Rohner, Nicolas, lic. oec. HSG

Research Interests | Publications | Curriculum Vitae | Other Activities

 

Nicolas Rohner works as a scientific collaborator at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zürich (ETH Zurich). He belongs to the research group of Prof. Dr. Roman Boutellier, who chairs the fields of Technology and Innovation Management at the Department «Management, Technology, and Economics» (D-MTEC).

Born in Basel, Nicolas Rohner grew up in Basel and Paris. After a year of freelance work in the IT-field, he started his studies in jurispudence and Business Administration and Economics in Basel. Thereafter he went to St.Gallen for his graduate studies in Business Administration with a specialization in Technology Management.
During his studies he worked with companies such as Kraft Food Switzerland, Migros Aare, Phonak, Marmorit-Krautol. During his diploma thesis he analysed the function of patents as means for Business Technology Intelligence and Business Competitor Intelligence. Subsequently he spent one year in Florence working within a small IT company.

Research Interest

His research activities are in the field of technological evolution. Following the common perception, the technological change is faster than ever and is even accelerating. Meanwhile product lifecycles of many products are getting longer. How do these diametrical trends go together?

What strikes at first sight is the immense diversity and number of goods offered. To meet the high variety of demand, companies nowadays realize the bigger part of the product portfolio by using steady platforms and modules, altering just the front end and the combination of modules. In mature industries, this effect is very likely observed because basic functionality is well-defined and remains rather constant over time. In addition, the prizes are very competitive, forcing companies even more to minimize their costs. A profitable and recognizable differentiation can only be achieved by design.

This research project focuses on the pace of technological progress and its impact on technology-driven companies. Today’s approaches cope with actual technological progress and the bare variation of existing platforms are sophisticated but do not meet the requirements to be applied directly in the daily business of companies. Therefore, the first step is to assess the phenomenon “technological change” and to find a broadly accepted definition that fulfils the demands of future research in technology management. In addition, a profound, quantitative base of the trends in speed of technological development is generated an analyzed. Afterwards the underling technological progress is further analyzed to get a better understanding of crucial events, which lead to a change in the speed of technological developments.

The research hypotheses are tested by analyzing selected industries such as the digital photography- or the hard-drive industry.

Publications

• Prof. R.Boutellier, N.Rohner, Miniaturisierung führt zu einem Zerfall der Rohstoffpreise – eine Marktanalyse in Prof. J.Gausemeier (Hrsg.), Vorausschau und Technologieplanung: 3. Symposium für Vorausschau und Technologieplanung Heinz Nixdorf Institut 29. und 30.November 2007, Westfalia, Paderborn, 2007
• R.Boutellier, K.Löffler, N.Rohner, Mit Modularisierungsstrategien flexibel auf Technologietrends reagieren, Maschinenbau Revue – Jahreshauptausgabe 2007, Publica-Press Heiden, 2007
• N.Rohner, R.Boutellier, Technological Lock-In Effects: A new Challenge for RF Health Risk Management, 18^th International Zurich Symposium on Electromagnetic Compatibility, München, 2007
• R.Boutellier, N.Rohner, Miniaturization of high-tech products reduces raw material prices, R’07 World Congress – Recovery of Materials and Energy for Ressource Efficiency, Davos, 2007
• Prof. R.Boutellier, N.Rohner, D.Müller, Technologiegeschwindigkeit – Mythen und Fakten in Management am Puls der Zeit: Strategien, Konzepte, Methoden. Festschrift anlässlich 65. Geburtstag Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. mult. Horst Wildemanns, TCW München, 2007
• Prof. R.Boutellier, N.Rohner, Technologiegeschwindigkeit und Technologieplanung in Prof. J.Gausemeier (Hrsg.), Vorausschau und Technologieplanung: 2. Symposium für Vorausschau und Technologieplanung Heinz Nixdorf Institut 9. und 10.November 2006, Westfalia, Paderborn, 2006
• Prof. R.Boutellier, N.Rohner, Industriestandort Schweiz - Automation kontra Arbeitsplatzsicherheit in Schweizerische Technische Zeitschrift STZ Swissengineering STV, Vol. 9 September 2005

Curriculum Vitae

Other Activities

ETH Alumni Engineering and Management
• Vice president since 2008
• Member of the board since 2006

Association of assistants at Departement of Management, Technology and Economics
• Member of the board since 2004