Hund Axel

M.Sc. – International Business

Axel Hund was a research assistant at the Chair of Information Systems, in particular information systems in the service industry. As part of his scientific education at the Otto-Friedrich-University he spent two semesters abroad at the University of Wollongong in Australia. He also completed a six-month internship at the international automotive supplier Bosch and worked as a management consultant in Argentina. His interest in digital technologies started through his early involvement in various startups.

At the chair, he was part of the research project SENECA, which investigates digital innovations in a corporate context in cooperation with the German Graduate School in Heilbronn. On the one hand, the project investigates how different factors (e.g. IT governance, knowledge management, or innovation processes) have to be adapted in incumbent companies to create digital innovations.

On the other hand, the topic of organizational design in the digital age is deepened in order to understand how grown organizational structures can and must change due to the omnipresent digitalization. In this context, modern approaches to innovation units (e.g.: Digital Innovation Labs) and their workflows are in particular focus.

Selected Publications

Hund, A., Wagner, H., Beimborn, D., and Weitzel, T. (2021)
Digital Innovation: Review and Novel Perspective
The Journal of Strategic Information Systems (30:4), 101695, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsis.2021.101695 (VHB-JOURQUAL 3 Rating: A )

View Abstract
While research has produced valuable insights about digital innovation, we lack a comprehensive understanding about its core nature, and research across disciplinary boundaries lacks integration. To address these issues, we review 227 articles on digital innovation across eight disciplines. Based on our findings, we (1) inductively develop a new definition and propose a new framing of current conceptualizations of digital innovation, (2) organize central concepts of the literature on digital phenomena and show how they intersect with our conceptualization, and (3) develop a framework to organize digital innovation research according to five key themes. We conclude by identifying two particularly promising areas of future research.

Mattke, J., Maier, C., Hund, A., and Weitzel, T. (2019)
How an Enterprise Blockchain Application in the U.S. Pharmaceuticals Supply Chain is Saving Lives
MIS Quarterly Executive (18:4), (p. 245 - 261), http://dx.doi.org/10.17705/2msqe.00019 (VHB-JOURQUAL 3 Rating: B)

View Abstract
This article describes the MediLedger Project, which has built a blockchain ecosystem application that will prevent counterfeit pharmaceuticals from entering the U.S. pharmaceuticals supply chain. From the lessons learned, we recommend to 1) use a "benevolent dictator" and base governance on "consensus through collaboration", 2) to not store verified transactions on the blockchain but to instead store the verification on the blockchain, 3) to use zero-knowledge proofs to verify product and transaction authenticity while preserving full privacy 4) and to use blockchain application capabilities that are not found in traditional technologies, to fix ineffective IS landscapes.

Hund, A., Graser, H., Wagner, H., Beimborn, D., and Weitzel, T. (2021)
Balancing Organizational Identity through Mission Statements: A Topic Modeling Analysis
Proceedings of the 81st Academy of Management Conference, A Virtual Experience

View Abstract
Organizational identities define how organizations are perceived inside and outside the organ-izational boundaries. Because organizational identity is deeply embedded in an organization's routines and processes, a continuous identity provides stability, whereas changes in organiza-tional identity are risky and difficult to manage. Yet, digital innovation leads to frequent changes in the external environment, resulting in conflicting requirements and the need to manage changes in the organizational identity. To do so, organizations therefore rely on narra-tives such as mission statements to communicate and balance their identity in the face of fre-quent change and often conflicting demands. We examine the mission statements of the top 1000 R&D spenders and uncover 18 topics that are part of such narratives. We discuss our findings in the context of research on digital innovation and conclude by identifying promising avenues for future research.

Hund, A., Beimborn, D., Wagner, H., Legl, S., and Holotiuk, F. (2021)
How Digital Innovation Labs Use Knowledge: Access Strategies and Recombination Paths
Proceedings of the 42nd International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), Austin, Texas, USA

View Abstract
Current research on digital innovation mainly focuses on the recombination of digital and physical components, yet little attention is given to the recombination of knowledge. Since digital technology enables access to virtually unlimited amounts of knowledge, we explore the strategies used by Digital Innovation Labs to access different types of knowledge and uncover five distinct knowledge recombination paths. Based on our results we develop seven propositions that address the role of different types of knowledge involved in recombination. In doing so, we take a first step toward unraveling the pathways of knowledge recombination and highlight the importance of knowledge recombination for future research on digital innovation.

Hund, A., Diel, V., and Wagner, H. (2021)
Recombining Layers of Digital Technology: How Users Create and Capture Value
Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik, Essen, Germany

View Abstract
Recombination is central to the creation of innovation. Since digital innovation is product and use agnostic, not only producers and firms can carry out recombination, but users themselves can select and recombine different digital resources. We investigate why users select and recombine digital resources from different layers (content, service, network, device) of the layered modular architecture in a personal context. Our results allow us to make three key contributions: (1) We underscore the importance to distinguish between intra-layer and inter-layer recombination and uncover different reasons to carry out intra- or inter-layer recombination. (2) We show that the network layer appears to be invisible to users when recombining digital resources in a personal context. (3) We outline recommendations and research questions for future research, based on our findings.

Awards