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