René Bohnsack

René Bohnsack, PhD, is Assistant Professor for Strategy and Innovation at Católica-Lisbon. Before joining Católica, René was Assistant Professor at the University of Amsterdam Business School and research fellow at the University of St. Gallen. He frequently is guest lecturer in the Global Executive MBA programme at Manchester Business School. He earned his doctorate from the University of Amsterdam and holds an MLitt in International Business from the University of St. Andrews, School of Management, Scotland. Prior to his PhD, René worked as strategic controller for the GEA Group AG, responsible for business units in Poland and China.

René researches the diffusion of technologies and how business models can accelerate diffusion. He has published his research in the top international innovation and management journals (Research Policy, Journal of Business Venturing, Journal of Product Innovation Management, California Management Review, Technological Forecasting & Social Change, etc.), presented his research at top international conferences, received the 3rd prize for the best innovation management paper 2013, the Best Paper Award in Sustainable Entrepreneurship in 2016, and won the Science Park New Idea Competition in 2011. René’s current research focuses on the design of value propositions for disruptive technologies, the digital transformation of industries and the role of international market design on business modelling.

Also, René is the founder and director of the Smart City Innovation Lab, a multi-disciplinary research team at Católica-Lisbon working on cutting-edge knowledge related to creating wellbeing in urban areas via sustainable technologies and digital transformation. The research of the group focuses on business models, international strategy, and digital innovation. SCIL employs currently six researchers who under René’s guidance are lead partners in two major European research projects. In one of the projects, SCIL develops jointly with industry partners (e.g. ATOS, Siemens, AT Kearney) the platform on which firms can create disruptive business models for the energy industry. In another project, SCIL creates a smart home energy solution which is currently piloted in Lisbon and Amsterdam. Moreover, SCIL consults companies on strategic issues related to energy, digitalization and internationalization. In total, SCIL collaborates with 40 companies across Europe. Currently, SCIL hosts the Portuguese-German Innovation Award 2017 (together with the Portuguese German Chamber of Commerce, Roland Berger and informa).

Next to René’s academic accomplishments, he also co-founded several companies, for instance an online platform for social carsharing (discontinued), an online service for flight refunds (sold, now Greenclaims B.V.), and a start-up for e-Health (fitbase, now one of the largest suppliers of intelligent elearning solutions for workplace health in Germany).