Staff Profiles

Robin Pesch is a Senior Lecturer in International Management at Newcastle University Business School. Besides, he is the Degree Programme Director for International Business Management (UG). Before joining Newcastle University in 2020, he was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Bayreuth (Germany) from which he received a PhD degree with distinction. Robin was a Visting Lecturer in Organization & Management at Zeppelin University (Germany).

His research interests are global alliance management, cultural distance, migration workforce, and digital innovation. He received awards for outstanding research as well as teaching. Robin is a Country-Co Investigator of the GLOBE (Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) 2020 research project and the coordinator of the Sino-German Research Network on "Digital Transformation in China and Germany: Strategies, Structures, and Solutions for Ageing Societies". He attracted research and teaching funds from around the globe, including Canada, China, Germany, and the United Kingdom.

A key aim of his work is to ensure that his research has a meaningful impact beyond the academic community. He delivers on this aim by combining critical scholarship with an active role in advising corporations, industry associations, policymakers, and non-profit organisations on topics and policies related to digital transformation and (forced) migration.

Research Interests 

• Global Alliance Management
• Cultural Distance
• Migration workforce
• Digital Innovation

Google Scholar: Click here

Interdisciplinary Research Projects 

Robin Pesch is a Country-Co Investigator of the GLOBE (GLOBAL Leadership an Organizational Behavior Effectiveness) 2020 research project. This project includes researchers from more than 100 nations and aims to research the relationship between national culture, leadership, and organizational practices. Moreover, Robin is the coordinator of the Sino-German Research Network: "Digital Transformation in China and Germany: Strategies, Structures, and Solutions for Aging Societies". The interdisciplinary research network includes 30 Chinese and German researchers from different fields. Since February 2020, this network is funded with an amount of £ 300000 by the Sino-German Research Center, a joint venture of DFG (Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft) and NSFC (National Natural Science Foundation of China). This research project aims to research the role of digital technologies and novel business models in aging societies.

Research Awards

• Nominated for the VHB (Verband der Hochschullehrer für Betriebswirtschaftslehre) Best Paper Award 2021
• Christer Karlsson Best Paper Award of the IPDMC (Innovation Product Development Management Conference) 2020
• Best Paper Award of the Academy of International Business, US West Chapter Annual Conference 2020
• Strategic Management Stream Award of the annual conference of the Australian & New Zealand Academy of Management (ANZAM) 2018
• Careers Division Best Symposium Award of the Academy of Management Annual Meeting (AOM) 2017 – contributing author 
• Paper Award of the Global Innovation and Knowledge Academy (GIKA) 2014
• Finalist of the “2012 PDMA Dissertation Proposal Competition” 

Robin Pesch has taught postgraduate and undergraduate courses focusing on organisation, strategic management, innovation management, and international management in Germany, Switzerland, and the UK. His teaching was awarded the Best Teaching Award of the Faculty of Law and Economics at the University Bayreuth in 2017. He is experimenting with innovative teaching concepts. Currently, Robin is working on a dissertation channel for students. This channel should include professionally produced animated videos that punchily explain complex topics of the dissertation lifecycle. A pilot project has been funded by the Digital Innovation in the Curricula Fund. Click here to watch the video and read more about the project.

He is currently teaching these modules:

• BUS3052 International Business Management Dissertation (UG, Module leader)
• NBS8599 Research-based Dissertation for International Business Management (PG, Module leader)
• NBS3000 Business School Mobility

He is interested in supervising PhD students on research projects related to these topics: 

• Global alliance management
• Workplace integration of refugees
• Digital innovation management 

• Pesch R, Ipek E, Fitzsimmons S. Be a hero: Employ refugees like a pragmatist. Organizational Dynamics 2023, 52(1), 100912.
• Endres H, Hüsig S, Pesch R. Digital innovation management for entrepreneurial ecosystems: services and functionalities as drivers of innovation management software adoption. Review of Managerial Science 2022, 16, 135-156.
• Pesch R, Endres H, Bouncken RB. Digital Product Innovation Management: Balancing Stability and Fluidity through Formalization. Journal of Product Innovation Management 2021, 38(6), 726-744.
• Taeuscher K, Bouncken RB, Pesch R. Gaining Legitimacy by Being Different: Optimal Distinctiveness in Crowdfunding Platforms. Academy of Management Journal 2021, 64(1), 149-179.
• Bouncken RB, Hughes M, Ratzmann M, Cesinger B, Pesch R. Family Firms, Alliance Governance and Mutual Knowledge Creation. British Journal of Management 2020, 31(4), 769-791.
• Bouncken RB, Klement S, Pesch R. Additive Manufacturing Alliances - service cooperation in the 3D printing industry. In: Bruhn M; Hadwich K, ed. Kooperative Dienstleisungen – Spannungsfelder zwischen Service Cooperation and Service Coopetition. Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature, 2019, pp.359-382.
• Laudien S, Pesch R. Understanding the influence of digitalization on service firm business model design: A qualitative-empirical analysis. Review of Managerial Science 2019, 13(3), 575-587.
• Bouncken RB, Ratzmann M, Pesch R, Laudien S. Alliances of service firms and manufacturers: Relations and configurations of entrepreneurial orientation and hybrid innovation. Journal of Business Research 2018, 89, 190-197.
• Pesch R, Bouncken RB. How to achieve benefits in international alliances: Mechanisms and cultural intelligence. Global Strategy Journal 2018, 8(2), 275-300.
• Engelhard F, Pesch R. Personal Attachment of Boundary Spanners in ISAs: A Two-sided Coin. In: Zhang, M, ed. Trust Building and Boundary Spanning in Cross-border Management. Routledge, 2018, pp.65-68.
• Ratzmann M, Pesch R, Bouncken RB, Climent CM. The Price of Team Spirit for Sensemaking Through Task Discourse in Innovation Teams. Group Decision and Negotiation 2018, 27(3), 321-341.
• Pesch R, Bouncken RB. The double-edged sword of cultural distance in international alliances - How perceived cultural distance influences trust and task discourse to drive new product development performance. Cross Cultural and Strategic Management 2017, 24(1), 33-54.
• Bouncken RB, Fredrich V, Pesch R. Configurational answer to the ongoing riddle of formal and/or emergent planning practices. Journal of Business Research 2016, 69(9), 3609-3615.
• Bouncken RB, Pesch R, Reuschl A. Copoiesis: Mutual knowledge creation in alliances. Journal of Innovation and Knowledge 2016, 1(1), 44-50.
• Pesch R, Bouncken RB, Kraus S. Effects of divergent communication schemes in new product development alliances. Management Research Review 2016, 39(3), 289-309.
• Bouncken RB, Pluescke B, Pesch R, Kraus S. Entrepreneurial orientation in vertical alliances: joint product innovation and learning from allies. Review of Managerial Science 2016, 10, 381-409.
• Pesch R, Bouncken RB, Kraus S. Effects of communication style and age diversity in innovation teams. International Journal of Innovation and Technology Management 2015, 12(6), 1550029.
• Pesch R. Kulturelle Distanz und inter-organisationales Lernen in internationalen Innovationskooperationen : Eine empirische Analyse in der Maschinenbaubranche. Hamburg: Kovac, 2015.
• Bouncken RB, Pesch R, Kraus S. SME innovativeness in buyer-seller alliances: effects of entry timing strategies and inter-organizational learning. Review of Managerial Science 2015, 9, 361-384.
• Bouncken RB, Pesch R, Gudergan S. Strategic embeddedness of modularity in alliances: innovation and performance implications. Journal of Business Research 2015, 68(7), 1388-1394.
• Pesch R, Bouncken RB, Kraus S. Misunderstanding in international alliances does not mean miscommunication!. International Journal of Strategic Management 2014, 14(3), 117-124.
• Bouncken RB, Pesch R. New product performance through channeling in supply chain innovation alliances: the nexus of collaboration intensity, divergent communication schemes, and alliance duration. In: Das, TK, ed. Strategic Alliances for Innovation and R&D. Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing, 2014, pp.85-111.
• Bouncken RB, Pesch R. Divers und doch Produktiv? Zum Umgang mit kultureller Diversität bei Dienstleistungsunternehmen ( in: Dienstleistungsproduktivität Band 2: Innovationsentwicklung, Internationalität, Mitarbeiterperspektive., Forum Dienstleistungsmanagement. In: Bruhn, M; Hadwich, K, ed. Dienstleistungsproduktivität Band 2: Innovationsentwicklung, Internationalität, Mitarbeiterperspektive., Forum Dienstleistungsmanagement. 2011, pp.242-261.
• Pesch R. Improvisation im unternehmerischen Prozess. ZfKE - Zeitschrift fuer KMU und Entrepreneurship 2011.