Jun. Prof. Dr. Katharina Drechsler
Contact
Email: drechsler@wiso.uni-koeln.de
Phone: + 49 221 470 90994
Office: 6.19, building 101, 6th floor (Wiso Highrise)
Profile
Dr. Katharina Drechsler is Assistant Professor of Digital Transformation and Innovation since April 2025. Previously, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Cologne and as a research assistant at the University of Liechtenstein in Vaduz, Liechtenstein. Katharina received her doctoral degree in Information Systems from the University of Bamberg with summa cum laude. Her dissertation was awarded the prestigious Wolfgang-Ritter-Prize. She graduated with a master’s degree in Information Systems from the University of Frankfurt and holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Munich. She spent semesters abroad at the University of Warwick in Coventry and Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona. Katharina was awarded multiple awards and scholarships during her studies.
Katharina’s research focuses on the dynamics and mechanisms of innovating with and for digital technologies. She studies the role of emerging technologies, such as the Industrial Internet of Things, digital platforms, blockchain, and artificial intelligence (AI) in the context of digital innovation and digital transformation. She is particularly passionate about understanding the role of employees, managers, and entrepreneurs in championing digital innovation and transformation. Her research combines quantitative and qualitative methods in innovative ways, and involves interdisciplinary work.
Her work has been published in leading journals, such as the Journal of Information Technology, Information and Management, Communications of the AIS, Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, and internationally renowned conferences, such as the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) and the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS).
She serves as an ad-hoc reviewer for leading journals, such as the European Journal of Information Systems, Journal of Information Technology, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, MIS Quarterly Executive, Journal of Product Innovation Management and Business & Information Systems Engineering. In 2022 Katharina received a best reviewer award at the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS).
Since 2026 she serves on the Early Career Editorial Board of the Journal of Strategic Information Systems (JSIS). She also regularly organizes conference tracks at the European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS) and the International Conference on Wirtschaftsinformatik (WI) and serves as an associate editor at International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS). In 2025 she co-organized the professional development workshop (PDW) “Developing and Publishing Computational Theory Construction Research” at the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS). She also co-organizes the weekly CIIS research seminar.
Research Interests
- Digital Innovation
- Digital Transformation
- Innovation Actors, especially Innovation Champions
- Digital Technologies: Industrial IoT, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain
Selected Publications
Drechsler, K., Wagner, H.-T., & Weitzel, T. (2025). Competing and complementary strategic signals: The versatile relationship between CDO appointments and companies’ stock market value. Journal of Information Technology, 40(4), pp.387-413.
Drechsler, K., Müller, S., & Wagner, H.-T., (2025). The “digital” premium: Why does digitalization drive stock returns? Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, 181 (105217).
Drechsler, K., Grisold, T., Seidel, S. (2022). Evolution of Infrastructures through Digital Options: The Case of the Industrial Internet of Things. Proceedings of the 43rd International Conference on Information Systems, Copenhagen, Denmark.
Chandra Kruse, L., Drechsler, K.. (2022) Digitalization of Multisensory Collective Activity: The Case of Virtual Wine Tasting. Journal of Information Technology, 37(4), 341–358.
Reibenspiess, V., Drechsler, K., Eckhardt, A., Wagner, H.‑T. (2022). Tapping into the Wealth of Employees’ Ideas: Design Principles for a Digital Intrapreneurship Platform. Information and Management, 59(3), 103287.
Drechsler, K., Gregory, R., Wagner, H.‑T., Tumbas, S. (2020). At the Crossroads between Digital Innovation and Digital Transformation. Communications of the Association for Information Systems, 47(23), 521–538.
Please visit my Google Scholar profile for a complete list of my publications.