Dr. Annika GRÖMMINGER
Head of Department Business
3 Questions - 3 Answers
What is at the heart of your role as Head of Department, and what fascinates you most about it?
After many years in industry, I consciously sought a role where I could apply my experience while also making a meaningful contribution to society. We live in a very privileged region and society. For me, the question is how we can build on what previous generations have achieved, develop it responsibly and pass it on to future generations. Education plays a central role in this.
As Head of Department, I have the opportunity to help create the conditions for this. What fascinates me most is building bridges: between academia and industry, across different disciplines and, above all, between people. As a University of Applied Sciences, FHV provides an ideal environment for this, bringing together academic curiosity and critical debate with entrepreneurial thinking and the ability to turn ideas into action.
What I enjoy most is bringing people together, discovering their potential and creating opportunities for something new to emerge. If we can also build a strong network within our region, we can make a valuable contribution to its long-term development and resilience.
Which trends in your field do you find particularly interesting, and which topics are you especially passionate about?
I am particularly interested in how artificial intelligence will transform the way we work. AI will provide tremendous support in many areas. At the same time, I firmly believe that human capabilities such as empathy, emotional intelligence, critical thinking and self-reflection will become even more important. Perhaps this development will also lead us to rediscover the value of social professions and skilled trades.
In this context, one topic I feel particularly strongly about is our ability to engage in constructive dialogue. From my experience, innovation and transformation initiatives rarely fail because of technological challenges alone. More often, we struggle to move beyond our own positions and truly understand different perspectives.
For me, a constructive discussion is not about winning or losing an argument. It is about understanding why someone else sees things differently. Only then can we bring different perspectives together and develop better solutions. In a time when debates are becoming increasingly polarised, I believe this ability to think beyond opposing positions and appreciate different viewpoints is more important than ever.
What would you like your students to take away from their studies, and what should they bring with them?
Above all, I want our students to develop the confidence that they can overcome challenges independently, while also recognising that they are responsible for their own actions.
This requires critical thinking: the ability to evaluate sources, recognise attempts to influence our opinions and question information. But it also means being willing to challenge our own beliefs and assumptions. Especially in the age of AI, finding the right answer will not be enough. What matters is asking the right questions, truly understanding the problem and being able to critically reflect on the process of finding a solution.
What I expect from our students is curiosity, personal responsibility and perseverance. In return, we as a university need to provide room for experimentation, personal guidance and clear frameworks within which they can develop.
And that also means allowing room for failure. When something does not work, we are challenged to understand why. Often, these experiences provide the most valuable and lasting learning opportunities.
If our graduates leave FHV with the mindset, "I can overcome challenges, I can form my own opinions, and I take responsibility for my actions," then I believe we have achieved something truly meaningful.
