Prof. em. Dr. Norbert Thom Prof. hc Dr. hc mult. Email: norbert.thom ...

Prof. em. Dr. Norbert Thom
Prof. h. c. Dr. h. c. mult.
Email: norbert.thom@iop.unibe.ch
Personal:
Born 11 August 1946 in Kleinsteinlohe (Bavaria)
German and Swiss citizen (Hometown Köniz BE)
Education:
Abitur (A-levels) 1966 at Gymnasium Kreuzgasse, Cologne. University of Cologne (Dipl.-
Kfm., Dr. rer. pol., Habilitation (postdoctoral lecturing qualification in Business
Management)); postgraduate studies in Brussels with a scholarship by the German Academic
Exchange Service (at The European Institute for Advanced Studies in Management)
Professorships:
Deputy to the Chair of Organization and Human Resource Management at Justus-
Liebig University, Gießen (1984/85)
Founder and Head of the Corporate Management and Organization Department,
University of Fribourg/Switzerland (1985-91) (chair)
Founder and Director of the Institute for Organization and Human Resource
Management at the University of Bern (since 1991) (chair)
Provisional director of the institute for international innovation management at the
University of Bern (01.09.2000 until 30.09.2001, chair)
Provisional director of the departement of Organization of the institute
for Organization and HRM at the University of Bern (01.08.2007 until 31.08.2010,
chair)
Positions in academia and academic administration (selection):
Member of the senate committee at the University of Freiburg/Switzerland as the
representative of economic sciences (1988-90)
Member of the finance commission of the University of Bern and head of finance of
the law and economics faculty (1992-95)
Vice-chancellor of the University of Bern for the term of office 1995-97 with
responsibility for the finance and planning sector
Spokesman of the Department of Business Administration of the University of Bern
(2001-02)
Member of the permanent board (since 2002) of the “Kompetenzzentrum für Public
Management” of the University of Bern, since 2008: Chairman of the permanent board
Member of the Strategic Planning task force at the rectorate of the University of Bern
(2005-2006)

Other positions and activities (selection):
President of the "Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Betriebswirtschaft und
Management" (Swiss Society of Business Management) (1990-1993)
Chief editor of the management and organization magazine "Zeitschrift Führung und
Organisation (zfo)" (1986-95). Member of the zfo advisory publishing committee
(1996-2006)
Vice-president of the "Schweizerische Gesellschaft für Organisation" (Swiss
Association for Organization and Management) (1991-2007)
Member of the Swiss Science Council (official organisation providing advice to the
Federal Government on all questions related to science policy) (1997-2000)
Vice-president of the Foundation of the Swiss Association for Management and
Organization (since 2000)
President of the corresponding jury of the following awards related to science and
practice
a) SGO-Award (1992-2004, 7 awards)
b) Staufenbiel-Award (since 1999, 3 awards)
c) REHAU-Award (since 2000, 12 awards)
d) IOP-Award (since 2001, 6 awards)
e) Swiss HR-Award (2003-2007, 3 awards)
Member of the jury of the Seghezzi-Price 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2011 for
academic works in the field of quality managment
Co-founder of the interfacultary “Kompetenzzentrum für Public Management (KPM)”
of the University of Berne (2002)
Vice-president of the “Volkswirtschaftliche Gesellschaft des Kantons Bern”
(Economic Association of the Canton of Berne) (since 2002)
Awards:
Karl-Guth award 1978 (for the best German doctoral dissertation in corporate
management)
Honorary Medal of the Johannes-Kepler University of Linz (Austria 1988)
Denker (thinker) award 1992 (for contributions to innovation management and to the
employee suggestion system). First individual person in Switzerland to receive this
award.
Goldener Ideen-Oskar (Golden Idea Oscar) 1993 (for merits in teaching and research
in the fields of idea and innovation management). First individual in Switzerland to
receive this award.
Honorary member of the “Gesellschaft für Organisation” (GfO) (2002). Only actively
working honorary member.
Honorary member of the Swiss Society of Business Management (2003). Only active
professor of management in Switzerland
Doctor honoris causa (Dr. iur. h. c.) 2005 of the Mykolas Romeris University of
Vilnius, Lithuania
Doctor honoris causa (Dr. rer. soc. oec. h. c.) 2006 of the Johannes Kepler
University Linz, Austria
Doctor honoris causa (Dr. rer. pol. h. c.) 2006 of the Martin Luther University Halle-
Wittenberg, Germany
Honorary member of the "Gesellschaft für Organisation und Management" (SGO)
Honorary Ambassador of the "IDEE-SUISSE® - Schweizerische Gesellschaft für
Ideen- und Innovationsmanagement", Zurich (since 2010)

Professor honoris causa (Prof. h. c.) 2010 of the Babe-Bolyai-Universität in Cluj
Napoca, Romania
Main areas of research:
Human resource management
Organizational design and designers
New public management
Innovation and improvement management
Health care management
Publications on:
corporate innovation management / idea management
career programmes for the next generation of business managers
change management and reorganization of private and public enterprises (including
advisory services to governments)
job profiles of organizers in Germany and Switzerland
public management
More than 1000 specialist publications (From 1-page-editorals to over 500-pages-referencebooks,
translated into twenty languages Miscellaneous:
Teaching in English for the Executive M.B.A. program of the Universities of Bern and
Rochester, New York, 1995-1998 and for the Executive M.B.A. program of the
International Institute of Management in Telecommunication, University of
Fribourg, 1999-2010. Lecture "Intercultural Human Resources Management" at the
University of Bern, 2005-2010
Teaching in French (Université de Fribourg 1986-91, resumed in 1997 at the Institut
international de Management en telecommunications de l’Université de Fribourg)
Guest professorships at the universities of Basel, Bern, Linz, Dresden, Fribourg and
Klausenburg (Rumania). Guest presentations in over 50 universities (among others:
Kanagawa University in Yokohama/Japan 1999, University de Alcalá de Henares in
Madrid/Spain 2001, Mykolas Romeris University in Vilnius/Lithuania
2003/2004/2005, Technical University of Wroclaw/Poland (2005), Corvinius
University in Budapest/Hungary (2005), Comenius University in Bratislava/Slovakia
(2005))
Member of the advisory committee of several German and Swiss companies
Member of the executive committee of YPSOMED Holding AG, Burgdorf
(medical).
Co-founder and co-partner of Thom Consulting Group GmbH, Oberwangen (Bern)
Member of "The Academy of Management" (USA)