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Max­imili­an Joachim Von Zedtwitz

Professor mso

Subjects
Strategy Innovation Entrepreneurship Technology Internationalisation Multinational company

Primary research areas

Glob­al In­nov­a­tion and R&D
How do firms tap into and rep­lic­ate R&D and in­nov­a­tion in far-away coun­tries? How do they lever­age dis­tance as an in­nov­a­tion ad­vant­age rather than or­gan­iz­a­tion­al cost? Based on the world’s largest data­base of glob­al R&D cen­ters, this pro­ject tracks mul­tina­tion­al firm in­vest­ments in R&D and NPD, and of­fers in­sights into glob­al in­nov­a­tion best prac­tice.
Re­verse and Frugal In­nov­a­tion
How can glob­al firms ad­opt low-cost in­nov­a­tions without un­der­min­ing and can­ni­bal­iz­ing busi­ness plans in their home mar­kets? How can loc­al firms in de­vel­op­ing eco­nom­ies enter for­eign mar­kets while lever­aging their loc­al skills and ad­vant­ages? Based on a re­cently com­pleted study on re­verse and frugal in­nov­a­tion in Europe, this pro­ject in­vest­ig­ates how European MNCs pro­tect them­selves against “dis­rupt­ive in­nov­at­ors.”
Cor­por­ate In­cub­a­tion
Too many ideas get elim­in­ated dur­ing the in­nov­a­tion pro­cess be­cause they don’t meet stra­tegic ob­ject­ives or don’t lever­age ex­ist­ing cap­ab­il­it­ies. There­fore, many break­through in­nov­a­tions only suc­ceeded after the par­ent com­pany got out of the way. The “cor­por­ate in­cub­a­tion” ap­proach in­vest­ig­ates how such break­throughs can con­tin­ue to hap­pen with­in the ori­gin­al in­vent­ing com­pany.

I study how to lever­age dis­tance in glob­al in­nov­a­tion

I study how firms can successfully conduct R&D and innovation when great distances are involved. Distances (spatial, cultural, institutional, etc.) often translate into greater costs, but they can also be used advantageously. Typical applications are how MNCs set up and manage remote innovation units in far-away countries (e.g., Western MNCs in China or Chinese MNCs in the West), how MNCs incubate radical innovation through venture spin-offs, or how innovations migrate across markets, cultures and countries (e.g., reverse and frugal innovation).

Publications

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6 October 2025

The Role of Creativity and Innovation Management Research in Times of Changing Security and Defence Realities

Mette Præst Knudsen

Carsten Schultz

Søren Salomo

Maxi­mi­li­an Jo­a­chim Von Zedtwitz, Professor mso

Jennie Björk
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October 2025

Subsidiary Capability Development and Its Reverse Knowledge Transfer

A Microfoundation Perspective

Leandro Lima dos Santos

Felipe Mendes Borini

Maxi­mi­li­an Jo­a­chim Von Zedtwitz, Professor mso

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September 2025

R&D Management Under Disruption and Uncertainty

Daitian Li

Xiaolan Fu

Rajneesh Narula

Maxi­mi­li­an Jo­a­chim Von Zedtwitz, Professor mso

Beverly Wagner
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Recent research projects

In­ter­na­tion­al or­gan­iz­a­tion of Chinese R&D

Based on dozens of case stud­ies of in­nov­at­ive Chinese MNCs, we identi­fy news ways to trans­fer tech­no­logy and know­ledge across the world.

Re­verse in­nov­a­tion from Africa

Africa is likely to emerge as the next su­per-mar­ket and already has signs of early-stage in­nov­at­ors. This pro­ject tracks some of the glob­ally suc­cess­ful ones as ex­amples of re­verse in­nov­a­tion.

Frugal in­nov­a­tion in Europe

Frugal in­nov­a­tion is as­so­ci­ated typ­ic­ally with In­dia, but low-cost de­fea­tured in­nov­a­tions are also de­veloped by European firms, tar­get­ing oth­er European mar­kets. How do they suc­ceed, and how are they able to in­clude European “life­style” cri­ter­ia into their frugal designs?

The Busi­ness Build­er

Based on nearly one hun­dred best prac­tices of cor­por­ate in­cub­a­tion, this pro­ject pro­poses twelve key com­pet­ences and a sev­en-step pro­cess of suc­cess­fully in­cub­a­tion in­tern­al tech­no­logy ven­tures.

Outside activities

Pro­fess­or of Stra­tegic Man­age­ment in Asia , 2025 - now

As of 2025, I am a full pro­fess­or of stra­tegic man­age­ment and man­aging dir­ect­or at the Uni­ver­sity of St. Gal­len’s In­sti­tute of Man­age­ment in Asia, based in Singa­pore. After six years at CBS as a full-time pro­fess­or, I re­main as­so­ci­ated with EGB through teach­ing a course on in­ter­na­tion­al busi­ness strategies and joint re­search pro­jects.
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