Klaus Thiel

Prof. Dr. Klaus Thiel serves as Professor at Westphalian University of Applied Sciences within the Department of Business and Information Technology (FB 5), concurrently holding the position of Managing Director at the Institute for Empirical Economic and Social Research (IWS) and maintaining affiliation with the Westphalian Institute of Health.

His academic foundation includes Economics studies followed by doctoral research in Economic Statistics under Prof. Dr. Arminger at Bergische Universität Wuppertal, where he also served as Scientific Assistant prior to his professorship.

Research spans empirical data-driven business transformation with core emphases on Customer Relationship Management (Customer Journey/Segmentation/Lifecycle), Service Profit Chain dynamics, Digital Business Models, and Sustainability strategies. Technical expertise integrates Machine Learning and Big Data analytics into marketing, HR systems (Workforce Analytics/Candidate Journey), supply chain optimization, and digitalization across automotive/logistics/agriculture sectors.

Active thesis supervision covers greenwashing analysis, digital leader frameworks, predictive analytics applications, and transformation processes in emerging business models.

Leadership extends to directing the Institute for Empirical Economic and Social Research, driving interdisciplinary projects at the intersection of economic modeling and social impact assessment.