily in it, not only for marketing purposes, but also for business development and future strategic planning.
Strategy Meets Behaviour
Strategy is about aspiration. Aspiration is a fascinating design rule. It deals with specific objectives, defining the magnitude of these objectives and the distance to what is viewed as current beliefs. It is a balancing act between faith and facts.
Haal meer uit mensen, teams en organisaties
Bij de Masterclass Succesvol Samenwerken krijgen deelnemers meer inzicht over samenwerken binnen hun organisatie, hoe de ontwikkeling van mens en organisatie wordt gestimuleerd en hoe je deze meetbaar maakt.
The Benefits of Empathy in Business
Could empathy be the key for business to unlock competitive advantage, or does it compromise efficiency and performance? This was the central question during UMIO’s Breakfast Booster on Friday 13 December 2019.
Is marketing knowledge obsolete?
The digital era is changing how we communicate with and about each other, causing a major shift in marketing strategy. Professor Martin Wetzels is looking at the impact of ‘digital disruption’ on the academic and business world alike.
Cultivating Innovation
The world is becoming less predictable and more complex. The traditions and rules of the past can no longer be applied to today’s way of working. Organisations need to have a different approach to how they view themselves and the people in it.
Alumnus Hemmerle on his life and career 15 years’ on
Nils Hemmerle completed his Master’s in International Business at Maastricht University School of Business and Economics in 2004. According to him, digitalisation has influenced practices enormously since he first entered the business world.
Hoe blijf ik duurzaam inzetbaar?
Als je duurzaam inzetbaar bent, plukken jij en je werkgever daar de vruchten van. Een groeiend aantal werkgevers maakt dan ook serieus werk van duurzame inzetbaarheid. Maar het is op de eerste plaats je eigen verantwoordelijkheid.
The Art and Science of Waiting
Time is one of the most valuable resources, so customers expect to be serviced quickly, to have a positive waiting experience and/or expect a big reward for their waiting efforts. Learn how to positively influence the customer waiting experience.
