I have extensive practical experience in project and consulting works. Most of it was gained through early internships during my university studies and my first jobs alongside my PhD. Combining practical work in quickly developing organisations always was the best way to seeing the actual application of my theoretical research.
Though I’m usually focussed on selected projects to save time for my research, I’m always happy to get to know potential partners for future projects. I’m particularly interested in media organisations facing structural change or strategic developments. I’ve done some projects with promising start ups in the scholarly communication environment as well. All projects need to be geared to purposeful planning, though, combining a focus on good work ethics and socially sustainable practices.
Strategy Consulting
Most of my projects and consulting experience stems from strategic planning projects with publishers or related organisation. Among my earliest experience in this respect was my Bachelor thesis, submitted at HTWK Leipzig after having studied business administration and publishing management.
I modelled a strategy analysis for the Leipzig Book Fair, Germany’s largest popular book fair and reading festival. After that I developed a more theoretical scholarly programme during my MA in London. All the while, I engaged in several further consulting projects. Among others:
- Strategy Development Digital Products at Schwabe Verlag, Basel, Switzerland: Schwabe is one of the oldest publishing houses still in operation and is deeply rooted in traditional humanities publishing. I worked on project-based, strategic developments to help transfer Schwabe into a digital, open future, working particularly on marketing and sales strategy for their large-scale encyclopeadia.
- Knowledge Unlatched: Marketing and communications strategy and operations for developing a worldwide consortial funding model to foster open access programmes in the humanities and social sciences.
- Wiley, Oxford office: Development and assessment of opportunities to expand the journal portfolio of platinum open access publishing. Advisory consultancy about future trends in assessment of research impact.
- De Gruyter, Berlin: Several strategic projects such as academic self-publishing business, analysis and improvement of bulk sale processes in cooperation, competitive benchmark analysis of digital marketing activities.
- Besides work with companies, I advise initiatives in regards to policy questions, for instance, I served as innOsci Fellow, Stifterverband, Berlin (Advisory position for the strengthening of open practices in research institutions) or as academic advisor for the open access policy for the federal state of Brandenburg, Germany. I was a Fellow of the US-based Society for Scholarly Publishing in 2016.
- Before my university studies, I completed a three-year apprenticeship as a bookseller at an independent bookshop in Einbeck, Germany. Awesome time: Small town, lots of books, and people interested in talking about them.
Individual Editorial and Publishing Agency
I provide services as a publishing agent. I help societies or institutions design and publish (print and digital) individual publications. These may be project reports, monographs, or journal editions. These are always individually designed projects, so there is no generalisable statement about the workload here. Representative projects include:
- Academic Book of the Future: Designing, editing, and publishing of the end of project report and monograph for the Academic Book of the Future project. Find them here.
- Journal of the International Arthurian Society, 2018 edition. Find it here.
- Recently, I’ve also taken on agential support for open access publishing for researchers or institutions that aim to publish a monograph or try to set up an open access policy. With my advisory roles as well as through my research, I have extensive experience in this realm and am happy to help set up or publish sensible open access policies or publications.
Higher Education and Science Policy
I’m a member of the German Social Democrats (SPD), and founding member of the network for higher education/science policy within the SPD. Find out more about this project or get involved here.
I’m particularly interested in issues of inequality and structural developments such as the Exzellenzinitiative or Open Science and Humanities. A key aspect for me is how communication practices are driven by politics and institutional power. Especially science communication is rising topic in this realm as well. I’m always happy to discuss these matters on panels or contributions in popular media.
Additional Experience
I regularly engage in seminars or courses to further gain skills and to stay up to date about contemporary practices. This has helped me a lot especially regarind leadership training or knowledge about compliance in larger organisations. Selected instances include:
- Adaptive Leadership: Exercising Leadership in Times of Change with KUNO Leadership Consulting
- Compliance in Organisational Environments with EY Consulting
At other instances, I’ve participated in workshops or selected project work. Among others:
- Talent Meets Bertelsmann Strategy Workshop 2016, 3rd prize
- Project work for a new digital marketing strategy of the SOS Children’s Villages Foundation, Munich
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Get in touch for consulting or advisory projects: Marcel Knöchelmann
marcel.knochelmann.15[at]ucl.ac.uk