i.
AI & digital workforce architecture
How firms build, deploy, and govern AI and digital talent: what complements what, where governance pays off, why balance beats maximalism.
Dr. Can Tihanyi
Researcher Teacher Endurance athlete.
I study international strategy, AI, and the politics of corporate (ir)responsibility in multinational firms.
AI is changing how organisations work, faster than any of us are ready for. I try to figure out what's real and write about what I find.
01 · Research
Three connected threads.
ii.
International strategy in a digital world
How diversification, digitalization, and senior leadership choices shape MNE performance. Active manuscripts: TMT cognitive bases and the direction of corporate AI adoption (LRP), and a complementarity study of AI workforce architecture (ICIS 2026).
iii.
Global risk, supply chains & corporate (ir)responsibility
How supply-chain exposure, CEO ideology, and patriotic rhetoric move firms' behaviour and performance. Active manuscripts on CSI incidents in supply chains and on CEO patriotism and overseas bias.
Selected projects
- Submitted
The Specialist Paradox: Upper Echelons Cognitive Bases and the Direction of Corporate AI Adoption
Sole author
Long Range Planning· SSRN ↗
- Submitted
Corporate Misconduct and Employee Turnover in Multinational Firms
With A. Mohr · (title disguised)
Academy of Management Journal
- Under review
AI Workforce Architecture and Digital Innovation: Complementarity, Governance, and the Value of Balance
With C. Schumacher
ICIS 2026
- Under review
CEO Ideology and Firms' Overseas Bias in Corporate Social Irresponsibility
With A. Mohr, N. Hashai & L. Fernandez-Mendez · (title disguised)
Strategic Management Journal
- Under review
International Diversification and CEO Political Communication in Multinational Firms
With A. Mohr & J. Puck · (title disguised)
Journal of World Business
- Revise & resubmit
CSI Incidents and Supply Chains
With G. Santangelo & C. Schumacher · (title disguised)
Journal of International Business Studies
02 · Teaching
What I talk about with students.
Internationalization Strategy
WU Vienna · Master's · since 2018
International Business Strategy in the Age of Deglobalization, Nationalism, and Geo-political Tensions
WU Vienna · Master's · new, 2026
International Risk Management
WU Vienna · Master's · since 2022
Export and Internationalization of SMEs
WU Vienna · Master's · 2021, 2022 and 2026
Digitalization and Social Media in SMEs
WU Vienna · Master's · since 2025
Advanced AI Use in SME Internationalization
WU Vienna · Master's · new, 2026
International Business and Sustainable Development
Mahidol University, Bangkok · Bachelor's · visiting faculty since 2022
Recognition
Ars Docendi nomination (2022), the Austrian state prize for excellence in university teaching·Innovative Teaching Award, WU Vienna (2021)·Excellent Teaching Award, WU Vienna (2020).
03 · International
Work that travels.
The point of international business research is to actually go. Below: the postings, residencies, and conferences that have shaped how I see the world.
Bangkok
2022–2026Visiting teacher
Mahidol University International College
Teaching a three-week programme at the undergraduate level.
Tokyo
2023Visiting Scholar · two months
Keio University
International Research Fellow at Keio. EAMSA Annual Conference in Tokyo, 2022, preceded the stay.
Madrid
2019Visiting PhD Researcher
Universidad Pontificia Comillas
International Research Fellowship. PhD-committee co-supervision with Laura Fernandez-Mendez.
Vienna
since 2014The full arc
WU Vienna · Institute for International Business
BSc, MSc, PhD, pre-doc, Assistant Professor.
Selected international conferences
Academy of International Business, Seoul 2024· European International Business Academy, Helsinki 2024· Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Boston 2023· EAMSA, Tokyo 2022· EURAM, Lisbon 2021.
04 · Other gear
Plan, execute, repeat.
The same patience and consistency the work asks for, with no shortcut available.
- Long course
- Ironman Klagenfurt 2024 · Rome Marathon 2025 · Ironman Hamburg 2025 · Wachau Ultra-Marathon 2025.
- Coaching
- Running coach, Sportfreundekinder Verein.
- Earlier
- Austrian youth basketball national champion. Leistungssport at the Teamsportakademie Kapfenberg.
- Adventure
- Self-supported bike tours and slow travel. Most of it in Asia.