Dr. Regine Komoss

Teaching, Research and Transfer

In the Summer semester 2025, students from the International Degree Programme Global Management organized and facilitated a workshop on Organizational Resilience as part of the Strategic Management course. In cooperation with the Foreign Business Club, the workshop brought together student teams and business practitioners to explore how organizations can better navigate uncertainty and disruption.

The workshop documentation is now available for download.

Building on this experience, I am interested in further practice-oriented research on organizational resilience. Companies who would like to explore this topic together—drawing on fresh perspectives and real organizational challenges—are very welcome to get in touch. The workshop demonstrates how collaboration with students can generate valuable insights for companies while developing future-ready talent.

Research and cooperation projects

THRIVE.Research – Trainingshub for Resilient and InnoVative Entrepreneurship

THRIVE is a collaborative research initiative founded in 2023 in cooperation with Dr. Hylton Villet, Director of the Harold Pupkewitz Graduate School of Business at the Namibia University of Science and Technology. The project responds to the pressing challenge of high unemployment in Namibia, particularly among young people, and the central role of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in livelihoods and job creation.

A defining characteristic of MSMEs in the Global South is the dominance of enterprises operating in the informal economy—legal but not officially registered businesses. Against this backdrop, THRIVE.research began with the broad question of how MSMEs can be effectively promoted and has progressively evolved into a more fine-grained research program. The project now focuses on the concrete challenges and opportunities of MSMEs by combining micro-level analysis—addressing entrepreneurial mindsets and business models—with a systemic perspective on ecosystems, institutions, and networks.

The project is structured in iterative research cycles. 

• The first cycle (April–October 2025) focused on laying the groundwork through stakeholder identification and qualitative interviews with MSME owners to develop an initial understanding of entrepreneurial context and challenges. 
• The second cycle (April–October 2026) will continue in-depth qualitative interviews to better understand lived realities, constraints and adaptive strategies. It also involves a comparative analysis of MSMEs in Windhoek and Bremen, conducted by a joint team of two Namibian and two German researchers.

THRIVE.research is funded by ASA/Engagement Global. From the second cycle onward, the project explicitly integrates Namibian early-career researchers, strengthening local research capacity and knowledge co-production.

Beyond Barriers -Fostering Innovation and Resilience in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Namibia.

A Mixed-Methods Prestudy (February 15 – March 18)

This mixed-methods prestudy - carried out in close cooperation with the Namibia Investment and Finance Academy (NIFA) - explores how micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Namibia can become innovation-driven and resilient businesses enabling them to generate sustainable employment and contribute to inclusive economic growth. 

The prestudy will validate the methodological framework of the THRIVE research and pilot data collection tools. Through iterative feedback from local stakeholders it aims to ensure cultural appropriateness, contextual relevance and methodological robustness in the Namibian context.

The prestudy is funded by the Fritz Thyssen Stiftung.