„Ambidextrous organizations have built-in capabilities for efficiency, consistency and reliability on the one hand, and experimentation, improvisation and luck on the other. “

Tushman, Michael L. & O`Reilly Charles A. 2004


About us

The MEL Institute was founded by Dr. Udo Dierk, Director of the International Center of Management Learning (ICML) at the Paderborn Business School FHDW  in Germany – an entrepreneurial business school created by Heinz Nixdorf, an early pioneer in computer development and Phil Dover, PhD,  a professor from Babson College in the USA – the world`s leading business school for entrepreneurial studies . Both founders have long histories of working and teaching in the corporate world in many parts of the world.

Vision :

The MEL Institute is dedicated to becoming a leading global provider of research insights and applied guidance on sustainable innovation within the organization.

Mission :

The MEL Institute – through a network of experts conducting and interpreting applied research on the theme of economic and social sustainability – will offer prescriptive guidance to organizations in many parts of the world on :

· Balancing both short and longer-term growth

· Making decisions on capabilities that stimulate sustainable innovation

· The role of the manager, entrepreneur and leader in attaining profitable growth

The Institute will serve all forms of organization, with a particular emphasis placed on the activities of the family owned or driven business.

Value Proposition :

For executives concerned with effectively managing the “ambidextrous organization,”  as well as applied academics involved in the search for correlates of success in the rapidly changing environment, the MEL Institute provides unique research insights into the leadership challenges involved in sustaining growth. Our research methodology – including an imaginative way to measure and portray manager, entrepreneur and leader capabilities – allows diagnostic decisions to be made on recruitment, training and coaching strategies that enable balanced and longitudinal institutional development.

The Players :

Udo Dierk had many years of commercial experience before his recent appointment as Professor of Leadership, Entrepreneurship and HR Management including his role as academic director for the MBA-program at ICML in Paderborn/Germany. After receiving his doctorate in mathematics and computer science , he worked for some time as a software developer for Nixdorf Computers. He made a mid-career switch to human resources management at Siemens-Nixdorf, eventually becoming the VP of Management Learning, the Siemens Corporate University. He teaches and consults extensively on organizational development issues and is an acknowledged expert on business-driven action learning. It was his observation of the often conflicting roles required of executives that led to the development of a measurement tool, the MEL-Index.

Phil Dover has spent much time of his academic career in executive education, teaching and consulting on strategic market management and corporate entrepreneurship topics with a wide variety of technology and service-based organizations. He worked for BP and Nestlé and served on the faculty at Amos Tuck and IMD prior to joining Babson College, where he is now Chair of the Marketing Division and Faculty Director at Babson Executive Education. Experiencing countless companies struggling to balance the need for current success with that of future preparation has provided a reservoir of knowledge for conceptualizing this present project on harmonizing management, entrepreneurial and leadership capabilities.

In summary, we are not typical of the academic approach. We bring a world of practical experience to the project. We also have the scientific training that allows us to reflect on and explore phenomena that has concerned both of us and our clients for a long time.