Assistant Professor, Department of Strategic Management, Institute of Management, Poznań University of Economics and Business, Poland
I study how digital technologies change company strategies, business models and the way organisations manage employee competencies. My academic work is informed by hands-on business experience: for several years I co-ran an omnichannel retail company, and I work with firms on strategic analysis and marketing.
Research
AI-enabled competency management. My current main project develops a multi-level model of competency management supported by artificial intelligence. Existing studies usually look at a single level of analysis; the model links these levels together. In 2026 I received an internal research grant from my university to conduct in-depth interviews with managers and HR specialists in organisations that implement AI tools.
Industry 4.0 and digital transformation. Qualitative and quantitative studies of how Industry 4.0 technologies support strategic agility, how manufacturers assimilate digital technologies, and how digitalisation relates to sustainable production. Recent work focuses on Polish manufacturing, including the dairy processing sector (NCN MINIATURA 7 project).
Reshoring and nearshoring in Central and Eastern Europe. Together with Prof. Luciano Fratocchi (University of L’Aquila) I led the NCN-funded HARMONIA 10 project comparing Polish and Italian companies. This line of work led to the Reshoring Readiness Ladder (RRL) and the diagnosis of a “CEE capability trap”: economies of the region are too advanced to compete on cost alone, yet not deep enough institutionally to attract technology-intensive production.
Selected recent publications
- Młody, M., Sajdak, M., Wójcicki, K. (2026). Assimilation of technologies vs. technological maturity of Industry 4.0: The case of the dairy processing sector in Poland. Management and Production Engineering Review, 17(2), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.24425/mper.2026.1316
- Młody, M. (2026). Transformation to an omnichannel business model and its impact on value chain optimisation. Optimum. Economic Studies, 1(123), 170–191. https://doi.org/10.15290/oes.2026.01.123.09
- Młody, M., Fratocchi, L. (2025). Why manufacturing backflows to Central and Eastern Europe fail to materialize: Introducing the Reshoring Readiness Ladder (RRL). Scientific Papers of Silesian University of Technology. Organization and Management Series, 232, 505–524. https://doi.org/10.29119/1641-3466.2025.232.25
- Sajdak, M., Młody, M. (2025). Influence of Industry 4.0 technologies on strategic agility. Management, 29(2), 40–62. https://doi.org/10.58691/man/209129
- Sajdak, M., Młody, M. (2024). Technological anxiety during the implementation of Industry 4.0 technologies – a cross-case study analysis among Polish manufacturing companies. Competitiveness Review, 34(3), 660–679. https://doi.org/10.1108/CR-03-2023-0066
Full list of publications: Publications (most titles are in English).
Teaching
Strategic management, project team management, competency management, entrepreneurship, e-commerce project management, digital transformation and international business. I teach in Polish and English at bachelor’s, master’s, postgraduate and MBA level, and supervise theses written in English.
Awards
Rector’s Award of the Poznań University of Economics and Business for research achievements (2024 and 2026).
Collaboration and contact
I welcome contact from researchers interested in joint projects, research stays and Erasmus+ staff mobility, and from companies looking for research-based advice or management training.
E-mail: michal.mlody@ue.poznan.pl