Team

Nadin Antabi obtained a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Yarmouk University in Jordan. Following practical experience in human resources management and the family office of a Saudi Arabian company, and a DAAD-funded research placement, she has been working as an external doctoral candidate at the Chair of Organisation and Management since 2024. The working title of her doctoral thesis is: ‘Does Green Human Resource Management Matter? An Empirical Analysis Based on the Dynamic Capabilities Approach’.

After completing her training as an insurance and finance clerk (IHK Cologne),Jennifer Arunthavarajah studied Business Psychology (BA) part-time at the Rheinische Fachhochschule in Cologne and Dynamic Management (MA) at the Europäische Fachhochschule in Brühl. Professor Talaulicar, together with Professor Lena Evertz, is the supervisor of external academic research on organisational resilience, using the German insurance industry as a case study. Jennifer Arunthavarajah works in the insurance sector, where she is responsible for in-company training, human resources and organisational development. She is active on various committees of the Vocational Training Centre of the German Insurance Industry (BWV) and Eurapco, and is trained in systemic solution-focused coaching (accredited by the DBVC).

Alexander Hapich studied Corporate Communication at Fresenius University of Applied Sciences in Düsseldorf. He currently works as a management consultant at Plenum AG, specialising in transformation, organisational development and crisis management. Among other projects, he has been the supervisor for strategic crisis communication for energy suppliers during the energy crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. His responsibilities have included the development of communication strategies, staff development programmes and political strategy. Mr Hapich is pursuing his PhD at the Chair of Organisation and Management under Professor Talaulicar. In his thesis, he examines how companies can strengthen their resilience in crisis situations and develops practical explanatory frameworks for successfully overcoming challenges in economically difficult times.

Sophie Kaucher studied Environmental and Business Management at Trier University of Applied Sciences. She subsequently completed her Master’s degree in Sustainable Business Management at the same institution, focusing on the topics of corporate governance and leadership. She is currently working as a research assistant in the subject area of Environmental Economics and Environmental Law at Trier University of Applied Sciences. As an external doctoral candidate at the Chair of Organisation and Management held by Professor Dr Till Talaulicar, she is conducting research into the impact of ethical leadership behaviour on various stakeholder groups.
 

Marc Lamhofer

Marc Lamhofer completed his Master’s degree in Strategic Entrepreneurship at Jönköping International Business School in Sweden in 2017, where he had already been exploring the concept of organisational ambidexterity. Since then, at the management consultancy mm1, he has been supporting corporate groups with digitalisation projects and process optimisation, and heads projects in the mobility sector. As an external doctoral candidate at the Chair of Organisation and Management held by Professor Talaulicar, Mr Lamhofer is investigating collaborations between medium-sized enterprises and the ways in which these are structured to promote organisational ambidexterity.

Mark Osnowski studied at the University of Hamburg, where he successfully completed both a Bachelor’s degree in Social Economics and a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management. He had already examined the working methods of the supervisory board in depth as part of his master's thesis. Building on his extensive practical experience in the field of corporate co-determination at the DAX-listed Beiersdorf Group, he currently supports the Corporate Office of Deutsche Börse AG in its holistic approach to the work of the Executive Board and Supervisory Board, as well as key issues relating to corporate governance under capital markets law. As part of his doctoral research, Mr Osnowski is currently conducting an in-depth academic analysis of group dynamics within the Supervisory Board. In particular, he is examining the role of the Chair of the Supervisory Board, whilst also systematically taking into account the composition of the body and its cooperation with the Executive Board.

Christoph Rüttgers studied business administration at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf and at the FOM University of Applied Sciences for Economics & Management in Cologne. After several years in investment management, he has been responsible for the strategic revenue strategy at Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger Medien since 2021. At the same time, he has been teaching as a university lecturer since 2022, specialising in the areas of corporate governance, business management and academic writing. As part of his doctoral research under the supervision of Professor Till Talaulicar at the Chair of Organisation and Management, Mr Rüttgers is investigating the choice and effectiveness of corporate governance arrangements in family businesses. On this basis, the aim is to develop an integrated, theory-driven model which, in addition to principal-agent theory and institutional incentives, also incorporates the construct of ‘socio-emotional wealth’ into the explanation of corporate governance arrangements, as well as their selection and impact.

Beck, Nikolaus

Beyers, Dominik

Händschke, Sebastian

Kerekes, Raluca

Kreismann, Dominic

Manger, Daniela

Rogge, Kai

Siegemund, Jan

Steger, Thomas

Tempel, Anne

Walgenbach, Peter

Wüstenhagen, Stefanie

Brand, Hannah

Höger, Dominic

Kerl, Katharina

Riebold, Ann-Sophie

Steinhof, Anna-Lena

Turkali, Julia

Volkmer, Elisa

von Oy, Johanna

Wirth, Christine

Dr Sebastian Barth

Dr Sebastian Barth has been a scholarship holder on the “High Performance Boards” research project at the Reinhard Mohn Institute for Business Management & Corporate Governance at Witten/Herdecke University since November 2008. His doctoral thesis, entitled “The Nomination of Supervisory Board Members: An Empirical Study of Selection Processes within the Supervisory Board and its commissions”, was supervised by Professor Till Talaulicar. After completing his A-levels and setting up a business, he began studying economics at Witten/Herdecke University in October 2003, graduating in 2008 as top of his year with a Diplom-Ökonom degree. His studies, which focused on international economic relations, strategy development and corporate governance, were complemented by internships both in Germany and abroad at the University of Witten/Herdecke and the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. His research and professional focus lie in the areas of corporate governance – in particular the selection processes for supervisory boards – and group theory.

Dr Christian Dietrich

Dr Christian Dietrich studied economics at Witten/Herdecke University, graduating with distinction. He subsequently worked as a research employee for Professor Dr Talaulicar at the Chair of Corporate Governance & Board Dynamics at Witten/Herdecke University. As an external doctoral candidate, Mr Dietrich successfully completed his doctoral thesis on the topic ‘Corporate governance from the perspective of institutional investors: The context-dependent significance of corporate governance standards in underpinning investment decisions’. The thesis was funded by a private foundation.

Sebastian Dozel

Sebastian Dozel studied business administration at Avans Hogeschool in the Netherlands and at the Open University Business School in the UK. He has been working for several years in various management roles within commercial enterprises and is currently employed by K+S AG in Kassel. As an external doctoral candidate at the Chair of Organisation and Management under Professor Talaulicar, Mr Dozel is investigating the influence exerted by the Chief Executive Officer and the impact of interaction within the Executive Board on the strategic adaptability of companies.

Dr Marcus Fiedler

As an external doctoral candidate at the Chair of Organisation and Management, Dr Marcus Fiedler is researching the influence of the director of human resources on the development of an organisation’s human capital resources, under the supervision of Professor Till Talaulicar. Mr Fiedler studied Business Administration and Business Management at Erfurt University of Applied Sciences. His studies focused on the areas of human resource management, corporate management and market research. His bachelor's thesis and master's thesis, both graded ‘very good’, were among the best final projects in his year group. In his master's thesis, Mr Fiedler developed a requirements profile for operational shift planning based on statutory, collective agreement and company-specific framework conditions.

Dr Martin Hirsch

Dr Martin Hirsch studied industrial management at the European University of Applied Sciences in Brühl in collaboration with Aalberts Surface Treatment GmbH. Whilst there, Mr Hirsch was subsequently entrusted with setting up a centralised HR management system and, whilst working, completed a Master’s degree in Management, specialising in HR, at the FOM University of Applied Sciences for Economics and Management in Cologne. Mr Hirsch is currently employed at JCB Deutschland GmbH, where he is responsible for professionalising HR Management. As an external doctoral candidate at the Chair of Organisation and Management led by Professor Talaulicar, Martin Hirsch is investigating possible models for strategic HRM architecture in medium-sized enterprises and start-ups.

Dr Isabel Kleb

Isabel Kleb studied the interdisciplinary degree programme in Economics, Law and Social Sciences – Law concentration, at the University of Erfurt. She wrote her master's thesis on the topic ‘Regulatory approaches to a separate banking system: fundamentals, forms and criticism’. As an external doctoral candidate at the Chair of Organisation and Management under Professor Talaulicar, Isabel Kleb is investigating CSR communication in the German banking sector before, during and after the global financial crisis. At the same time, she has been working since October 2014 at Erfurter Bank eG, a medium-sized credit union.

Dr Dominic Kreismann

• Human Resources Management, Staff Development/Training/Apprenticeships, Competency Models
• Training and methods
• Communication, conversation techniques, conflict management & leadership
• Organisational structures & change, CSR
• Employment and contract law
• Psychology

Dr Rene Mannsberger

Dr Rene Mannsberger studied International Business at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University in partnership with Gardena GmbH. He also completed his Master’s degree part-time, in partnership with Gardena GmbH, at the Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University, specialising in Accounting, Controlling and Taxation. As an external doctoral candidate at the Chair of Organisation and Management held by Professor Talaulicar, Rene Mannsberger is investigating the influence of the CEO, CFO and Chair of the Supervisory Board on companies’ portfolio communication. In addition, Rene Mannsberger continues to work for Gardena GmbH as a controller in the Product Management and Development department.

Dr Jakob R. Müller

Dr Jakob R. Müller was a doctoral candidate under Professor Dr Till Talaulicar and Professor Dr Markus Hanisch (Humboldt University of Berlin), working on the topic: ‘The emergence of governance in hybrid organisational forms: An empirical study using the example of energy cooperatives in Germany’.

His thesis was nominated by the Faculty of Economics, Law and Social Sciences for the University of Erfurt’s 2019 Christoph-Martin-Wieland Doctoral Prize.

From 2004 to 2007, Jakob Müller completed a dual study programme leading to a Diplom in Business Administration (Berufsakademie Mannheim) in the field of service marketing, in cooperation with Deutsche BP AG. He wrote his diploma thesis on the topic ‘The impact of changes to key subsidy components of the EEG on the attractiveness of the photovoltaic market, using BP Solar as a case study’. The thesis was named the best diploma thesis at the Mannheim Vocational Academy in 2007. In addition, Jakob Müller was awarded a Bachelor of Arts with First Class Honours in Business Administration from the Open University.

Between 2007 and 2010, Jakob Müller was a student at the University of Witten/Herdecke, where he completed the Master of Arts in General Management programme. He wrote his master's thesis on the topic ‘Control of and within Groups’ under the supervision of Professor Dr Rudolf Wimmer. Furthermore, from 2008 to 2010, Jakob Müller was a visiting student on the Master of Science in Energy and Finance programme at the University of Duisburg-Essen.

Jakob Müller’s work and research focus on hybrid organisational forms and their governance mechanisms. In particular, his research focuses on the impact of the governance of cooperatives on performance in the German electricity market.

Dr Carine Tober

Dr Carine Tober completed her Master’s degree in Human Resources Management at the Université Saint Joseph, Beirut, Lebanon. Her 140-page master's thesis, which was awarded a distinction, designs and implements ‘A personalised training programme for managers at World Vision Lebanon’ based on a 360-degree appraisal methodology for company employees. Ms Tober worked for more than six years as a project manager and coordinator for international non-governmental organisations in Lebanon (Caritas, World Vision). As an external doctoral candidate, she successfully completed her doctorate on the topic ‘How Do Work Characteristics Influence Attributions of Moral Responsibility? An Exploratory Study at a University in Lebanon’ in November 2022.

Dr Jutta Trögel

Dr Jutta Trögel studied Business Administration and International Business Administration at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt and the University of Salamanca. She was recognised by the City of Ingolstadt for her academic achievements and honoured as the top graduate of her year. She was also a scholarship holder of the Cusanuswerk and the Bavarian Elite Academy.

Dr Trögel wrote her doctorate on the topic ‘Possibilities and Limits of the Chair’s Influence on the Supervisory Board – An Empirical Study’ at the Reinhard Mohn Institute for Business Management and Corporate Governance at the University of Witten/Herdecke, where she was a member of the research project ‘High Performance Boards – Quality and Efficiency in Supervisory Bodies’ and was supervised by Professor Till Talaulicar.

Her research foci include the distribution of power and the exercise of influence on supervisory boards, decision-making processes and the culture of debate on supervisory boards, strategy-as-practice – in particular strategic planning processes within companies – as well as ‘Capturing the green consumer’ – sustainable business practices in the consumer goods industry.

Jutta Trögel has been working at the Boston Consulting Group as a strategic management consultant since 2006.

Dr Demian Wilhelm

Dr Demian Wilhelm had been an external doctoral candidate under Professor Dr Till Talaulicar since April 2015 and focused in particular on the influence of corporate leadership on the organisational change capacity of family businesses. The doctoral research project examined, from both theoretical and empirical perspectives, whether and to what extent the structure of corporate governance has a positive impact on organisational adaptability, and how these capabilities relate to the success of the company.
At the same time, Demian Wilhelm has been working as a management consultant at the management consultancy Accenture in Munich since August 2012. In this role, he supports end-to-end business transformations at leading companies, with a focus on change management, HR, training and project management.
Mr Wilhelm studied Business Administration (Diploma) at the University of Trier and Aston Business School (UK). His studies focused on strategic management, organisation, occupational psychology and change management.