Research

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Research activities

Following the research evaluation in 2002 EBS formulated new priorities in the fields of management research, which were approved by the Senate in 2003. In accordance with this strategy, an action plan to restructure management research was compiled and implemented. This was particularly inspired by the Bologna process (3+2+4 model).

As reformulated, the school’s research mission states: EBS is committed to management research as a foundation of quality in education, serving the corporate world and society at large.
The research strategy clearly determined the characteristics of research at EBS and concentrated activities on three key areas:

  1. Change management and knowledge transfer in learning organisations and East-West cooperation networks
  2. Institutional environment, legal framework and relations with business organisations
  3. Leadership ethics and social responsibility

These topics are closely interrelated. Organizational changes, leadership ethics and social responsibility are analyzed from an institutional perspective, taking into account historical developments in economic order and cultural differences.

Main objectives formulated in the research strategy for the period 2003-2008 were the following:

  1. Better coordination of research activities inside EBS, including integration of Masters’ and Doctoral students into management research teams
  2. Extensive cooperation with management research institutions in Estonia (University of Tartu, Tallinn University of Technology)
  3. Integration into international management research networks
  4. Systematic publication of research results, including EBS Review
  5. Systematic participation in international conferences, including conferences organized by EBS

Two major research programmes were prepared and implemented in cooperation with the Estonian Institute for Future Studies (at present a structural unit of the University of Tallinn):

  1. Corporate governance
  2. Dynamics of business organisations and management.

In compliance with the analysis of research and development activities in 2003-2008 a research strategy for years 2009-2012 was formulated and approved by the EBS Senate in January 2009. This states EBS’s aim as being to contribute to the international knowledge base of Management Research, enhance management practice and the efficiency of private and public organisations, as well as assure the high quality training of managers and specialists in business and public organizations in Estonia.

Due to significant growth in research in the last five years, it has been possible to split EBS’ main research topics into more focused research areas. On one hand, this aims to create a clearer division of labour between departments. On the other hand our aim is to promote interdisciplinary cooperation across borders between the academic structural units.

The first topic, Change management and knowledge transfer in learning organisations and East-West cooperation networks, was divided between the Departments of Management and Entrepreneurship. The second topic, The institutional environment and legal framework and relations with business organisations, was divided between the Departments of Law and Public Administration, and of Economics. An additional relevant research topic was formulated for the Department of Information Technology.

A common programme integrating management research at EBS has been formulated as “Organizational development in an institutional context”. As a result, programmes under this general umbrella are:

  1. Development of organisations and management of change (Department of Management) - studies socio-economical influence on organisational change.
  2. Innovative entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer in international networks (Department of Entrepreneurship) - focuses on increasing the international competitiveness of Estonian entrepreneurs in the EU integration context.
  3. Development of Public Administration Organizations and their Legal Framework. Application of Experience in New Democracies (Department of Law and Public Administration) - targeted at systematic analysis and evaluation of the developments in the management of Estonian public administration organizations.
  4. Institutional Economics (Department of Economics) - aims to develop analytical tools and their application in studying the impact of legal frameworks on economic development.
  5. Social Responsibility and Ethical Values of Organizations (Department of Behavioural Sciences, Centre for Ethics) - aims to study ethical values and corporate social responsibility in the Estonian business community and organizations and in managerial leadership.
  6. Intelligent IT Systems in Public and Private Organizations (Department of Information Technology) - aims to create tools for supporting the decision-making process with knowledge based (intelligent) systems.


Projects within these topics are carried out in cooperation with partner universities and institutions in Estonia and abroad. Many research activities are integrated into international partnership networks (see general description).

Researchers and doctoral students from different departments are in close cooperation. The Department of Management has joint research with the Department of Behavioural Sciences in studying social responsibility and work-related values, including ethical values during the implementation of organizational changes. The Department of Entrepreneurship has a joint research project with the Department of Management on the characteristics of successful entrepreneurs. The Department of Management studies organizational changes in business and public organizations by involving the Department of Law and Public Administration. Organizational change is also studied in an institutional context together with the Department of Economics.