For research on: Technological and institutional change in the health care industry, with a focus on how organizations and their stakeholders navigate escalating technical complexity and respond to and learn from unexpected events such as product recalls.

The members of the Department of Organization Studies examine the adaptiveness of organizations from a relational perspective. Our research focuses on the interaction of organizations with their institutional environment and with other organization within networks, and within and between organizations and organizational teams. The department has a very strong research orientation with a focus on high-quality publications in leading journals in the fields of organization and management (e.g., Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Leadership Quarterly, Research Policy, Technovation, and Journal of Management). The department’s research program is part of TSB’s Herbert Simon Research Institute (HSRI) and its cross-cutting and multidisciplinary research theme ‘Adaptive Societies, Organizations, and Workers’.

Members of the Department of Organization Studies supervise Bachelor and Master students and teach a variety of degree courses at both levels in the Organization Studies programs and in the Global Management of Social Issues programs. All programs and tracks (except for one of the bachelor programs) are taught in English. Non-Dutch-speaking candidates will be asked to teach in English only. The working language of the Department, School and University is English. Further information about the department is available at https://www.tilburguniversity.edu/about/schools/socialsciences/organization/departments/organization-studies 

Tilburg University is one of Europe’s leading universities in Social and Behavioral Sciences. According to the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2021, Tilburg University is #37 worldwide, #10 in Europe, and #1 in the Netherlands in the subject of Business & Economics. Tilburg is in the Southern part of the Netherlands, at a 1h to 1.5h traveling distance from Amsterdam, Rotterdam, and Utrecht, close to Europe’s foremost high-tech regions (Brabant South-East) and equidistant from Brussels (Belgium) and the Aachen/Cologne area (Germany).

Tasks

Research (50%)
You will work on a PhD project under the supervision of Prof. dr. Marius T.H. Meeus (promotor), dr. Ashley Metz, and dr. Nikolas Rathert (co-promotors). Your research will contribute to fundamental questions in the research on how organizations experience and deal with changes in their technological and institutional environment, drawing on organization theories such as neo-institutional theory, learning theory, and the behavioral theory of the firm. Empirically, you can investigate these questions in the context of the healthcare industry, a setting ripe with technological change that requires firms and stakeholders (e.g., regulators, insurers, patients) to adapt and deal with unforeseen developments and events. For example, this industry is undergoing a shift towards more personal and precise care, often enabled by new technologies and devices. Increasingly, new devices incorporate software, which brings new regulation requirements and uncertainty about product development processes. Pharmaceutical firms and device makers are required to transition in part to technology companies, managing software in addition to medical technologies. Among the many challenges in developing new devices, sometimes products do not work as planned and need to be recalled from the market. Taken together, the industry offers a rich setting that allows us to investigate how organizations deal with technological change and learn from failure through recall experiences. Such change is also an important window into the question of how institutional environments adjust over time (e.g., the analysis of risk involved by manufacturers, insurers, and regulators) and, more specifically, into the (highly technical) future of healthcare.

The supervisory team is actively involved in research on these and related topics, including medical device recall (Meeus & Metz), corporate efforts toward consumer safety (Rathert) and digitalization in healthcare (Metz). They have experience with publishing in top international organization and management journals. In consultation with the supervising team, you will have the opportunity to contribute directly to the scope of this research project based on your specific research interests, skills, and career aspirations.

Teaching (50%)
Your teaching responsibilities include giving tutorials/lectures and assisting lecturer teams in courses featuring in the bachelor’s degree programs offered by the Department of Organization Studies (e.g., BA thesis supervision and Introduction to Organization Studies), as well as in the Master’s degree programs (e.g., Societal Developments and Institutions). You will also be invited to supervise Bachelor students in writing their theses. You will have the opportunity to obtain your university teaching qualification.

• A (Research) Master’s degree in Organization Studies, Business/Management or a related field.
• Academic excellence, as demonstrated by your grade transcripts and CV.
• Excellent research skills and knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods.
• The willingness to develop the above topic into a research proposal.
• English language skills to teach and write in English; Dutch language skills are appreciated, but not required. 
• Enthusiastic, independent, and strongly motivated.
• Team player.
• Willingness to work in a multidisciplinary social science environment.
• Strong interest in pursuing an academic career

Fixed-term contract: 6 years.

• We offer a full-time position with a 6-year fixed term contract.
• The full-time salary for the position ranges between € 2.790 and € 4.402 gross per month (salary scale 10) based on a 38-hour working week.
• A holiday allowance of 8% and an end-of-year bonus of 8.3% (annually).
• Researchers from outside the Netherlands may qualify for a tax-free allowance equal to 30% of their taxable salary (the 30% tax regulation, which lasts for five years). The University will apply for such an allowance on their behalf.
• Assistance in finding accommodation (for foreign employees).

The collective labor agreement of the Dutch Universities applies.

Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences

Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (TSB) is a modern, specialized university. The teaching and research of the Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences are organized around the themes of Adaptive societies, organizations, and workers, Healthy life span, Personalized prevention and care. The School's inspiring working environment challenges its workers to realize their ambitions; involvement and cooperation are essential to achieve this.

Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences