Vita

Prof. Dr. Elke Schüßler is Professor of Business Administration, in particular Entrepreneurship and Organization Studies at Leuphana University Lüneburg. From 2016 to 2023 she was Professor of Business Administration and Head of the Institute of Organization Science at Johannes Kepler University Linz, Austria. Before that, she was Assistant Professor of Organization Theory at Freie Universität Berlin, where she also completed her dissertation at the Pfadkolleg Research Center.

Prof. Schüßler studies dynamics of organizational and institutional change with a focus on the development of sustainable forms of work and organizing and the role of creativity and entrepreneurship in these processes. With a background in Psychology (BSc, University of Sussex) and Industrial Relations (MSc, London School of Economics) she takes an interdisciplinary approach to her research and frequently collaborates with colleagues from other disciplines, e.g. in the context of the Global Garment Supply Chain Governance Project funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, the DFG Research Unit Organized Creativity or the DFG Scientific Network Field Configuring Events.

Her research has been published in leading social science journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Perspectives, Creativity and Innovation Management, Development and Change, Human Relations, Industrial and Corporate Change, Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Industry and Innovation, Organization Science, Organization Studies, Regional Studies or Socio-Economic Review. She has received several awards, including the Academy of Management Journal Best Reviewer Award (2023), the Labor and Employment Relations Association Best International/Comparative IR Paper Award (2021), the Ideas Worth Teaching Award (2020), the Academy of Management Journal Best Article Award (2015) or the VHB Best Paper Award (2014).

Prof. Schüßler serves the national and international scientific community in various ways. She is an Associate Editor for Business & Society and a member of the editorial/review board of Organization Studies, Socio-Economic Review, the Weizenbaum Journal of Digital Society and the Academy of Management Journal. She is a member of the advisory board of the Weizenbaum Institute in Berlin and the Momentum Institute in Vienna. Between 2022 and 2024 she chaired the Wissenschaftliche Kommission Organisation in the German Academic Association for Business Research (VHB). Since 2020 she is a member of the Executive Board of the European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS).

Projects

  1. Corporate Sustainability Communication in an Age of Polarization (CS-CAP): Why Firms Either Engage in Stakeholder Dialogue or Retract to Strategic Silence
    Hanna Pauline Gerland (Project manager, academic) , Elke Sybille Schüßler (Partner) , Dennis Schöneborn (Partner)

    Project: Dissertation project

  2. Research Consortium ‘Sustainability governance of global value chains’
    Jens Newig (Project manager, academic) , Andrea Lenschow (Project manager, academic) , Franca Angela Bülow (Coordination) , Barbara Pamela Ehbauer (Project staff) , Jelto Zissis Makris (Project staff) , Jelena Bäumler (Project manager, academic) , Elke Sybille Schüßler (Project manager, academic) , Stefan Claude Schaltegger (Project manager, academic) , Patrick Velte (Project manager, academic) , Frank Teuteberg (Project manager, academic) , Alexander Schall (Project manager, academic) , Martin Franz (Project manager, academic) , Christian Busse (Project manager, academic) , Jann Lay (Project manager, academic) , Henrike Jost (Project staff) , Kathleen Evers (Project staff) , Nora Große (Project staff) , Finn Jonas Bongert (Project staff) , Sofyia Pohurskyy (Project staff) , Frederik Kamphues (Project staff) , Philip Verfürth (Project staff) , Satwant Dahiya (Project staff) , Jia Zuo (Project staff) , Frauke Steglich (Project staff) , Saumya Satishbhai Raval (Project staff)

    Project: Research

  3. Entrainment: Temporal Structuring of Creative Projects
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Project manager, academic) , Gernot Grabher (Project manager, academic) , Jörg Sydow (Project manager, academic) , Marie Hoop (Project staff)

    Project: Research

  4. Digitalization and Work Organization. Narratives, Practices, and Design Implications
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Project manager, academic)

    Project: Research

  5. Appetite for Digitalization? Platform-based Business Models in the Restaurant and Food Services Industry
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Project manager, academic)

    Project: Practical Project

Publications

Books and anthologies

  1. Organizing Creativity in the Innovation Journey
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Editor) , Patrick S. Cohendet (Editor) , Silviya Svejenova (Editor) , 2021 , 296 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesSpecial Journal issueResearch

  2. Managing Interorganizational Relations: Debates and Cases
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Author) , Jörg Sydow (Author) , Gordon Müller-Seitz (Author) , 2015 , 368 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearch

  3. Akustisches Kapital: Wertschöpfung in der Musikwirtschaft
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Editor) , Bastian Lange (Editor) , Hans-Joachim Bürkner (Editor) , 2013 Bielefeld , 360 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesCollected editions and anthologiesResearch

  4. Strategische Prozesse und Persistenzen: Pfadabhängige Organisation und Wertschöpfung in der deutschen Bekleidungsindustrie
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Author) , 2009 , 197 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologiesMonographsResearch

Journal contributions

  1. The Mission (Im)possible of Climate Action through Quixotic Institutional Work
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Author) , Giuseppe Delmestri (Author) , 01.12.2025 , in: Journal of Management Studies, 62, 8 , p. 3638-3658 , 21 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  2. Neither Employment nor Self-Employment: Avenues Towards Functional Platform-Mediated Work Systems
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Author) , Sara Maric (Author) , Laura Thäter (Author) , 01.06.2025 , in: British Journal of Industrial Relations, 63, 2 , p. 287-304 , 18 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  3. Media Review: Extrapolations - A View from OS4F
    Stefanie Habersang (Author) , Elke Sybille Schüßler (Author) , Pilar Acosta (Author) , Joel Bothello (Author) , Giuseppe Delmestri (Author) , Gabriela Gutierrez-Huerter O (Author) , 01.03.2025 , in: Organization Studies, 46, 3 , p. 433-439 , 7 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsCritical reviewsResearch

  4. Creating a trusting environment in the sharing economy: Unpacking mechanisms for trust-building used by peer-to-peer carpooling platforms
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Author) , Barbara Hartl (Author) , Elfriede Penz (Author) , 15.01.2025 , in: Journal of Cleaner Production, 489 , 10 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

  5. Media Review: The Politics of Climate Change
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Author) , 01.09.2024 , in: Organization Studies, 45, 9 , p. 1402-1405 , 4 p.

    Research output: Journal contributionsCritical reviewsResearch

Contributions to collected editions/anthologies

  1. (Gegen-)Bewegungen der Digitalisierung: Feldtheoretische Perspektiven auf Plattformen und Arbeit 4.0
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Author) , Uli Meyer (Author) , Susanne Pernicka (Author) , 10.04.2024 1 ed. Weinheim , p. 248 - 260 , 13 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologiesContributions to collected editions/anthologiesResearch

  2. Cloud-Arbeit in Österreich: Narrative, Praxis und Gestaltungsoptionen
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Author) , Sara Maric (Author) , 01.01.2023 Wien , p. 37-40 , 4 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologiesArticle in conference proceedingsResearch

  3. How do workers gain voice on digital work platforms? Hotspots and blind spots in research on platform worker voice
    Thomas Karl Gegenhuber (Author) , Elke Sybille Schüßler (Author) , Laura Thäter (Author) , Markus Ellmer (Author) , 11.10.2022 Cheltenham , p. 71-107 , 36 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologiesChapterResearchpeer-review

  4. Building collective institutional infrastructures for decent platform work: The development of a crowdwork agreement in Germany
    Thomas Karl Gegenhuber (Author) , Elke Sybille Schüßler (Author) , Georg Reischauer (Author) , Laura Thäter (Author) , 29.03.2022 Bingley , p. 43-68 , 26 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologiesChapterResearchpeer-review

  5. Managing Global Production Networks: Towards Social Responsibility via Inter-organizational Reliability?
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Author) , Jörg Sydow (Author) , Markus Helfen (Author) , 03.02.2022 Cham , p. 133-158 , 26 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologiesChapterResearchpeer-review

Activities

  1. TRANSPARENCY AS ENABLING FACTOR FOR SUSTAINABILITY IN GLOBAL SUPPLY AND VALUE CHAINS – HOW, WHAT AND WHY?
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Speaker)

    Activity: Conference PresentationsResearch

  2. Climate Change and the Politics of System-Level Change: The Challenges of Moving beyond Incremental Transformation
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Speaker) , Christopher Wickert (Speaker) , Zlatko Bodrožić (Speaker) , Giuseppe Delmestri (Speaker) , Daniel Nyberg (Speaker)

    Activity: talk or presentation in privat or public eventsTransfer

  3. Erstbetreuung der Dissertation von Sara Maric
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Reviewer)

    Activity: Academic ConsultantResearch

  4. Erstbetreuung der Dissertation von Nina Füreder
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Reviewer)

    Activity: Academic ConsultantResearch

  5. Beyond the ‘Big Disconnect’: Pathways for Research on the System-Level Challenges of Climate Change Paper Presentation: The Mission (Im)possible of Institutional Climate Action through Quixotic Institutional Work
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (presenter) , Giuseppe Delmestri (presenter)

    Activity: Conference PresentationsResearch

Press / Media

  1. „Kafkaesk“ heute: KI ohne Aufsicht
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  2. From entrepreneurs of chaos into the Leuphana Transformation Lab.
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  3. Entrepreneurship in times of social crisis.
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  4. Tut sich da noch was… bei den Arbeitsbedingungen in der Bekleidungsindustrie in Bangladesch?
    1 discussion

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  5. Entrepreneurs of chaos? From disruptive innovation to negentropic entrepreneurship.
    1 Media contribution

    Press/Media: Press/Media

Prizes

  1. David Marsden Best Paper Prize 2024
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointmentsResearch

  2. Academy of Management Journal Best Reviewer Award
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointmentsResearch

  3. LERA 2021 James G. Scoville Best International/Comparative IR Paper Award
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointmentsResearch

  4. Aspen Award - Ideas Worth Teaching Award
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointmentsEducation

  5. Academy of Management Perspectives Special Mention Award
    Elke Sybille Schüßler (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointmentsResearch

Teaching