In 2012 Katharina Pernkopf completed her doctorate at WU Vienna. Her dissertation "Convention theory and the evaluation of HR systems" was an attempt to explain variations in employment relations, human resources management systems or specific HR practices such as staff development from an economic sociological, more precisely from a conventionalist perspective. She drew on, inter alia, empirical examples from a comparative organization analysis (esp. data from Germany and Russia), which is especially of interest for researchers interested in the study of competing institutional logics.

Her current research projects are located in the wider field of organizational institutionalism and comparative HRM. She is interested in how work and those who do it are influenced by the interaction of organizational rules and demands of the institutional environment in relation to the nature or the "market success" of the product or service. Currently she explores "talent management" and related concepts as well as their implications for individuals in their everyday employment situation.

Since July 2014 Katharina Pernkopf has been assistant professor at the interdisciplinary institute for management and organizational behaviour. Her work has been published in the Journal of Management Inquiry, ESEEN, Personnel Review and the European J. Cross-Cultural Competence and Management. Additional information on her scientific activities can be found in the FIDES database.