Svenja Friess, M.Sc.

Doctoral Student and Junior Research Fellow

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research

+49 89 24246-569
svenja.friess(at)ip.mpg.de

Areas of Interest:

Behavioral Foundations of Innovation: Knowledge Transfers among Individuals – Advice Seeking and Online Peer Learning, Gender Differences and Their Implications, Text Data Methods; Fields: Behavioral, Innovation and Organizational Economics

Academic Résumé

Since 09/2020
Research Appointment at the Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard (LISH), Harvard Business School

01/2022 - 06/2022
Visiting Scholar, Harvard University, Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard, Boston (MA), USA, Host: Karim R. Lakhani

Since 07/2019
Junior Research Fellow and Doctoral Candidate at Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition (Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research) and at the Munich Graduate School of Economics, LMU Munich

07/2018 - 08/2018
Summer School, London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)

10/2016 - 03/2019
Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Economics, LMU Munich

08/2014 - 01/2015
Exchange Semester, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

10/2012 - 08/2016
Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Economics, Heidelberg University

Work Experience

02/2018 - 05/2019
Student Trainee, Webasto SE (Automotive Supplier, Departments: Corporate Strategy & Development, Global Business Development)

06/2017 - 03/2018
Graduate Research Assistant at the Social Sciences Experimental Lab (MELESSA), LMU Munich

04/2016 - 09/2016
Studentische Research Assistant, Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research (ZEW), Mannheim

08/2015 - 10/2015
Internship, Deutsche Bank Research, Deutsche Bank AG

Honors, Scholarships, Academic Prizes

01/2022 - 05/2022
Fellow of the German-American Fulbright Commission (Fulbright Germany): doctoral scholarhip for a research visit at Harvard University

02/2013 - 03/2019
Fellow of the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes e.V., merit-based scholarship)

Publications

Contributions to Collected Editions

Bechthold, Laura; Chugunova, Marina; Friess, Svenja; Hoisl, Karin; Rose, Michael (2021). Women in Creative Labor: Inventors, Entrepreneurs and Academics, in: Ulla Weber (ed.), Fundamental Questions. Gender Dimensions in Max Planck Research Projects (Schriften zur Gleichstellung, 51), 135-154. Baden-Baden: Nomos. DOI

    Discussion Papers

    Heursen, Lea; Friess, Svenja; Chugunova, Marina (2023). Reputational Concerns and Advice-Seeking at Work, Max Planck Institute for Innovation & Competition Research Paper, No. 23-17.

    • We examine the impact of reputational concerns on seeking advice. While seeking can improve
      performance, it may affect how others perceive the seeker's competence. In an online
      experiment with white-collar professionals (N=2,521), we test how individuals navigate this
      tradeoff and if others' beliefs about competence change it. We manipulate visibility of the
      decision to seek and stereotypes about competence. Results show a sizable and inefficient
      decline in advice-seeking when visible to a manager. Higher-order beliefs about competence
      cannot mediate this inefficiency. We find no evidence that managers interpret advice-seeking
      negatively, documenting a misconception that may hinder knowledge flows in organizations.
    • Available at SSRN

    Presentations

    10.12.2021
    Digital Peer Interactions & Knowledge Transfers – Evidence from Online Business Education
    Lunchtime Seminar, Organizational Economics Chair, LMU
    Location: Munich

    01.10.2021
    Advice  & Gender – First Pilot Data Evidence
    Research Seminar
    Location: Feldkirchen-Westerham

    25.06.2021
    Digital Peer Interactions & Knowledge Transfers – First Empirical Evidence & Paths Forward
    LMU Applied Micro Summer Seminar
    Location: Ohlstadt

    24.03.2021
    Digital Peer Interactions & Knowledge Transfers – First Empirical Evidence
    Research Seminar
    Location: online

    19.11.2020
    The Contingent Effect of Alliance Design on Alliance Dynamics and Performance: An Experimental Study
    Discussant, TIME Colloquium
    Institute for Strategy, Technology & Organization (LMU), Chair in Technology & Innovation Management (TUM), Max-Planck-Institut für Innovation und Wettbewerb
    Location: online

    07.-11.09.2020
    Peer Interactions & Learning on a Platform / Updates on Advice Seeking 
    Research Seminar
    Location: online

    04.06.2020
    Can It Ever Hurt to Ask? Advice Seeking and Gender
    Behavioral Brownbag Seminar, LMU
    Location: Munich

    02.-05.03.2020
    Can It Ever Hurt to Ask? Advice Seeking and Gender
    Research Seminar
    Location: Zugspitze