Ermal Hetemi

Ermal Hetemi

Senior lecturer
Department of Management School of Business and Economics
Save contact Download image

I am Ermal Hetemi, Assistant Professor in Organizing and Innovation within the Department of Management at the School of Business, Linnaeus University. My international engagement is extensive, having studied and worked in esteemed institutions across the world, including the University of Eastern Michigan in the USA, Politecnica de Madrid (UPM) in Spain, KTH Royal University in Sweden, and the University of Pristina in Kosovo. During my Postdoctoral at KTH Royal Institute of Technology's Department of Industrial Management and Computer Science, I specialized in developing and instructing project and program management curricula focused on innovation context.

My engagement within the academic community is substantial. I serve on the international Editorial Board for the prestigious International Journal of Project Management, a publication that recently achieved Level 2 status in the Norwegian Register for Scientific Journals. I also contribute as a reviewer to other influential journals, such as Long Range Planning, Knowledge Management Research and Practice, the Project Management Journal, and the International Journal of Managing Projects in Business.
I am also actively involved in industry and policy initiatives. I've led and participated in various projects that have led to co-authored book chapters and white papers. A notable example is my involvement in the High-Capacity Transport (HCT) transformational project within the Swedish innovation policy framework, which spans the Transportation Sector and Forest Industry and involves collaborations with business organizations and governmental autonomous agencies.

Teaching

My teaching portfolio includes course responsibility and examiner for Contemporary issues in Management, Knowledge Environment and Future, Methodology Course and Project Management for Events, including Project Management I and Project Management II), and other Innovation & Management related courses.

 

Research

My research interests are centred on impactful, interdisciplinary, and collaborative research around organizing for innovation (mostly revolving around forming Innovation Ecosystems). I've explored various settings, such as rail, infrastructure, and technology development, in my empirical work. My research spans multiple implementation scales, from medium-sized projects to extensive large-scale infrastructure initiatives. The complex challenges inherent in designing, constructing lie at the intersection of policy decisions, strategic and organizational realms, professional practices, and user experiences.

I advocate for solutions underpinning the social and cross-disciplinary dimensions of the problems. My approach involves integrating research designs from social sciences with problem-search philosophies. This enables me to gain insights into complex phenomena like innovation, capabilities, transitions, and leadership within digitalization and sustainability transitions.

As a Principal Investigator, I've led projects supported by the Swedish Government (HCT) and other Swedish institute-related research grants. I strongly advocate for engaged scholarship, which involves collaborating with industry and policy practitioners to address our world societal challenges. I work closely with leading capital equipment firms that develop their digital strategy, such as Trafikverket, Siemens, Scania, and Volvo (in Sweden), ProRail (in the Netherlands), and Adif (in Spain). These collaborations allowed me to examine strategic, organizational and technological challenges across diverse organizational contexts. I employ a variety of research methods, predominantly qualitative empirical but also quantitative, such as SQL analysis and database research (see research publications). The multiple methods I have used in my research include (i) ethnographies and in-depth case studies, (ii) semi-structured and group interviews, and (iii) social network analysis. These methods have allowed me to tackle relevant questions in strategy and management, particularly in contexts of innovation and digital transformation.

My notable industry and policy-related contributions include my collaboration on a policy contribution for the HCT Swedish national initiative, focusing on the transition towards sustainable modes of high-capacity transport. As part of the impactful HCT project initiative, I chaired the Program work package session with the Infrastructure and Projects Authority experts.

I've achieved recognition for my contributions, including the Best Reviewer Award at the 2023 European Academy of Management (EURAM) conference in Dublin, Ireland. Also, I've received Donald S. Barrie Best Paper Award from PMI Foundation, Project Management Institute Global Conference, in Orlando, Florida [October 2015], and the Editor's Choice Best Paper honourable mention from the Journal of Management in Engineering (ASCE), [June 2020].

Responsive header image

We are accredited

The School of Business and Economics at Linnaeus University is accredited by The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, AACSB. 

Read more about AACSB

Publications

Selected publications

Article in journal (Refereed)

Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)

Chapter in book (Refereed)

Conference paper (Refereed)