Portrait: Agnieszka Radziwon

Why did you choose to work at the Department of Business Development and Technology?
Some of my colleagues work/worked at AU and shared a good opinion about the University, so when I saw the job offer that was matching my qualifications I decided to give it a try and apply, even though it was still relatively long period of time before the actual finishing of my PhD. I think that I made my decision already while preparing for the interview and reading more about the values and strategies of the department. Whenever I would look I found a strong alignment with my own believes and perception of the way of ‘doing science’. The interview and meeting with new colleagues fully convinced me that we have a perfect match here and DBDT is the place where I would like to work. Especially that after the visit I felt like I knew people that I have just met for ages.

What is your area of expertise and what will you be doing here?
I primarily work with concepts of open innovation, ecosystems, business models and sharing economy and direct my empirical research to theory development through qualitative inquiry. Along the way I try to make sure that my contribution is not only theoretical, but I also try to draw some practical recommendations that will guide and support managers in their decision making process. At DBDT I will focus on further exploration of system theories as well as ways what is the role of technology and successful innovation management tools that could have a positive impact on value creation and capture process in (eco)systems.

What is your educational background?
I hold both M.Sc. in Engineering from the Wroclaw University of Technology and M.Sc. in Business Relationship Management from the University of Southern Denmark along with PhD in Product Design and Innovation from the University of Southern Denmark.

What have you done before?
Besides academic experience both in teaching and research I had a chance to work in NGOs and the industry. I worked as a trainer and facilitator in Angelus Silesius House, took care of employer branding for Google, did marketing research for Medizintechnik in Germany, worked with Prince II methodology as project management officer in one of the biggest European pension fund administrators in The Netherlands APG and assured sample configuration management and database configuration maintenance for Siemens Flow Instruments in Denmark.

Please tell us a bit about yourself, your family and your leisure activities.
In my free time I like to travel meet new people and enjoy new places. I see also a lot of value in community service therefor for many years I worked for AIESEC and education association CEL that we established together with high school friends. At the moment next to professional communities like e.g. ISPIM I have been most active in Polish Association in Sønderborg. Family-wise I have two wonderful children Helena (2,5 y.o.) and Bruno (7mths.), which keep (positively) surprising me all the time and challenge my way of implementation of attachment parenting principles. My husband, who not only shares with me all the parenting experience has also always been my most critical reviewer and best sparring partner. Professionally Michal works as automation and control system consultant, but thanks to PhD in nanotechnology he has also some insights into the academic word. Completely surprisingly we share passion for books, knowledge, technology and personal development.