Digital Tranformation and Innovation – Power Sparx

How can digitalisation move the hospitality industry beyond competition toward true ecosystem collaboration? In this episode of Digital Transformation & Innovation – Power Sparx, Kristina speaks with Heidi Vähänikkilä, researcher and lecturer at Laurea University of Applied Sciences and the Estonian Business School, about how digital platforms and co-creation practices are reshaping business model innovation in hospitality, tourism, and events. Based on her newly published research in Digital Transformation in Knowledge Transfer: Shaping the Future, Heidi shares how tools like collaborative online platforms enable knowledge transfer across company boundaries, foster resilient post-pandemic business models, and require a powerful shift in mindset, leadership, and trust. Tune in to explore how ecosystem thinking, human-centered digital collaboration, and shared value creation can unlock new growth paths for an industry in transformation.


Guest: Heidi Vähänikkilä, Senior Lecturer in Hospitality Management at Laurea University of Applied Sciences (Finland)


Host: Kristina Bodrožić-Brnić, Institute Manager at the Institute for Digital Transformation and Innovation (Germany)


Further Reading & Resources:


The article “Digitalisation Enhancing Ecosystem Thinking and Business Model Innovation Through Co-creation”


https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-032-07329-7_7


The Institute for Digital Transformation and Innovation https://www.businessschool-berlin.de/science/institute-for-digital-transformation-innovation/


Episode 05 with Miia Vakkuri on collaborative learning models.


https://open.spotify.com/episode/2e4n0cZ1unVAiin1Ybf6RU

What does it take to design experiences that truly matter in a world where education, business, and digital innovation increasingly intertwine? In this episode of Power Sparx, we speak with Miia Vakkuri about bridging academia and industry through service design, multisensory thinking, and collaborative learning models that reshape how knowledge is created and applied.


Guest: Miia Vakkuri, Senior Lecturer in Hospitality Management at Laurea University of Applied Sciences (Finland)


Host: Kristina Bodrožić-Brnić, Institute Manager at the Institute for Digital Transformation and Innovation (Germany)


Further Reading & Resources:


The article “A Contemporary Business Model for Integrating Company- Needs Through Education-Company Collaboration”


https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-032-07329-7_15


The Institute for Digital Transformation and Innovation


https://www.businessschool-berlin.de/science/institute-for-digital-transformation-innovation/

In this episode of Power Sparx, Kristina Bodrožić-Brnić talks with AI host Quinn about why technology acceptance is critical for successful AI adoption in organizations, especially in SMEs. Drawing from her research and practical workshop experience, she explains how combining understanding, experimentation, and reflection helps teams move from uncertainty to curiosity, build trust in AI tools, and translate real business needs into meaningful technological solutions. The conversation highlights how creative and human-centered approaches can accelerate collaboration, break down silos, and support responsible innovation in everyday business practice.


Host: Quinn AI


Guest: Kristina Bodrožić-Brnić (Institute for Digital Transformation and Innovation)


Useful Material:


The article "Creative AI as a Transfer Instrument for Promoting Technology Acceptance: A Practice-Oriented Approach"


https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-75670-2_5


Book "Kreativität und KI" (German)


https://www.digitalzentrum-zukunftskultur.de/material/kreativitaet-kuenstliche-intelligenz-7768/


Results from an Expert-Workshop (German)


https://www.digitalzentrum-zukunftskultur.de/artikel/kreativitaet-x-ki-mittelstand-marketing-forschung-14323/

What happens when digital transformation promises agility—but ignores the psychology of change?


In this episode of Digital Transformation & Innovation – Power Sparx, we explore the emotional and psychological dynamics behind organizational transformation. Drawing on insights from morphological psychology and the “Four Rooms of Change” model, the conversation reveals why real transformation cannot be achieved by mindset shifts alone—and why resistance, confusion, and uncertainty are essential parts of change.


A focused discussion on why digitalization is never only technical, how organizations can build true development cultures, and what human-centered leadership means in times of constant transformation.


Guest: Herbert Fitzek, Professor of Economic and Cultural Psychology at BSP Business and Law School (Berlin, Germany)


Host: Kristina Bodrožić-Brnić, Institute Manager at the Institute for Digital Transformation and Innovation (Berlin, Germany)


Further Reading & Resources:


The article "More Than a Question of Mindset: Psychological Challenges of Digital Transformation"


https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-75670-2_8


Link to the Four Rooms of Change and their organizational barrometer


https://fourroomsofchange.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/individual-organizational-barometer.pdf


BSP's adaption to the German context of Digitalization from 2017.


https://www.businessschool-berlin.de/files/fcb/fcb-inhalt/Business%20and%20Law%20School/Science/201701HouseofChange-WasdigitalerWandelwirklich_bedeutet.pdf