Dr. David K. Reetz

David K. Reetz is a postdoctoral researcher at the TUM School of Management, where he also completed his doctoral degree in management. Committee: Oliver Alexy, Linus Dahlander, Jason Davis, Joachim Henkel.

Fundamental (i.e., Knightian) uncertainty is ubiquitous for most organizations creating new technological trajectories, building new ventures, or shaping novel markets. That is, they lack or are unaware of potentially relevant knowledge, and available pieces of information that guide them may be ambiguous or even misleading. While much research has looked into how organizations cope with such conditions, David is particularly interested in those able to thrive because (not despite) of such uncertainty. His research addresses this notion in two closely related streams. First, he examines the role of cognition and action in knowledge generation and how, under uncertainty, it affects the formation of novel strategies. Second, he explores the interplay of strategy formation and organizational structure in new ventures, to shed light on the origins and emergence of organizational designs. David's research has been published in the Academy of Management Discoveries and he received a best conference paper award at the Strategic Management Conference (Behavioral Strategy IG).

At TUM School of Management, David teaches courses on new venture creation, strategy, growth, and design on the undergraduate and graduate level programs.

Before joining TUM, David worked as a product and business development consultant for the ICT, medical, and automotive sector; and was a co-founder of a spin-out at the University of Manchester.

David obtained a M.Sc. in Innovation Management and Entrepreneurship from the University of Manchester Business School, England; and a diploma (equivalent to M.A.) in Systems- and Product Design from the University of Kassel, Germany. He was a visiting doctoral student at INSEAD, Singapore.

Research interests:
Uncertainty, novelty, cognition, strategy, organization design
New venture creation, nascent markets, tech innovation and commercialization

Scholarly publications:
Majchrzak, A., Griffith, T.L., Reetz, D.K., and Alexy, O. “Catalyst organizations as a new organization design for innovation: the case of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies,” Academy of Management Discoveries, 4(4): 272-296. doi.org/10.5465/amd.2017.0041

Contact:
david.reetz@tum.de