Business Transformation
Business transformation refers to the actions companies take in response to changes in their external environ-ment. Research in this field therefore examines both the global transformations that affect businesses and the strategic actions organizations initiate to remain competitive in a changing world.
Today, shifts in globalization, digitalization and sustainability requirements—combined with major disruptions such as COVID‑19, geopolitical conflicts and trade wars—challenge businesses across sectors. To strengthen resilience and competitiveness, companies may need either comprehensive redesigns or more targeted ad-justments.
Our research focuses on two central questions:
- How are business models adapted to create, deliver and capture value—not only today but also tomorrow?
- How are sales efforts organized and implemented to communicate the full value proposition to customers?
The research group on business transformation is multidisciplinary and draws on competences within sales, economics, marketing, communication and management. Our work combines conceptual analyses with empiri-cal studies based on both qualitative and quantitative data.
Beyond academic publications, we disseminate our research through teaching materials, workshops and semi-nars for businesses.
Our latest initiative is a Business Models and Sales Lab with exploratory tools such as AI-supported analysis, games and simulations to support experimentation and innovation.
DOING GOOD BUSINESS FRAMEWORK
Under the heading “Doing Good Business”, we introduce a framework where sustainability emerges from the interplay between value creation, stakeholder behavior, and governance structure. This triad goes beyond the classic people‑planet‑profit model to help companies design business models with real coherence, stronger impact, and more resilient sustainability outcomes. The conceptual framework is followed by a boardgame to decompose the complex task of assessing and developing sustainable business models.
ERCULES
Within sales, ERCULES is the largest EU R&D project to date and aims to strengthen companies’ access to modern sales competencies. UCN is establishing a Center for Vocational Excellence in Sales, where new job profiles, AI‑supported learning environments, and practice‑oriented training programs are developed in close collaboration with industry. For companies, ERCULES provides easier access to upskilled talent, new knowledge, collaboration opportunities, and tools that enhance the performance of sales organizations and futureproof its competencies.
THE COMPLEX B2B-SALE
An important aspect of business transformation is how the sales process and sales roles evolve, particularly within complex B2B sales. The PhD dissertation Dissolving B2B Sales Teams, for example, examines how sales roles and team dynamics change when sales organizations undergo transformation. Another key aspect is how AI is leveraged in the sales function. In addition, we collaborate across Europe on the development of teaching materials under the EU’s Erasmus+ programme.