Contact Dr Elmar Kutsch

Background

“To be uncertain is uncomfortable, but to be certain is ridiculous.” (Chinese Proverb)

Being uncomfortable is both a challenge and an opportunity for Elmar. As a passionate Skydiver, his private and professional interests revolve around the management of the unexpected. Elmar's first real exposure to the paradoxical world of uncertainty began in 1998 when he held various commercial and senior management positions within the Information Technology (IT) industry. Working for one of the biggest IT service providers in Germany, Elmar was responsible for successfully delivering several large projects, including major roll-out and outsourcing strategies. Clients included the banks Commerzbank, the Deutsche Börse (German Stock Exchange) and the Polizei Rheinland Pfalz (State Police Rhineland Palatinate). His passion for managing risk and uncertainty then led him to pursue a career in academia. He served as a Lecturer in Operations Management at the University of Surrey and has been at Cranfield since 2007.


Current activities

To raise enthusiasm for his expertise in managing risk and uncertainty and establishing ways of resilient organising, Elmar engages widely with industry and publishes extensively on challenges to managing the unexpected. His recent books include:

Kutsch, Elmar. 2022. Organisational Resilience: Navigating Paradoxical Tensions. London: Routledge.

Kutsch, E., & Hall, M. (2020). Mindful Project Management: Resilient Performance Beyond the Risk Horizon (2nd edition). Abington: Routledge.

Kutsch, E. (2018). The Art of Organisational Resilience: Revisiting the Fall of France in 1940. Abington: Routledge.

Over the past few years, Elmar has become involved in the development and design of Graduate (Apprenticeship) Programmes and Customised Executive Development, providing intuitive and deliverable-based learning methods. In 2017, he received the Cranfield SOM Teaching and Learning Faculty award for excellence in researching, developing, delivering and publishing impactful case studies. As a visiting academic at emLyon (France)  and Warwick School of Engineering (UK), he engages students with experiential activities that are not only fun but also result in mindset changes to managing the unexpected.

Publications

Articles In Journals

Conference Papers

  • Kutch E, Djabbarov I & Siala H (2022) Mindful action in tension: responding to errors in high reliability seeking organization. In: 38th EGOS Colloquium, Vienna, 7-9 July 2022.
  • Kutsch E, Djabbarov I & Siala H (2022) Mindful action in tension: responding to errors in high reliability seeking organization. In: 82nd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM 2022), Seattle, Washington, 5-9 August 2022.
  • Razmdoost K, Alinaghian L & Kutsch E. (2021) Practice disruption in service ecosystems: the case of K2 2008 disaster. In: 7th Naples forum on service, Naples, Italy, 6-9 September 2021.
  • Cowley C, Denyer D & Kutsch E (2019) Perceptions of process safety. In: British Academy of Management (BAM) 33rd Annual Conference 2019, Birmingham, 3-5 September 2019.
  • Hall M, Kutsch E, Denyer D & Turner N (2019) Managing operational tensions in reliability-seeking practices. In: EURAM: European Academy of Management Annual Conference 2019, 26-28 June 2019.
  • Delf J & Kutsch E (2019) The ‘Distinction Problem’: Searching for the limits of foresight and cognition. In: EURAM: European Academy of Management Annual Conference 2019, 26-28 June 2019.
  • Turner N, Kutsch E, Maylor H & Swart J (2018) Towards an understanding of ‘dynamic ambidexterity’ in supporting managerial resilience. In: Organizational Learning, Knowledge and Capabilities (OLKC) Conference, 2018, Liverpool, 25-27 April 2018.
  • Kutsch E, Denyer D & Turner N (2017) A case of dying leadership: Examining the K2 disaster of 2008. In: 77th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, 2017, Atlanta GA, 4-8 August 2017.
  • Turner N & Kutsch E (2016) Understanding resilience in organizational operations – an ambidexterity perspective. In: 2016 Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Anaheim, California, 5-9 August 2016.
  • Turner, N, Kutsch E, Swart & J (2016) Learning to be resilient? Taking the ambidexterity view. In: Organizational Learning, Knowledge and Capabilities conference (OLKC 2016), St. Andrews, Scotland, 26-28 April 2016.
  • Gallagher P, Kutsch E & Turner N (2015) The diversity of routines: Towards resilient performance in defence projects. In: EGOS - European Group for Organizational Studies 2015, Athens, 2-4 July 2015.
  • Kutsch E & Turner N (2015) The internalization of mindfulness at 28,000 feet: Revisiting the K2 2008 disaster. In: EGOS - European Group for Organizational Studies 2015, Athens, 2-4 July 2015.
  • Runswick F & Kutsch E (2014) When there is no plan B: Business team improvised response to an urgent incident. In: British Academy of Management Conference 2014 (BAM2014)*, Belfast, 9-11 September 2014.
  • Kutsch E, Denyer D & Hall M (2014) Sensebreaking and meaning voids in IS change initiatives. In: British Academy of Management Conference 2014 BAM2014*, Belfast, 9-11 September 2014.
  • Hall M, Kutsch E & Eastment R (2014) Sensemaking: risk and opportunity. In: EURAM 2014: 14th European Academy of Management Annual Conference, Valencia, 4-7 June 2014.
  • Hall M, Kutsch E & Hussels S (2014) Making sense of uncertainty in start-up companies: the resilience funnel. In: EURAM 2014: 14th European Academy of Management Annual Conference, Valencia, 4-7 June 2014.
  • Kutsch E & Hallgren M (2014) The mindful organisation: A breakdown at 28,000 feet. In: British Academy of Management Conference 2014 BAM2014*, Belfast, 9-11 September 2014.
  • Joy S, Hall M & Kutsch E (2013) Decision making in projects - The use of expertise to generate High Reliability. In: EURAM 2013: 13th European Academy of Management Annual Conference, Istanbul, 26-29 June 2013.
  • Kutsch E & Hall M (2012) From process-based risk analysis to organisational attention - Learning from Fall of France 1940 and K2 2008. In: Society for Risk Analysis 2012 Annual Meeting, San Francisco, 9-12 December 2012.
  • Koryak O, Hussels S & Kutsch E (2012) Resource Orchestration: Internal Governance as a Mechanism of Synchronization. In: EURAM 2012: 12th European Academy of Management Annual Conference, Rotterdam, 6-8 June 2012.
  • Kutsch E & Hall M (2011) Centralisation in temporary organisations: The importance of operational common sense during the Fall of France 1940. In: EURAM 2011: 11th European Academy of Management Annual Conference, Tallinn, 1-4 June 2011.
  • Hussels S, Tobias J, Reinnoeller P & Kutsch E (2011) Entrepreneurial mindfulness - An exploratory study. In: G-Forum 2011: 15th annual interdisciplinary entrepreneurship conference, St Gallen/Zurich, 2-4 November 2011.
  • Dickel H, Turner N, Lee-Kelley L & Kutsch E (2011) Going for Gold? Knowledge management and learning at the London 2012 Olympics. In: EURAM 2011: 11th European Academy of Management Annual Conference, Tallinn, 1-4 June 2011.
  • Kutsch E, Lee-Kelley L, Hall M & Denyer D (2010) Overcoming paralysis: Aspects of reliability in information systems projects. In: EURAM 2010: 10th European Academy of Management Annual Conference, Rome, 19-22 May 2010.
  • Kutsch E, Maylor H, Lupson J & Partington D (2009) Performers, trackers, lemmings and the lost: sustained false optimism in forecasting project outcomes - evidence from a quasi-experiment. In: IRNOP IX, Berlin.
  • Kutsch E, Geraldi J, Hall M & Lee-Kelley L (2009) The (non-) adoption of risk management processes in projects. In: EURAM 2009, Liverpool, 11-14 May 2009.
  • Partington D & Kutsch E (2008) How project failure can remove cultural barriers to future project success. In: Academy of Management Annual Meeting, 2008, Anaheim, CA, 8-13 August 2008.
  • Kutsch E & Lupson J (2008) Ignorance and uncertainty: The case of irrelevance in project management. In: 19th Annual Conference of the Production and Operations Management Society, La Jolla.
  • Partington D, Maylor H, Kutsch E & Lupson J (2008) Sustained false optimism in project performance tracking: Evidence from an MBA project management simulation. In: 19th Annual Conference of the Production and Operations Management Society, La Jolla.
  • Kutsch E & Hall M (2007) A culture of fatalism in IT projects? The curious case of (the lack of) risk management. In: International Critical Management Studies Conference, Leeds.
  • Kutsch E (2007) Over- and underestimation of risk: How effective are project managers in managing risks in information technology projects?. In: EURAM 2007: 7th European Academy of Management Annual Conference, Paris, 16-19 May 2007.
  • Kutsch E (2006) The influence of intervening conditions on the over- and underestimation of risk. In: European Conference on Information Systems, Gteborg.
  • Kutsch E & Maylor H (2005) If it ain't broke ... Recognising failure as a first step to realising improvement opportunities in IT project processes. In: 12th EurOMA International Annual Conference, 2005, Budapest, 1-30 June 2005.

Books

  • Kutsch E (2022) Chapter 5: In: Organisational resilience: navigating paradoxical tensions. London: Routledge.
  • Kutsch E & Hall M (2020) Mindful project management: resilient performance beyond the risk horizon. Routledge, ed. 2nd.
  • Kutsch E (2018) The Art of Organisational Resilience: Revisiting the Fall of France in 1940. Routledge.
  • Kutsch E & Turner N (2016) Project resilience – moving beyond traditional risk management. In: Further Advances in Project Management: Guided Exploration in Unfamiliar Landscapes, Routledge, p. 250-256.
  • Kutsch E & Turner N (2016) The Internalization of Attention at 28,000 Feet: Revisiting the K2 2008 Disaster. In: Managing Project Risks for Competitive Advantage in Changing Business Environments, IGI Global, p. 196-215.
  • Kutsch E, Hall M & Turner N (2015) Project Resilience - The art of noticing, interpreting, preparing, containing and recovering. Farnham: Gower.
  • Kutsch & E (2008) Barriers to Project Risk Management: Processes, Techniques and Insights. Saarbruecken: VDM Verlag.