"Our society needs something that really moves us forward and at the same time brings us back together," says Professor Dr. Stefan Stumpp, who has held the professorship for Transformation Process Management at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences since April 2024. With this vision, he not only shapes his teaching, but also exciting projects with practice partners. In this interview, he talks about the challenges of modern Economics, innovative teaching methods and his dreams for transformative processes that reach beyond the lecture hall.
Professor Stumpp, you are very involved at Anhalt University of Applied Sciences - as a Degree Program Advisor, Deputy Chairman of the Examinations Committee and a member of various committees. Since April 2024, you have also been Professor of Business Administration, in particular Transformation Process Management. What fascinates you about this position and what are your main tasks?
The role as Professor of Transformation Process Management is particularly exciting because it is right at the cutting edge. Companies today are facing enormous technological, ecological and social challenges. I have made it my main task to design a course that enables our students to combine Business Studies fundamentals with application-oriented knowledge, to think in a networked way and to solve new types of problems in this uncertain environment. We do this directly with practical experience. One example: We are currently working with the East German Savings Banks Association on a new model for a youth current account that is both sustainable and imparts important financial knowledge to young people.
What research projects are you currently working on?
I am currently working intensively on adaptive teaching, which is supported by AI technologies, and on the user-friendliness of technologies in teaching. For example, my team and I are researching the use of xR technologies. Another exciting topic is the metaverse and its impact on social media and marketing.
How do you use xR technologies in your teaching?
One of the things we are experimenting with in my marketing exercise is virtual group work through the use of VR glasses. This is already working very well in most cases. The findings from this research project shed light on the user experience and the impact of modern technologies on virtual group work. One finding is that we are using VR glasses to enable our students to experience a new form of collaboration that goes beyond traditional video conferencing in Microsoft Teams or Zoom. In the new winter semester, students on the marketing course will also benefit from an AI-supported adaptive learning app.
What are the biggest challenges for students on your courses and how do you help them to overcome them? The biggest challenge is often the complexity of the problems that our practice partners face and that our students have to deal with. Especially at the beginning of a semester, this seems like a huge hurdle. However, if you start to grasp a problem in a structured way and provide enough room for research, creativity and networked thinking in a process-oriented manner, our students often find great solutions! It's challenging, but also incredibly rewarding - for the students and for me.
In modern innovation research, there is even a suitable term for this phenomenon: "multidexterity". This describes the ability to simultaneously combine different strategic approaches and levels of knowledge in order to achieve a portfolio of innovative results.
If you had the opportunity to lead a transformation process in any company or industry, what would it be and what innovative strategies would you use?
If I could dream a little, I would like to work on a transformation project with the American technology company Apple. I could imagine working on the "next big thing" in a user experience design-led process. Our society needs something that really brings us forward and at the same time brings us together again - not just more entertainment or a device with a longer battery life. A project like this could create real added value.
Professor Stumpp, thank you very much for the interview.
