Katja-Maria Prexl

Katja-Maria is an Associate Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Oslo Business School, Oslo Metropolitan University (OsloMet), Norway. She holds a joint Doctorate from Zeppelin University (Germany), Aarhus University (Denmark), and the University of Exeter (UK) which highlights her outstanding international profile.

Katja-Maria`s scholarly work is driven by a profound interest in how individuals spark, shape, and sustain transformative processes within organizations and societies. Her pioneering contributions to the study of personal absorptive capacity and entrepreneurial failure have positioned her as a leading voice in understanding the human dynamics of innovation. Complementing this deep theoretical expertise, she is equally acclaimed for her thought leadership in innovation management, particularly regarding sustainability and circularity, as well as the rapidly evolving fields of digitalization and artificial intelligence.

Her research has been published in prominent international journals, including R&D Management and the International Journal of Innovation Management, and her insights have been featured at some of the world’s most prestigious academic conferences, among them AOM, IPDMC, RADMA, and ISPIM. Beyond her research excellence, she has spearheaded several major international academic collaborations and has demonstrated remarkable success in securing significant third-party funding which gives further evidence of her academic influence and strategic vision.

Equally impressive is Katja-Maria`s ability to translate scholarly knowledge into transformative practical impact. Renowned for her work with international start-ups and firms, she exemplifies a rare and powerful duality: the capacity to operate at the highest levels of academic inquiry while simultaneously shaping real-world entrepreneurial and managerial practice. Her unwavering dedication to reinventing business education, particularly at the intersection of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship, places her at the forefront of cultivating the next generation of innovation leaders and designing academically rigorous solutions with immediate business relevance.

Guided by her inspiring motto, “Bridging science and business to co-create the future,” Katja-Maria stands out as a scholar of exceptional talent, a visionary educator, and an influential shaper of the innovation and entrepreneurship landscapes of tomorrow. Her work not only advances academic discourse but also actively shapes the future of sustainable, human-centered, and technology-driven innovation across sectors and borders.

Bridging science and business to co-create the future!

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Katja-Maria is Member of the Executive Board of the venerable and long-standing association Erich Gutenberg Arbeitsgemeinschaft (EGA). The EGA, founded by former students of Erich Gutenberg (1897–1984), one of the foremost figures in German-speaking business administration, is dedicated to preserving the memory of Gutenberg’s extraordinary scholarly legacy, as well as that of his students - among whom Horst Albach (1931–2021) deserves particular recognition. It originated as an informal working group in which Erich Gutenberg discussed key issues in business administration and the theory of the firm he had pioneered with postdoctoral researchers, doctoral candidates, and diploma students. In 1994, this working group was formally constituted as an association. Membership is open to individuals with a theoretical or practical interest in the theory of the firm and its further development. Admission, however, requires the endorsement of two existing members.
​​​​​​​Today, the EGA brings together around 160 distinguished representatives from academia and industry, who generally meet twice a year to discuss current trends and challenges in business administration. Its annual conference, held in honor of Erich Gutenberg, who was born on 13 December, traditionally takes place in Cologne where Gutenberg pursued his academic life’s work on the first weekend of Advent.