PhD Position(s): Project on Organizational Learning from Product Failure: Utilizing Artificial Intelligence to Mitigate the Negative Spillover Effects of Product Recalls in the Pharmaceutical Industry

This project aims to study how organizations learn from product failures, including product recalls, and how such events affect the organization and its stakeholders. Focusing on the pharmaceutical industry and specifically on the safety of medications, the study uses machine learning and natural language processing to analyze data from various sources, such as clinical trials, FDA reports, social media platforms, and patient-driven communities, to identify potential hazards and assess their impact.

The research delves into the impact of drug recalls on an organization’s future product development and overall product portfolio, as well as its repercussions on various stakeholders, especially patients suffering from rare or difficult-to-treat diseases. The goal is to develop better management practices that promote innovation. The project should culminate in a thesis composed of at least three high-quality research papers targeted at the field’s leading journals.

You will be co-supervised by Prof. Georg von Krogh and a team of senior researchers at SMI (http://www.smi.ethz.ch/group-people.html).

• You should hold a MSc, MA, or MPhil degree (MBAs are not eligible) in computer science or business administration, or in related fields such as, psychology, mathematics, engineering, physics or statistics.
• You should have a strong affinity with AI/Machine Learning.
• You should have the competence to manage and process a variety of data, some background in statistics, and/or a strong background and expertise in a pharmaceutical-related field.
• Excellent written and spoken English skills are required.
• You are curious, learning-oriented and self-directed, enjoy collaborating in teams, and have a strong interest in contemporary issues in management and organizations.
• Given the research-focused orientation of the Chair, we are specifically looking for an aspiring scholar with career ambitions in academic research.