Kristin B Munksgaard appointed as new professor: 'It was the interaction with companies that got me into research'

Let us turn back the clock. Kristin B Munksgaard is a research assistant and is working for a professor on a number of projects. One day, they are out presenting their findings to some consultants, and in the middle of it all it hits her: this is what she will be doing for the rest of her life.

- It was the knowledge exchange and education part that I found really exciting. Making discoveries in our projects and then presenting our knowledge and engaging in dialogue with companies. It was so exciting that I thought, ‘This is how I want to work,’ she remembers.

Fast forward to 2024. Today, Kristin B Munksgaard’s daily life consists of the very things that sparked her interest back then: ensuring that our knowledge comes to life. She does this in her capacity as vice dean for Strategic Development, director of the University of Southern Denmark Business School – and as a newly appointed professor of business-to-business marketing.

Doing things together

If Kristin B Munksgaard had to boil down her research into one word, it would be ‘collaboration’. While much of the theory in management, organisation and B2B marketing is about what one company does in relation to the others, the newly appointed professor is convinced that many things happen in an interaction between companies.

- There are very few companies that develop, produce and sell their products completely independently. They utilise their entire network. I’ve typically looked at how companies collaborate to develop their product development or business development, for example.

- One of the newest things I’m looking at is how companies are implementing sustainability. No company can solve the challenges of sustainability, climate and the environment on their own. It’s something we need to do together.

- So I’m very interested in finding out how we can develop theories and understandings that give us an insight into how to do things together and how to advise companies about it, she says.

In one of Kristin B Munksgaard’s latest publications, she and her colleagues develop new theoretical principles for coordination in networks, which they call ‘distributed control’. The principles are intended to provide new understandings of how otherwise independent organisations from different industries can coordinate their very different activities to succeed with things like circular economy and blockchains.

Becoming more skilful

Since 2021, Kristin B Munksgaard has headed the University of Southern Denmark Business School, which builds bridges and strengthens the interaction between the business economics programmes, the business community and society as a whole.

- The outreach that got me interested in research was also what I found super interesting when I heard that they were starting the Business School. That thing about creating a very explicit interaction between our students, companies and lecturers in our study programmes, she says.

Is this something we can get better at?

- There are so many great activities going on in our programmes already. But yes, I actually do think we can get better. In fact, because I think you should always strive to become better and more skilful. New things are always popping up that we need to take into account. As a university, we have the potential to build on this deep academic expertise and high-quality international research. And put it into play wherever it’s relevant.

Being motivated – and feeling privileged

Kristin B Munksgaard points out that both the University of Southern Denmark Business School and the Faculty of Business and Social Sciences are in a good position. Research is put into play, both in terms of policy and groundbreaking knowledge that lays the foundation for something new.

- But also things that are relevant in practice. Incorporating it in the teaching, so that our students are ready to engage with the world and become great leaders and citizens. And that’s where I think we at the University of Southern Denmark, with our regional roots, have some very special opportunities and strengths in terms of contributing to the society we are part of.

And so we return to where we started. The collaboration. Knowledge sharing. Outreach. What made Kristin B Munksgaard enter the world of research in the first place. That is why she recognises that keywords for her work are ‘practice-oriented’.

- That’s what drives me personally. That’s where I’ve found my inspiration in my research, what I find really fun. It’s in working with companies and helping to move them forward or gathering some data, some impressions across some companies, which then gives me insight into new ways of working together.

- I feel very privileged. I get to do some of the things I find really exciting, she emphasises.