Leonhard Dobusch

Leonhard Dobusch is a full Professor of Business Administration with a focus on Organization at the University of Innsbruck's Faculty of Business and Management, specifically within the Institute for Organisation and Learning. He has held this position since February 2016, after serving as a Junior Professor at Freie Universität Berlin from 2012-2016. Professor Dobusch maintains active international collaborations with researchers at institutions including ETH Zurich, University of Oxford, University of Zurich, and University of Duisburg-Essen.

• University of Innsbruck: Professor of Business Administration (since 2016)
• Freie Universität Berlin: Junior Professor of Management (2012-2016)
• Freie Universität Berlin: Postdoc at Chair for Inter-Organizational Cooperation (2009-2012)
• Stanford Law School: Research Fellow at Center for Internet & Society (2008)
• Max Planck Institute for Social Research: Postdoc Fellow (2008-2009)

Professor Dobusch's research centers on three interconnected areas that challenge conventional organizational thinking. His work on organizational openness examines how principles like open source software, open science, and open innovation manifest in practice, revealing how formal openness often leads to unintended exclusion. His second research stream investigates alternatives to intellectual property rights in regulatory uncertain environments, particularly in pharmaceutical innovation where he studies approaches to vaccine development beyond traditional patent systems. Thirdly, he develops the concept of 'organisationality' to redefine how we understand organization in increasingly fluid social systems. His research has significant implications for companies, public administrations, and scientific institutions navigating the challenges of openness, regulatory uncertainty, and new organizational forms in the digital age.

Professor Dobusch's publication record demonstrates consistent high-impact contributions to organizational studies, with articles appearing in top journals including Organization Studies, Journal of Management Studies, and Long Range Planning. His work shows a clear trajectory from studying open source software adoption in city administrations (his doctoral research) to broader questions about organizational forms, openness, and intellectual property in complex systems.

• 2025: Best Reviewer Award of the Journal Organization Theory
• 2025: Prof of the Year Award in Rhetoric and Didactics
• 2022: Best Paper Award of the Strategy Practice Interest Group
• 2020: Ideas Worth Teaching Award by Aspen Institute for 'Organizing in Times of Crisis'
• 2020: LehrePlus!-Preis der Universität Innsbruck
• 2016: LehrePlus!-Preis for 'Open Organizations and Organizing Openness' course

Professor Dobusch actively integrates his research into teaching, exemplified by his award-winning wiki-based course 'Open Organizations and Organizing Openness' and the collaborative online course series 'Organizing in Times of Crisis', which received international recognition. He currently leads a three-year DFG/FWF-funded research project 'Organising Creativity under Regulatory Uncertainty: Alternative Approaches to Intellectual Property' with Professor Sigrid Quack. Within professional networks, he serves as Chair of the Executive Board of the Interest Group 'Strategizing Activities and Practices' at the Academy of Management and regularly leads sub-themes at the European Group of Organization Studies Colloquium on Organizational Openness.

Professor Dobusch contributes to several research communities through his blogs 'osconjunction.net' and 'governancexborders.com', and participates in the Momentum-Kongress that connects academic research with social and political practice. His work bridges theoretical innovation with practical relevance, particularly in how organizations can navigate the tensions between openness and closure, formal regulation and creative adaptation.