News and Events

Our department recently returned from the Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference (BCERC) in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where we spent four days engaging with the global scholarly community.

Amelie Gschwinder shared her work “Let’s (Not) Get All Emotional: Entrepreneurial Well-Being, Emotion-Focused Coping, and Persistence”, demonstrating that psychological states influence entrepreneurial persistence through their differential effects on behavioral disengagement and denial. As part of the doctoral consortium, she also previewed her upcoming research, presenting a poster titled “Pace Yourself: Temporal Dynamics of Stress, Executive Functions, and Entrepreneurial Effort.”

Simon Nobs discussed his project“Beyond One-Size-Fit-All: Reassessing Centralization’s Impact on Corporate Entrepreneurship”, clarifying how centralization exerts differentiated effects across corporate entrepreneurship dimensions.

In addition to the academic sessions, BCERC offered outstanding opportunities for professional networking set against the backdrop of the historic University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa. We left BCERC with valuable feedback, renewed motivation, and a stronger connection to the global entrepreneurship research community.

Dr. Alessia Argiolas 

Dr. Alessia Argiolas visited the department on October 8th, 2025. Dr. Argiolas is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Germany, and serves as the Research Coordinator for the TUM SEED Center. Her research centers on Social and Sustainable Enterprises and social impact, with a particular focus on contexts in the Global South and the Energy Sector. Alessia’s work has been published in leading academic journals, including the Journal of Business Venturing, Business & Society, and Business Research Quarterly.

During her visit, Dr. Argiolas presented an ongoing research project that investigates the issue of measuring the impact of social entrepreneurship activities based on extensive field work in rural India and Kenya. In the spirit of peer feedback, the presentation was followed by highly engaging discussion to further strengthen and refine this highly promising research project. It was a pleasure to welcome Dr. Argiolas and we are looking forward to seeing this project published soon.

Prof. Dr. Mikko Rönkkö 

Prof. Dr. Mikko Rönkkö visited us from September 8th to September 9th, 2025. Mikko Rönkkö is a Professor of of Entrepreneurship at Jyväskylä University School of Business and Economics (JSBE) and a Docent at Aalto University School of Science in the field of statistical methods in management research. He is a leading expert in quantitative management research, focusing on growth entrepreneurship, software-based ventures, and quantitative methods. His work has been published in top-tier journals such as Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Organizational Research Methods, and Leadership Quarterly.

During his visit to our institute, Prof. Rönkkö shared fascinating insights into his ongoing research on the conceptualization and measurement of entrepreneurial orientation. He also led a highly engaging workshop on quantitative methods, highlighting rigorous research design, causal inference, and best practices in empirical work. We were delighted to welcome him to Bern.

From July 25th to July 29th, several members of our department attended the Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Copenhagen, Denmark, to present our latest research and engage with the global scholarly community.

Amelie Gschwinder presented “The Happy-Productive Entrepreneur: A Systematic Literature Review on Entrepreneurial Well-Being”, synthesizing findings from 57 top-tier journal articles to advance conceptual clarity in the field. Simon Nobs shared his work on “Corporate Entrepreneurship, Portfolio Selection Heuristics and Firm Performance”, shedding light on how decision-making heuristics influence the effectiveness of corporate entrepreneurship activities. Philipp Sieger discussed “The Likelihood and Timing of Entrepreneurial Reentry After Failure”, offering novel insights from an anticipatory grief perspective. Finally, Fabian Mändli introduced his research project called “Not a Joke: Exploring the Effect of Humorous Communication on Pro-Environmental Workplace Behavior”, demonstrating the potential of good-natured humor to foster sustainable workplace practices.

Beyond presenting research, the conference provided an excellent platform for networking, exchanging ideas, and exploring emerging themes in management scholarship. The vibrant atmosphere in Copenhagen and the stimulating discussions at the Academy of Management made this year’s meeting a highly enriching experience for our team.

Prof. Dr. Katerina Bezrukova

Prof. Dr. Katerina Bezrukova visited the department on July 31st, 2025. Katerina Bezrukova is an Associate Professor of Organization and Human Resources at the University at Buffalo. Her research explores team dynamics, group faultlines and diversity, conflict and conflict management, and occupational health and work-life balance. Her work has been published in leading journals such as Organization Science, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes.

During her visit, Prof. Bezrukova shared fascinating insights into her current research on faultlines and AI, providing both theoretical perspectives and practical implications for organizations. Following her talk, participants had the opportunity to continue the discussion in an informal setting over an apéro, fostering stimulating exchanges and new ideas. It was a pleasure to welcome Prof. Bezrukova to Bern.

Prof. Dr. Tatiana R. Stettler

Prof. Dr. Tatiana R. Stettler visited the department from June 23rd to June 25th, 2025. Tatiana Stettler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing and Entrepreneurship at Kent State University. Her research focuses on firms’ strategic orientation, absorptive capacity, and the pursuit of growth and innovation opportunities, with particular interest in accelerated growth and scaling. Her work has appeared in leading journals such as the Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management Studies, and Journal of Product Innovation Management.

As part of her visit, Prof. Dr. Stettler provided valuable insights from her research, discussed emerging trends in entrepreneurship, and engaged with students and faculty in lively discussions. Her visit also provided a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with our department as an alumna, and we were delighted to welcome her back to Bern.

Prof. Dr. Gerry McNamara

Prof. Dr. Gerry McNamara visited the department from April 7^th to April 10^th, 2024. Gerry McNamara is the John H. McConnell Professor of Management at Michigan State University. His research examines the effect of leader attributes, organizational characteristics, and market pressures on strategic perceptions, impression management actions, and strategic decisions. His research has been published in leading journals, including the Academy of Management Journal, the Strategic Management Journal or Organization Science to name a few. He is also a co-author of the textbook Strategic Management: Creating Competitive Advantages with Greg Dess, Alan Eisner, and Steve Sauerwald.

While in Bern, Dr. McNamara gave several lectures, sharing his experience in publishing in top-tier journals, providing insights into an ongoing research project and enlightening students of our Strategic Management course with the US Business School teaching style. Dr. McNamara also took time to provide valuable feedback on our PhD students’ research projects, for which we are very grateful. Overall, it was a pleasure to host Dr. McNamara in Bern.

Prof. Dr. Jagdip Singh

Prof. Dr. Jagdip Singh visited the IMUU on May 01 and 02, 2019. Dr. Singh is a Professor of Marketing, Co-Director of the Business Analytics Program, as well as Professor of Design & Innovation at the Weatherhead School of Management, Case Western Reserve University, Ohio. He has just won the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Marketing Association’s Sales Special Interest Group recognizing his tremendous impact on the academic sales discipline. He held a 2-day seminar for young researchers on Business Analytics und gave a talk on one of its current research projects. We were very happy about his visit.

Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Gregory G. Dess at the Department of Management and Entrepreneurship

On April 25, 2017, Gregory G. Dess (one of the "top 20 influential researchers in the field of management", cf. Aguinis et al., 2012) will give a speech on Strategic Management and Career Implications. Please refer to the document below for further information.

Dr. Jan Brinckmann

Am Donnerstag, 17. November 2016 von 13:30 bis 14:30 Uhr findet in der Schützenmattstrasse 14 (Raum 107) das Forschungskolloquium mit Dr. Brinckmann statt. Zum Thema ,,The Role of Planning in the Venturing Process?’’ wird er eine Präsentation halten, welche von einer interaktiven Diskussionsrunde gefolgt wird.

Weitere Information zu Dr. Brinckmann können Sie dem beigefügten PDF entnehmen.