The HSG conducts basic research on the one hand and applied research on the other. Accordingly, it has a broad research spectrum and has close partnerships with business, industry and academic institutions around the world. Strategic cooperation projects with partners from practice are of elementary importance for HSG research. These collaborations offer both young and experienced scientists attractive research conditions in terms of direct knowledge transfer. Below you will find an overview of selected practice partners:
The University of St.Gallen and the BMW Group cooperate closely on various research topics. A transfer of knowledge and technology is currently taking place in particular in the research field "Customer / Premium / Marketing".
Together, business and science can help to shape the world of tomorrow in a sustainable way. Against this background, the University of St.Gallen and the BMW Group are intensifying their cooperation. The aim of the partnership is a lively transfer of knowledge and technology in a broad range of topics. At the same time, the exchange between young academics and the corporate world is intended to provide mutual impetus.
Customer Foresight Center
The scientific sponsor of the research cooperation between the University of St.Gallen and the BMW Group is the Customer Foresight Center.
What drives customers? What factors play a role in the purchase decision? In order to be able to answer questions like these more precisely, the University of St.Gallen, together with the BMW Group, established the Customer Foresight Center (CFC) under the direction of Professors Torsten Tomczak and Wolfgang Jenewein in November 2011 to establish a longer-term strategic partnership.
Within the framework of this cooperation, scientific employees - in St.Gallen as well as at BMW Group locations - conduct research on practice-relevant topics. The CFC works very closely with the Institute for Customer Insight, the Institute for Marketing and the Center for Innovation at the University of St.Gallen and thus has a pool of around 80 scientific employees.
The cooperation takes place in the form of research projects (conducting scientific studies, dissertation projects), collaboration in application projects, joint workshops, seminars and lecture series in St.Gallen and Munich. Currently, a total of eleven doctoral students are working on research projects in the areas of innovations, design and aesthetics, pricing and offer design, channel management, sales, aftersales, electromobility and car sharing.
The cooperation with Bosch aims to find and test business models in the "Internet of Things and Services" (IoTS). In addition, HSG and Bosch are working on the development of Internet-based products and services.
The "Bosch Internet of Things and Services Lab" (Bosch IoTS Lab) is a joint initiative of the Bosch Group and the University of St. Gallen. It was launched in September 2012. Both partners consider this cooperation between science and practice to be an ideal approach for exploring the numerous new opportunities offered by the Internet of Things.
The lab is tasked with generating ideas for the Internet of Things and services and evaluating them in real projects. The Lab is funded by Robert Bosch GmbH and is closely associated with Bosch Software Innovations GmbH. Accordingly, the team is active in areas that are of particular importance to the company - Connected Mobility and Connected Building.
The "Hilti Lab for Integrated Performance Management" is a cooperation between the HSG and Hilti AG with the aim of promoting knowledge transfer between science and practice. The content focus of the Lab is on deepening the understanding of the interrelationships between control systems and the behavior of actors in the entrepreneurial environment. The goal is to effectively integrate leadership behavior and control systems into goal-oriented management processes (Integrated Performance Management) to enable quantum leaps in organizational performance.
Through empirical research, innovation and knowledge transfer, the IPM Lab develops, designs and implements management models that make a significant contribution to improving the performance of cooperating partners.
The SBB Lab is an international competence center for service and transport management between state and market at IMP-HSG. Through research, teaching and practical projects, we contribute to the ability of pluralistic organizations in network industries to act.
Transport organizations operate in the area of tension between entrepreneurial efficiency and state regulation. Worldwide, transportation services are increasingly developing into entrepreneurially provided services. In the process, providers on the market are subject to strong pressure to consolidate and internationalize. At the same time, however, they are not always subject to political forces and framework conditions that are in line with the market. The regulatory environment continues to develop dynamically, and individual submarkets, such as rail freight and public passenger transport, function according to different rationalities, which often have to be reflected in one organization. The challenge for transport organizations is to design room for maneuver and development in this context.
We develop basic principles for the design of room for maneuver and development for companies and authorities through research, teaching and practical projects on management between the state and the market. In doing so, we maintain a regular exchange with practice partners and a network of researchers from other European universities.
The University Act enables the University of St. Gallen to generate additional funds to complement basic public funding and tuition fees. The University of St. Gallen is aware of the fact that cooperation with sponsors and companies has to be entered into in such a way that the academic freedoms of teaching and research will not be affected. It therefore accords great value to precise rules and contractual regulations, which will safeguard the following central principles, in particular: