Three D-MTEC researchers receive AOM Award for Responsible Research in Management
Dr Burcu Kucukkeles, Dr Shiko Ben-Menahem and Professor Georg von Krogh, all of D-MTEC, have been selected as Distinguished Winners of the 2021 AOM Award for Responsible Research in Management. The award is co-sponsored by the Fellows of the Academy of Management (AOM) and the Community for Responsible Research in Business and Management. The three researchers were honoured for their work examining the repurposing of existing drugs to treat rare diseases.
In “Small numbers, big concerns: Practices and organizational arrangements in rare disease drug repurposing”, [1] Dr Kucukkeles, PD Dr Ben-Menahem and Professor von Krogh address a need to which both markets and governments often fail to respond adequately: developing treatments for rare diseases. The most promising treatment option for a rare disease often involves employing drugs that were originally developed for other purposes. “Small numbers, big concerns” identifies the ways in which non-profit actors can propel drug repurposing by engaging patients in the drug development process, creating platforms and communities for knowledge exchange among diverse stakeholders, and supporting researchers in finding funding opportunities – a process through which existing knowledge is used to save lives.
This year’s winners of the award were selected using a rigorous two-stage review process that involved both Fellows of the Academy of Management and practicing executives. Dr Ben-Menahem noted that the award provides “a great opportunity to showcase potentially life-saving solutions to the lack of therapies for rare diseases.”
The Award
The AOM external page Award for Responsible Research in Management pays tribute to high-quality scientific research that addresses critical issues in business and society and contributes knowledge with the potential to make the world a better place. It is awarded annually and is co-sponsored by the Fellows of the Academy of Management and the Community for Responsible Research in Business and Management.
About the Award Winners
external page Burcu Kucukkeles is an Assistant Professor on the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Amsterdam. She completed her doctoral studies at the Chair of Strategic Management and Innovation in the Department Management, Technology, and Economics (D-MTEC) at ETH Zurich, where she received an ETH Medal for her outstanding doctoral thesis. Her research focuses on the field- and organisational-level dynamics of practices, in particular in innovation processes. In her doctoral research she analysed drug repurposing practices in the pharmaceutical industry.
Shiko Ben-Menahem is a habilitated Senior Lecturer at the Chair of Strategic Management and Innovation in the MTEC Department at ETH Zurich, and Adjunct Associate Professor at the Stern School of Business, Department of Technology, Operations, and Statistics at NYU. His research on strategy and innovation processes in healthcare, medical devices, and life sciences has appeared in various scientific and practitioner-oriented journals.
Georg von Krogh holds the Chair of Strategic Management and Innovation in the MTEC Department at ETH Zurich. He specialises in competitive strategy, technological innovation, and knowledge management, and has conducted research on several industries, including financial services, media, computer software and hardware, life sciences, and consumer goods. He is the Chair of the ETH Global Advisory Board, which advises the President of ETH Zurich on international strategy. He also serves on the ETH Strategy Commission.
References
[1] Kucukkeles, B., Ben-Menahem, S.M., and von Krogh, G. (2019). “Small numbers, big concerns: Practices and organizational arrangements in rare disease drug repurposing”. Academy of Management Discoveries, 5(4), 415–437. DOI: 10.5465/amd.2018.0183