Harvard, Hong Kong, Berlin: Economist with excellent international connections accepts post at MODUL University Vienna

MODUL University welcomes the internationally active economist Professor Horst Treiblmaier as the new head of the Department of International Management. After holding academic posts in several countries, including at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) and Purdue University in Indiana, the expert in gamification and value-added networks has accepted a post at MU, influenced by the favorable research climate and international outlook.

“We’re thrilled that Professor Treiblmaier has joined our university. His preeminence in the field of economics and his expertise in teaching and research will make an important contribution to strengthening our reputation as Austria’s leading private English-language business university”, explains Christian Hoffmann, Managing Director of MU.

Having held academic positions in the USA, Canada, Australia, Kazakhstan, and Austria, Professor Treiblmaier is an internationally sought-after cooperation partner in the fields of gamification and the physical internet. Gamification is a new research field in economic informatics that is concerned with the use of elements typical of games, for example in teaching and training applications with the aim of boosting motivation and promoting learning. The physical internet is a supply-chain concept whose aim is to develop highly efficient and resource-sparing value-added networks through the use of the internet of things and cross-company cooperation.

In his research into the physical internet alone, Professor Treiblmaier is currently involved in three international projects. Besides the practical implementation of this future-oriented concept in Austria, his projects have dealt with prediction models for industrial partners. His international cooperation partners include colleagues at Harvard University in the USA, City University of Hong Kong, Copenhagen Business School and the Technical University of Berlin. He is also working on a project concerned with information visualization together with a colleague at Oxford University in the UK.

The passionate researcher, who has also worked for many years at the Vienna University of Economics and Business, says that his decision to accept the post at MODUL University was prompted by the outstanding climate there for productive academic activity: “Here at MODUL University, teaching is done in small groups. That has two advantages: Our students receive highly individualized education, and at the same time we are allowed ample time to pursue intensive, high-caliber research. The research is closely intermeshed with the teaching, so that our students often work at the cutting edge of scientific research”, he says.

Another reason influencing Treiblmaier’s decision is the excellent international outlook of the private university. “Foreign students are the largest group, making up over 70 percent of the student body,” he explains. They come from around 70 different countries, and this promotes vigorous intercultural exchange.” Such intercultural exchange is particularly important for the Department of International Management, because in an increasingly global world, management solutions always involve interacting with various cultures. 

Most recent publication:
Breaking Free from the Limitations of Classical Test Theory: Developing and Measuring Information Systems Scales Using Item Response Theory. Rusch, T., Lowry, P. B., Mair, P. and Treiblmaier, H. (2017), Information & Management, Vol. 54, No. 2, 189 - 203. ?