Dr. rer. pol. Christian Lerch

• Questions on systemic innovation and transformation management of companies.
• Analyses of industrial and economic change and the development of innovation policy measures for decision-makers in politics and business.
• Analysis and design of new forms and models of value creation, e.g., regarding resilience, circularity, virtual ecosystems, AI-based or convergent value creation.
• Work on the increasing service orientation of the economy, such as servitization, service and business model innovations, and the tertiarization of industry.
• Studies on the digital transformation of industry, such as Industry 4.0 and 5.0, artificial intelligence, platform economy, and data spaces.
• System Dynamics modeling to simulate innovation dynamics and industrial system transformations and analyze them based on scenarios.
• Various qualitative and quantitative research methods, particularly broad empirical studies in the German manufacturing sector based on the industry survey "German Manufacturing Survey".
• Studies and consulting projects for companies as a basis for developing corporate innovation and value creation strategies.

In addition to his work at Fraunhofer ISI, he is a lecturer at Nürtingen-Geislingen University – Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Umwelt, at Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences (Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Technik), and at the Management Center Innsbruck MCI. In recent years, he also held teaching positions from Zeppelin University in Friedrichshafen, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), and the Technical University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt. Furthermore, he was active as a guest lecturer at the University of Maribor as part of a DAAD project. His teaching activities cover topics such as innovation and technology management, service and platform economics, business model innovation, and system dynamics.

Since 2011, he has been a member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für System Dynamics (DGSD), which is affiliated with the International System Dynamics Society as the official German Chapter. He has been an active board member there since 2016, and in 2024 he was also elected President of the board of the DGSD..

• Evaluation of the BMFTR specialist programme "The Future of Value Creation – Research on Production, Services and Labour" (2021–2025)
• German industry's potential – value creation, resilience and strategic advantages
• Transfer-X
• I4.0-Readiness III
• Zukunft Mittelstand Digital
• Kompetenzzentrum KARL: Artificial Intelligence for Work and Learning in the Karlsruhe Region
• Studie zum Stand und Perspektive digitaler B2B Commerce Plattformen für die Großindustrie
• Scientific support for the development of a Digital Maturity Check in the course of the cooperation between Fraunhofer ISI, SAP and Netconomy
• Empirical study on AI use in production (AI readiness)
• Evaluation des BMBF-Forschungsprogramms »Innovationen für die Produktion, Dienstleistung und Arbeit von morgen« (2015-2019) mit der Programmlinie »Zukunft der Arbeit«
• Model-based Scenario Analysis of the Effects of Made in China 2025 on the Value-added and Market Shares of the German Mechanical Engineering Industry (Made in China 2025)
• Assessing the untapped potentials for value creation in manufacturing in Baden-Wuerttemberg and Germany in the digital age (Industry 4.0)
• The future of work: SMEs – innovative and social
• Study on the Economic Relevance of B2B Internet Platforms
• SMEs 4.0 – Competence center Stuttgart
• Strategic orientation of scientific and industrial research in Baden-Württemberg
• Strategic Competence Development in non-research intensive SME of the manufacturing industry
• Industry 4.0 in Kazakhstan: Potential, perspectives and role of policy
• Potential of the Industrial Collaborative Economy
• Digitale Geschäftsmodelle: Sind unsere KMU bereit für den Wandel?
• SME Report Thuringia 2015
• Internet-based self-assessment instrument Industrie 4.0 for Baden-Württemberg
• Developing and testing an innovation-oriented productivity measurement concept for knowledge-intensive services

• Berner, D.; Lerch, C. M.; Jäger, A.; Horvat, D. (2026): Digital Servitization, Product Innovation and Eco-innovation: Substitutes or Complementary Strategies? In: Montoya-Torres, J.R., Mejía, G.E. (eds) Sustainable Systems in an Internetworked Digital World. ICPR 2025. Lecture Notes in Production Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-19656-9_18.
• Lerch, C.; Jäger, A.; Horvat., D.; Berner, D. (2023): Industrie 4.0 in Baden-Württemberg: (r)Evolution im Kontext von Nachhaltigkeit und Resilienz (Kurzfassung). Stuttgart: Koordinierungsstelle Allianz Industrie 4.0
• Lerch, C.; Jäger, A. (2024): Industry in a changing era: Production paradigms during the last 50 years. In: Edler, J.; Walz, R. (eds) (2024): Systems and Innovation Research in Transition: Research Questions and Trends in Historical Perspective. Heidelberg: Springer.
• Horvat, D.; Jäger, A.; Lerch, C. M. (2024). Fostering innovation by complementing human competences and emerging technologies: an industry 5.0 perspective. International Journal of Production Research, 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2024.2372009
• Lerch, C. M.; Heimberger, H.; Jäger, A.; Horvat, D.; Schultmann, F. (2022): AI-readiness and production resilience: empirical evidence from German manufacturing in times of the Covid-19 pandemic. International Journal of Production Research, 62(15), 5378–5399.
• Lerch, C.; Jäger, A. (2024): Industry in a changing era: Production paradigms during the last 50 years. In: Edler, J.; Walz, R. (eds) (2024): Systems and Innovation Research in Transition: Research Questions and Trends in Historical Perspective. Heidelberg: Springer. 
• Jackwerth-Rice, T.; Böcker, D.; Derse, M.; Elsebrock, K.; Jehnichen, T.; Kley, T.; Kriegesmann, B.; Lerch, C.; Monstadt, H.; Weiß, P.; Wernet, M. (2022): Gestaltung einer digitalisierungsförderlichen Unternehmenskultur bei mittelständischen Industrieunternehmen. In: Nitsch, V.; Brandl, C.; Häußling, R.; Lemm, J.; Gries, T.; Schmenk, B. (Hrsg.): Digitalisierung der Arbeitswelt im Mittelstand 1. Ergebnisse und Best Practice des BMBF-Forschungsschwerpunkts "Zukunft der Arbeit: Mittelstand – innovativ und sozial", 99-132. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Vieweg.
• Jackwerth-Rice, T.; Lerch, C.; Weiß, P.; Jehnichen, T.; Derse, M.; Meier, M.; Wernet, M. (2021): "Unternehmenskultur 4.0" bei einem Zulieferbetrieb gestalten − Strategien schrittweiser kultureller Transformation am Beispiel der Einführung eines digitalen Werkzeugmanagements, Industrie Management 3/2021, 16-20.
  
• Baden-Württemberg Stiftung gGmbH (Hrsg.) (2020): Struktur und Dynamik des Forschungs- und Wissenschaftsstandorts Baden-Württemberg. Schriftenreihe der Baden-Württemberg Stiftung Forschung Nr. 93. Stuttgart: Baden-Württemberg Stiftung gGmbH.
  
• Horvat, D.; Stahlecker, T.; Zenker, A.; Lerch, C.; Mladineo M. (2018): A conceptual approach to analysing manufacturing companies' profiles concerning Industry 4.0 in emerging economies, Procedia Manufacturing 17, 419-426.
  
• Horvat, D.; Lerch, C.; Wydra, S. (2017): Dynamics of the European lignocellulosic (2G) ethanol demand: An analysis of policy and learning effects on market growth. The 36th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society, Cambridge MA, Proceedings.
• Lerch, C.; Schnabl, E.; Meyer, N.; Jäger, A. (2017): Digitale Geschäftsmodelle – Sind kleine und mittlere Unternehmen der Metropolregion Stuttgart bereit für die Digitalisierung? Stuttgart: Industrie- und Handelskammer Region Stuttgart.
• Frietsch, R.; Lutz, J.; Neuhäusler, P.; Schubert, T.; Lerch, C.; Bethke, N.; Rothengatter, O. (2016): Der Beitrag der Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zum deutschen Innovationssystem. Karlsruhe: Fraunhofer ISI.
  
• Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Wissenschaft und Digitale Gesellschaft (Hrsg.) (2016): Gute Entwicklung. Gute Aussichten. Thüringer Mittelstandsbericht. Erfurt: TMWWDG.
  
• Jäger, A.; Moll, C.; Lerch, C. (2016): Analysis of the impact of robotic systems on employment in the European Union – Update. Final report. Luxembourg: European Commission, Directorate-General of Communications Networks, Content & Technology. Publications Office of the European Union. DOI: 10.2759/176994 .
  
• Lerch, C.; Gandenberger, C.; Meyer, N.; Gotsch, M. (2016): Grundzüge einer industriell-kollaborativen Wirtschaftsform. In: Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung, Band 85, Nr. 2, 65-80.
  
• Walz, R.; Köhler, J.; Lerch, C. (2016): Towards modelling of innovation systems: an integrated TIS-MLP approach for wind turbines (= Fraunhofer ISI Discussion Papers Innovation Systems and Policy Analysis Nr. 50). Karlsruhe: Fraunhofer ISI.
  
• Köhler, J.; Braungardt, S.; Hettesheimer, T.; Lerch, C.; Nabitz, L.; Sartorius, C.; Walz, R. (2016): The dynamic simulation of TIS functions in transitions pathways (= Fraunhofer ISI Discussion Papers Innovation Systems and Policy Analysis Nr. 48). Karlsruhe: Fraunhofer ISI.
• Lerch, C.; Gotsch, M. (2015): Digitalization for Product-Service Systems in Manufacturing Firms – A Case Study Analysis, in: Research-Technology Management, Special Issue: Service Innovation, in: Baines, T; Euchner, J. (Eds.), in Press
  
• Lerch, C.; Gotsch, M. (2015): How digitalization can accelerate the transfor-mation from manufacturer to service provider, Spring Servitization Conference, Aston, UK, - Winner Best Paper Award -.