FACULTY STAFF

Profile

Qualifications

PhD, Manufacturing strategy, University of Maribor, Slovenia
MSc, Manufacturing engineering, University of Maribor, Slovenia
MEng, Mechanical engineering, University of Maribor, Slovenia

Experience

2008 Senior Lecturer Manufacturing and Technology Strategy
Research and teaching in the area of strategic management of technology innovation
2006 - 2008 Marie Curie Intra-European Fellow at Leeds University Business School
Research, teaching and personal development activities associated with the Marie Curie award
2004 - 2006 Assistant Professor at Faculty for Mechanical Engineering, University of Maribor, Slovenia
Research and teaching in the area of technology and operations management, managing international collaboration projects (6 FP), working on applied projects with industry.
2000 - 2004 Research and Teaching Fellow at Faculty for Mechanical Engineering, University of Maribor, Slovenia
Research and teaching in the area of technology and operations management.
1998 - 2000 Manager for strategic planning of R&D and manufacturing operations at PRIMAT d.d., Maribor, Slovenia
Strategic planning with emphasis on R&D and manufacturing operations, investments in manufacturing technology, managing new product development projects.
1995 - 1998 Manufacturing engineer at PRIMAT d.d., Maribor, Slovenia
Production process planning, manufacturing system design and managing new product development projects.

Research

In a broad sense my research links the domains of strategic management, technology and innovation management, manufacturing strategy, and R&D policy. I strive to integrate the diversity of the above mentioned research fields in order to achieve a more holistic understanding of the role of engineering and scientific knowledge, technology and operations in creating and sustaining a competitive advantage in technology intensive and manufacturing organisations.

I am especially interested in the role of managerial agency within dynamic and evolutionary organisational phenomena. My current research explores development dynamics in a nanotechnology innovation system with an aim to advance the debate on dynamic capabilities by addressing the relevance of managerial agency.

My research on technology strategy led to the appointment as visiting professor at Faculty of Economics University of Ljubljana.

International Collaborations Projects

ManETEI (Management of Emerging Technologies for Economic Impact), Coordinator, Proposal Number: 238382, PEOPLE Work Programme 2008, Marie Curie Initial Training Network. Funding: 3.832.975,92€.

SUMMARY: The ManETEi network offers a research-led training programme to create a rigorous collaborative research agenda centred on the multifaceted phenomenon of managing emergent technologies for maximum economic and societal impact. It will have advanced capacity-building and career development that will benefit the early-career and experienced researchers needed to ensure Europe becomes a leading knowledge economy driven by its unique ERA. It will create a platform for researchers to investigate the multifaceted phenomenon of managing the emergent technologies that promise the greatest competitiveness and growth of the European economies. The network members are highly experienced in participating in EU funded research and its implementation at all levels. They all share commitment for future research and training collaboration based on the principles created by this network.
           
CREATE (Creative Processes for Enterprise Innovation), Contract number: IST-NMP -1-507947,, FP 6.

ManVis (Manufacturing Visions - Integrating Diverse Perspectives into Pan-European Foresight) , Contract number: IST-NMP-1-507139, www.manufacturing-visions.org, FP 6.

STIR (Socio-Technical Integration Research), co-ordinator: Arizona State University, Funding body NSF

Individual awards

Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (MEIF-CT-2005-023268), INKNOWMAN (Uncertainty and Industrial Knowledge Management: A Dynamic Capability Perspective) Funding: 161.995 €;

SUMMARY: The future role of the European Manufacturing Industry has been extensively debated among policy makers, practitioners and researchers. This debate highlights the importance of researching the management of industrial knowledge in a holistic manner. The knowledge, however, on this topic is largely fragmented into different research streams that lack integration and coherence. Previous research also lacks a multidisciplinary perspective and, as a consequence, falls short of addressing the multifaceted phenomena that occur in an industrial context. The proposed project aims to make a contribution in this respect by integrating the deferent strands of theory as well as focusing on new challenges. The knowledge-based theory of the firm will be used as the foundation for the framework, around which the insights from strategic management, organisational cognition and innovation management will be integrated. This integrative framework will be further refined and extended through the adoption of in-depth empirical research within a number of manufacturing companies in order to develop an explanatory process theory for managing industrial knowledge under uncertainty. This research will contribute to scientific knowledge by studying the reciprocal interaction between cognitive mechanisms and industrial knowledge development. The project is innovative in that it takes a longitudinal perspective and in the way it will adopt multilevel theorizing that will analytically link the strategic level with the practice of innovating and changing.

European Re-integration Grant (PERG02-GA-2007-224801), SMENaTech (Strategic Management of Emergent Nanotechnologies), Funding:45.000 €

SUMMARY: This proposal introduces a research programme that sets out to investigate a multi-faceted nature of managing development of emerging nanotechnologies by integrating variety of conceptual perspectives with different levels of analysis. The programme attempts to explore the development of strategic capabilities essential for integrating dispersed knowledge that enables different members of nanotechnology innovation system to increase their innovativeness and sustain their competitiveness. It sets out to capture in detail the contribution of proactive and knowledgeable agents that shape the emerging nanotechnology progress by purposefully engaging with the strategic, institutional and social context of technological innovation.

Teaching

Programme director for MSc in Manufacturing Leadership (Executive MSc programme) Module leader:

• Strategic Management of Technology and Manufacturing Innovation (LUBS 5698M)
• New Product Development (LUBS 5657M)
• Company Organisation and Management (MENG2640/LUBS 2190)
• Entrepreneurship and Innovation (LUBS5730/MBA)

Publications

Scientific Articles

PANDZA, K., WILKINS, T., ALFOLDI, E. (2011). Collaborative diversity in nanotechnology innovation system: Evidence for the EU Framework Programme. Technovation. vol. 31, no. 9. pp. 476-475.

PANDZA, K. (2011). Why and how will a group act autonomously to make an impact on the development of organizational  capabilities? Journal of Management Studies. Vol.48, no. 5, pp. 1015-1043.

PANDZA, K., THORPE, R. (2010). Management as design, but what kind of design? An appraisal of the design science analogy for management. British Journal of Management. Vol. 21, no. 1, pp.171-186.

PANDZA, K., THORPE, R. (2009). Creative search and strategic sense-making: Missing dimensions in the concept of dynamic capabilities. British Journal of Management. vol. 20, no. 1S, pp. S118-S113. JCR IF (2007): 1.534, SSE (19/72), business, SSE (27/81), management

PANDZA, K., HOLT, R. (2007). Knowledge absorption and transformation in nanotechnology innovation systems. Journal of Engineering and Technology Management. vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 347-365. JCR IF (2006): 0,563, SCI (19/32), engineering industrial.

ARMBRUSTER, H., JUNG ERCEG, P., PANDZA, K., DREHER, C. (2007). Managing knowledge in manufacturing: Results of a Delphi study in European manufacturing industry. Journal of Foresight and Innovation Policy., vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 256-276.

JUNG ERCEG, P., PANDZA, K., ARMBRUSTER, H., DREHER, C. (2007) Absorptive capacity in European manufacturing: a Delphi study. Industrial Management & Data Systems., vol. 107, no. 1, pp. 37-51. JCR IF (2005): 1.942, SCI (14/83) interdisciplinary applications, SCI (1/33), engineering industrial.

PANDZA, K., POLAJNAR, A., BUCHMEISTER, B. (2005). Strategic management of advanced manufacturing technology. International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology. 2005, vol. 25, no. 3/4, pp. 402-408. JCR IF: 0.406, SCI (21/36), engineering, manufacturing.

PANDZA, K., HORSBURGH, S., GORTON, K., POLAJNAR, A. (2003). A real options approach to managing resources and capabilities. International Journal of. Operations & Production Management., 2003, vol. 23, no. 9, pp. 1010-1032. JCR IF: 0.547, SSCI (43/67), management.

PANDZA, K., POLAJNAR, A., BUCHMEISTER, B., THORPE, R. (2003). Evolutionary perspectives on the capability accumulation process. International Journal of. Operations & Production Management, vol. 23, no. 8, pp. 822-849. JCR IF: 0.547, SSCI (43/67), management.

Chapter in a Monograph

KALPIC, Branko, PANDZA, Krsto, BERNUS, Péter. 2003. Strategy as a creation of corporate future. In: BERNUS, Péter (ed.), NEMES, Laszlo (ed.), SCHMIDT, Günter (ed.). Handbook on enterprise architecture, Berlin; London: Springer, pp. 213-253.
TAYLOR, David, PANDZA, Krsto. 2003. Networking capability: the competitive advantage of small firms. In: JONES, Oswald (ed.), TILLEY, Fiona (ed.). Competitive Advantage in SMEs: Organising for Innovation and Change. Chichester: Wiley, cop., pp. 156-173.