Established in 2010, the Marketing Center’s Brown Bag Seminar serves as a platform for intellectual and social exchange: leading scholars from around the world present their current and ongoing research projects to the MCM community of researchers and discuss their work with them.

In our most recent session, the MCM had the pleasure of welcoming Frank Germann, Chair of the Marketing Department and Viola D. Hank Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Notre Dame's prestigious Mendoza College of Business. Renowned in the field of marketing strategy research, Professor Germann has left an indelible mark with his contributions to leading marketing journals, which have also resonated with general media outlets such as The Atlantic, USA Today and National Public Radio.

In his Brown Bag Seminar in Münster, Professor Germann presented his current research project on experimentation in product development, specifically the effectiveness of the “Lean Startup” method on business performance. An important, and exciting, aspect of his study is that it involves an extensive data collection in Africa. Prof. Germann ran a multi-year randomized controlled field experiment among entrepreneurs in Kenya and Uganda to test the effectiveness of the globally popular startup method. Key findings from the research showed that entrepreneurs exposed to lean startup methodologies engaged in significantly more experimentation, resulting in observed improvements in business performance.

His presentation inspired lively discussions among the MCM faculty, from professors to post docs and doctoral students. The MCM would like to thank Frank Germann for his great contribution to the Brown Bag series!