Prof. Dr. Thomas Groll

High-performing teams as levers of change management strategy

December 2022

How can high-performing teams unleash their full potential in change management strategy? This was discussed by Andrea Winzinger together with Stefanie Graf and Andreas Felber from SAP with students in Prof. Dr. Thomas Groll's seminar as part of the master's degree program in business administration.

Sustainability license for municipalities

December 2022

How can municipal companies in the Bavarian-Czech region optimally design their sustainability reporting? This was on the agenda for 22 students of the International Relations and Management course during a three-day excursion to the University of West Bohemia in Pilsen. 

Insights into the world of consulting: Weissman&Cie and Progenium

November 2022

What is the difference between consulting for family businesses and projects with large corporations? The representatives of the consulting firms Weissman&Cie and Progenium offer the students of Prof. Groll's master seminar Strategic Management insights into their daily business and discuss what currently concerns them and their clients.

Visiting SAP in Walldorf

June 2022

Students of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics took a field trip to the SAP headquarters in Walldorf as part of the course "Management Consulting: Applied Research, Analytics and Strategies" led by Prof. Thomas Groll. There, they presented research results and solution approaches to digital transformation.

From a transactional to a digital company

May 2022

Change management at the Bavarian representative office in Prague: Students in the Czech capital develop a database for entrepreneur workshops on the topic of change in companies.

Closing of the lecture series "OTH Regensburg STADTnah" at SSV Jahn Regensburg

December 2021

As part of the lecture series "OTH Regensburg STADTnah", scientists from OTH Regensburg gave a variety of lectures at interesting locations in the city of Regensburg. The series was concluded at the SSV Jahn Regensburg.

Meeting of the Bavarian and Czech university rectors

June 2019

t the meeting of the Bavarian and Czech university rectors in Regensburg, the focus was on the current status of scientific cooperation and the initiation of further collaborations.

Students on a visit to the agency for inbound marketing

February 2019

Content, SEO, leads - a small group of students from the elective subject "Digital Marketing" and their lecturer were able to find out what truly lies behind these terms during a visit to an inbound marketing agency in Regensburg.

Alliance for sustainable textiles

November 2018

With his students from the International Relations and Management course at OTH Regensburg, Prof. Dr. Thomas Groll attended a roundtable discussion with Dr. Jürgen Janssen from the Alliance for Sustainable Textiles in October 2018.

Design Thinking sprint in Prague

May 2018

As part of an excursion to Prague, students from OTH Regensburg conducted a "Design Thinking sprint". The interdisciplinary and international group of students was able to produce great results even in topics outside their field of study. 

First symposium on interculturality in professional and competitive sports

September 2014

The organizer of the symposium on interculturality in professional and competitive sports is the Ostbayerische Technische Hochschule Regensburg. The symposium focuses on the topics of interculturality and integration of athletes with different cultural backgrounds in professional and competitive sports and serves as a platform for the exchange of experiences of sports experts, athletes, officials and scientists on this topic.

Stay abroad – a career building block or stumbling block?

March 2013

The 8th Regensburg Discussion Group on Intercultural Management recently met at the Regensburg University of Applied Sciences (HS.R) with expert presentations and discussions on the topic "Career building block stay abroad?" - following in the footsteps of Julius Caesar, Christopher Columbus and Marco Polo.

• International University of Monaco IUM
• Shenzhen Technology University
• Ingenium Education
• Master of Business Administration Programm

• Bavarian-Czech University Agency - Good Practice - Design Thinking sprint
• Bavarian-Czech University Agency - Good Practice – Design strategy lecture of the OTH Regensburg with a closing workshop in Prague
• Award for "Promotion of Gender Projects" with Dr. Stephanie Krinner - OTH Regensburg

For all lecture notes and course material, please check out ELO

Family Business and Medium-Sized Companies

• Siemens AI Lab, Munich - Digitalization - implications for medium-sized businesses (October 22, 2019)
• Mittelstandsvereinigung pro Südthüringen e.V. - Educational project: "Digitalization - Fit for the future" (2019-2020)
• Weissman Family Entrepreneur Day - "How do we want to live in 10 years?" (May 24, 2019)
• Siemens AI Lab Munich - "Digitalization - Implications for SMEs" keynote speech (October 22, 2019).
• Regensburg Papers in Management and Economics No. 3: Sustainability in Business - What drives Corporate Social Responsibility?
• Regensburg Papers in Management and Economics No. 4: Digitalization of Collaboration and Communication in German SMEs: Using Design Thinking Methods to Develop Strategic Thrust for a Digital Transformation
• TRIO Hochschulverbund Transfer und Innovation Ostbayern - "Der Weg zur digitalen Strategie" (Impulse lecture November 10, 2020)

Intercultural Management in professional sports – reports:

• Lecture on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the OTH Regensburg in the stadium of SSV Jahn Regensburg - Intercultural Integration Needs in Professional Sports
• Symposium on the topic of interculturality in professional and competitive sports
• The expensive failure of many Bundesliga clubs.Bundesliga transfers and integration: expert calls for rethinking. - Sport1 (08/01/2018)
• Intercultural coaching in professional sports: learning from business! - Freiburg Circle (August 2013)
• Interview on Český rozhlas (10/02/2012)
• Spiegel Online - Foreign professionals in the Bundesliga. In the parallel world. (10/04/2011)
• Die Welt - Breno's difficult life in freedom (10/08/2011)
• ZDF Sport - Integration in professional sports. Coaching instead of all-round service. How can foreign professionals best find their way in a foreign country? (09/29/2011)
• LANCE!NET (Brazil) Caso do zagueiro Breno poderia ter sido evitado. Profissional que trabalha com atletas estrangeiros na Alemanha diz que clubes não se preocupam com adaptação dos jogadores (09/29/2011)
• Interview on DRadio Wissen (10/17/2011) - Integration of kickers. A conversation with the cultural scientist and entrepreneur Dr. Thomas Groll
• P.T.- Magazin für Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft (No.5/2011) - In business as in professional sports. Acting competently in an international environment - studies on interculture. Report about atraversa and its founder in P.T.- Magazin für Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. (Issue 5, 2011)

For winter term 2023-24

• The weekly office hours will only take place during the lecture period  (October 03, 2023 - January 22, 2024). Not during the examination period!
• In presence, room S222b or by phone. Zoom consultations are an exception and have to be arranged in advance. 

Dear students,

Please note that for data protection reasons and aspects of better traceability, inquiries will only be answered in person during office hours. - Please respect this procedure. Please refer to this homepage for the current office hours.

The date for the exam review with Prof. Dr. Groll will be announced at the beginning of each semester on the homepage of the Faculty BW (Schwarzes Brett).

For all lecture notes and course material, please check out ELO

Are you interested in writing a thesis in the department?

In Prof. Dr. Groll's department, theses are supervised in the areas of Strategy Process, Business Models, International Management and Management in Professional Sports, among others.

Application

Due to high demand, please use this application form to apply for a supervisory vacancy. Send this to Prof. Dr. Groll one week prior to attending the office hours. You will then be informed by mail if a supervision or at which time an acceptance is possible.

Open topics

• Holistic transfer optimization in professional soccer
• Purchasing optimization in professional sports
• Organizational development of football clubs

Hints for the preparation and format templates

• Thesis template
• Guidelines on Writing Dissertations
• Citing correctly according to the Harvard method
• Free order of a journal article via the interlibrary loan of the OTH
• Link Econbiz: Write your best term paper Link to Faculty BW - Guidelines on scientific work

In the ELO course Infoboard BW you will find the most important information for the beginning and further course of studies, especially also for the bachelor thesis (such as registration, supervision, submission, request for extension, etc.).

The process for registering the Master's thesis will be handled as a purely electronic process from 04/01/2023. Instructions as well as all process steps can be found on the SharePoint page Theses. You can reach this under the following link. Please note that you must be logged into the university's network to access it and VPN may need to be used.

Additional templates for theses and presentations, as well as the OTH logo, can also be found in SharePoint. 

Electronic submission of the final paper

Please upload your completed thesis in full (as a Word document or PDF) here. Please fill in all fields correctly. The submission date of the electronic version must correspond to the submission of the thesis.

Typical occasions for assessments and letters of recommendation are, for example, the application for a scholarship or the application for a place at university (evidence of mandatory requirement for a letter of recommendation must be provided).

Please note that you must meet certain minimum requirements for an assessment:

Assessments or letters of recommendation for students are generally only issued if you have already attended a complete semester of courses with Prof. Dr. Groll and belong to the top 5-10% in the (final) examination.

Evaluations or letters of recommendation for Master's programs are only issued if you have written your Bachelor's thesis with Prof. Dr. Groll and achieved an outstanding grade. - Please note that due to numerous requests, a maximum of two expert opinions per student will be prepared.

If this is the case, please fill out this form and send it to Prof. Dr. Groll, as well as a current curriculum vitae, a current grade report (QIS extract) and then come to the office hours (see notice board).

Submit all required documents at least 21 days before the deadline, otherwise a report cannot be prepared.

Please note the following aspects for the practice-oriented lecture (PBLV) with Prof. Dr. Groll:

• The practice meeting day is only omitted in the case of a stay abroad if the PBLV is completed in the immediately following final block.
• If the PBLV block (also only the final block) is postponed to the new semester, then the distance bonus for the practice meeting day no longer applies. The student must attend the practice meeting day as well as the final block in the new semester.
• In case of illness for more than half a day, a medical certificate must be submitted.

Notes PBLV seminar paper (PBLV StA)

Focus on Technology & Management

• Business Administration, University of Passau, Degree: Diplom Kaufmann (Diploma in Business Administration)
• Languages, Business and Cultural Studies (KuWi), University of Passau, Degree: Diplom Kulturwirt (Diploma in Cultural Management)
• Doctorate at the University of Passau

• Research assistant at the Chair of Organization and Human Resources (Prof. Dr. Rolf Bühner)
• Strategy Consultant
• Regional Business Manager / Board Consultant at UniCredit S.p.A in Milan
• Entrepreneur
• Consultant Strategy Finance and Risk Management at Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG
• Professorship at the OTH Regensburg since 2012

NORMATIVE MANAGEMENT

Normative management "deals with the general goals of the enterprise, with principles, norms and rules of the game that are designed to enable the viability and development of the enterprise." The potentially conflicting goals and interests of various stakeholders are reconciled, establishing ethical legitimacy for entrepreneurial activity.

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT

The strategic management level is where the direction of the company's activities takes place. In accordance with Chandler's understanding of strategy, goals are formulated and procedures derived from them in order to achieve these goals. Strategy formulation typically takes place at the level of strategic business units. An important element is the formulation of competitive strategies.

OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT

At the operational management level, the implementation of strategies takes place in the process of employee management, management via budget targets and KPIs, and quality management. While strategic management focuses on securing and building up success potential, operational management concentrates on realizing success and securing liquidity.

HOLISTIC MANAGEMENT

Only a coherent, interlinked view of the three aforementioned management levels results in a holistic approach. How, for example, can it be ensured that normative, ethical demands of a company are observed and followed at the operational level?

THEMATIC FOCAL POINTS

In principle, integrated corporate management can be applied regardless of the industry. However, thematic focal points arise from our experience background:

• Transformation of the automotive industry

Triggered by the so-called CASE trends, a comprehensive transformation of the automotive industry is to be expected. Changing market entry barriers, sustainable changes in the industry structure and new business models are among our main areas of interest.

• Internationalization and intercultural management

Triggered by globalization, worldwide networking and digitalization, intercultural encounters and also conflict situations arise again and again. In order to be able to deal with these constructively, intercultural competencies are required. We also focus on challenges and solutions in the professional sports sector.

• Ethics and Corporate Management

Ethics and corporate management deals with the challenge of aligning corporate systems according to ethical-normative aspects and thus establishing a stable system that offers its members security of action through a clear compass of values and protects the company as a whole from abusive actions from within.

• Management of family businesses

According to studies by the Institut für Mittelstandsforschung Bonn (Bonn Institute for SME Research), around 90% of all companies in Germany are family businesses, and these often make very significant contributions to the socio-economic development of their regions. With institutions such as family offices, new, innovative forms of organization, employment opportunities and management challenges are constantly emerging. We deal with the particular specifics of corporate management in family businesses and are available to family businesses as partners.

• Corporate management in start-ups

Just as children are not simply small adults, start-ups cannot simply be taught the management lessons for large, established corporations. Start-ups can derive specific competitive advantages over large competitors, but they also face specific issues known as "liabilities of newness and smallness." The growth phases of start-up companies also pose challenges to corporate management in terms of management style, management structure and management system. In addition to taking these aspects into account in teaching, we accompany start-ups from OTH Regensburg with our OTH start-up center.

OTH start-up center 

• Corporate management in crises, for restructuring and reorganization

The demands on corporate management to overcome crises through restructuring and turnaround are particularly high. In addition, there are the specific demands on management that accompany such critical phases. In addition to the classic view of economic crises, crises in the sense of "critical incidents" must also be considered today.

We educate our students in such a way that they are able to deal with or decide on challenges of corporate management with a holistic view and apply their knowledge to different types of companies (corporations, large family businesses, SMEs, start-ups) and company phases (foundation, growth, internationalization, crisis, restructuring and turnaround) as well as in an intercultural context. In doing so, we also synergistically combine knowledge from the functional areas of business administration. In sum, what matters to us is not least the training of our students' ability to judge under the typical uncertainty of operational management situations.

Do you have any questions about our course offerings (degree programs, certificates) or about individual courses or modules? Please do not hesitate to contact us!

• Theses

We regularly supervise practice-oriented bachelor's and master's theses written by our students, who either investigate practical or empirical issues in the context of these scientific papers or write their theses in cooperation with companies. This gives our students the opportunity to apply the knowledge they have acquired during their studies in business practice. In this way, companies can have practice-related questions dealt with on the basis of the current state of knowledge and in a theoretically sound manner.

• Project work

Within the framework of student projects, students can work on concrete company-related issues.

Are you interested in a joint practical or research project? Please contact us! An overview can be found on this page under Teaching, Research and Practice as well as News. 

An overview of all former projects of the Faculty of Business Administration can be found here.

• Companies in the lecture hall

Representatives of companies, associations, research institutions, ministries, public authorities, etc. can use our lectures to lecture as guests on specialist topics, to provide insights into their institution or to arrange a theory-practice comparison with us.

• Students in the company

We are happy to visit you in your company as part of excursions or specialized lectures in order to give students an insight into current practice.

• Internships & Jobs

At www.hochschuljobboerse.de you can publish your job offers at 19 Bavarian universities with a reach of over 110,000 students.

We are also happy to publish job offers for internships, working student positions and final theses in the faculty. Send us the offers by e-mail to petra.knoch(at)oth-regensburg.de.