Margit Osterloh (born 23 July 1943 in

Brandenburg an der Havel Brandenburg an der Havel () is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, which served as the capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg until it was replaced by Berlin in 1417. With a population of 72,040 (as of 2020), it is located on the banks of the ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

) is a German and Swiss economist.

Research

Osterloh’s research areas include: Organizational Theory,

Theory of the Firm The theory of the firm consists of a number of economic theories that explain and predict the nature of the firm, company, or corporation, including its existence, behaviour, structure, and relationship to the market. Firms are key drivers in ec ...

Innovation Innovation is the practical implementation of ideas that result in the introduction of new goods or services or improvement in offering goods or services. ISO TC 279 in the standard ISO 56000:2020 defines innovation as "a new or changed entit ...

and

Technology Management Technology management is a set of management disciplines that allows organizations to manage their technological fundamentals to create customer advantage. Typical concepts used in technology management are: * Technology strategy (a logic or rol ...

, Process Management,

Knowledge Management Knowledge management (KM) is the collection of methods relating to creating, sharing, using and managing the knowledge and information of an organization. It refers to a multidisciplinary approach to achieve organisational objectives by making ...

, Trust Management,

Philosophy of Science Philosophy of science is a branch of philosophy concerned with the foundations, methods, and implications of science. The central questions of this study concern what qualifies as science, the reliability of scientific theories, and the ult ...

Gender Gender is the range of characteristics pertaining to femininity and masculinity and differentiating between them. Depending on the context, this may include sex-based social structures (i.e. gender roles) and gender identity. Most cultures ...

Economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

Corporate Governance Corporate governance is defined, described or delineated in diverse ways, depending on the writer's purpose. Writers focused on a disciplinary interest or context (such as accounting, finance, law, or management) often adopt narrow definitions ...

, Research Governance,

Migration Migration, migratory, or migrate may refer to: Human migration * Human migration, physical movement by humans from one region to another ** International migration, when peoples cross state boundaries and stay in the host state for some minimum le ...

Policy and Aleatoric Democracy. In the media she expresses her opinion on the following research topics:

Management Pay

Osterloh advocates a cutback of

bonus Bonus commonly means: * Bonus, a Commonwealth term for a distribution of profits to a with-profits insurance policy * Bonus payment, an extra payment received as a reward for doing one's job well or as an incentive Bonus may also refer to: Plac ...

payments in upper management. She argues that pay for performance hampers

creativity Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new and valuable is formed. The created item may be intangible (such as an idea, a scientific theory, a musical composition, or a joke) or a physical object (such as an invention, a printed Literature ...

and

intrinsic motivation Motivation is the reason for which humans and other animals initiate, continue, or terminate a behavior at a given time. Motivational states are commonly understood as forces acting within the agent that create a disposition to engage in goal-dire ...

Academic Rankings

In August 2012 Osterloh, together with Alfred Kieser, launched an appeal to other business professors to boycott the upcoming ''

Handelsblatt The ''Handelsblatt'' (literally "commerce paper" in English) is a German-language business newspaper published in Düsseldorf by Handelsblatt Media Group, formerly known as Verlagsgruppe Handelsblatt. History and profile ''Handelsblatt'' was es ...

'' (''Handelsblatt'' Ranking of Professors in Business Economics). In various articles she argues, together with Alfred Kieser and Bruno S. Frey, against

rankings A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either "ranked higher than", "ranked lower than" or "ranked equal to" the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of ...

and impact factors as a quality criterion for scholars in

academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, ...

Women in leadership positions

Osterloh advocates

quota Quota may refer to: Economics * Import quota, a trade restriction on the quantity of goods imported into a country * Market Sharing Quota, an economic system used in Canadian agriculture * Milk quota, a quota on milk production in Europe * Indi ...

and she also argues for partial random selection of women in leadership positions out of a carefully selected pool as a counter-measure to reduce women's, on average, higher aversion to competition versus men.

Migration issues

Margit Osterloh published, together with Bruno S. Frey, a much-noticed article in the

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung The ''Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung'' (; ''FAZ''; "''Frankfurt General Newspaper''") is a centre-right conservative-liberal and liberal-conservativeHans Magnus Enzensberger: Alter Wein in neuen Schläuchen' (in German). ''Deutschland Radio'', ...

. In analogy to the

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...

model, they propose that refugees acquire a

share certificate In corporate law, a stock certificate (also known as certificate of stock or share certificate) is a legal document that certifies the legal interest (a bundle of several legal rights) of ownership of a specific number of shares (or, under Ar ...

of the state in order to enter the country. In return they get permission to work in the labor market. If a refugee is recognized as a political

asylum seeker An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country and applies for asylum (i.e., international protection) in that other country. An asylum seeker is an immigrant who has been forcibly displaced and m ...

, the fee paid for the share certificate will be reimbursed. The currently inhumane and life-threatening defense against refugees and the exploitation by criminal traffickers is thereby reduced. Refugees receive a calculable perspective and

incentives In general, incentives are anything that persuade a person to alter their behaviour. It is emphasised that incentives matter by the basic law of economists and the laws of behaviour, which state that higher incentives amount to greater levels of ...

for integration. The proposal offers advantages for the countries of destination and origin, as well as for migrants.

Revival of controlled randomness as a decision-making mechanism

Together with Bruno S. Frey, Osterloh argues for a return to random or aleatoric elements such as those used in Classical Athens and up to Modern Age in numerous European communities. This improves - similar to

quality circles A quality circle or quality control circle is a group of workers who do the same or similar work, who meet regularly to identify, analyze and solve work-related problems. It consists of minimum three and maximum twelve members in number. Normally ...

in enterprises - the activation of knowledge, the engagement of the population, and results in a strengthening of participation as well as in a reduction of inequality dominance of the elites.

References

External links

Professor Osterloh, University of Zurich
German women academics People from Brandenburg an der Havel Living people 1943 births German women engineers Expatriates in Switzerland 20th-century German engineers 21st-century German engineers 20th-century women engineers 21st-century women engineers Engineers from Brandenburg Academic staff of the University of Zurich 20th-century German women 21st-century German women {{Germany-academic-bio-stub