Dr. Zorica Zagorac-Uremovic

After my undergraduate studies in business administration, I worked as retail merchandizing manager in the building construction industry, as category manager in the textiles industry, and as business developer in my family firm in the electronics industry. During this time I realized that there are fundamental questions related to how firms and business leaders can become better at identifying new and worthwhile opportunities and how they could develop solutions that are both innovative and sustainable.

Following my curiosity and the need to contribute to a more innovative and responsible society, I returned to academia and pursued a doctoral program in business economics at the University of Liechtenstein, where I also worked as lecturer and business coach (e.g., design thinking, entrepreneurship).

I investigated how business leaders identify new opportunities and how they ideate. I took different perspectives from creativity research and cognitive psychology. I combined several methods, such as verbal protocols, in-depth interviews, and psychometric tests to understand how ideation happens in practice and how the context influences cognition.

I found intriguing answers but even more fascinating questions, and have continued my research at the TIMGroup as a postdoctoral researcher in 2018.