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Prof. Dr. Matthias Wenzel

21335 Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, C6.207
Fon +49.4131.677-2231, matthias.wenzel@leuphana.de
Professor, Professorship of Business Administration, in Particular Organization Studies
Associated member, Leuphana Center for Organization & Social Transformation

Table of contents for this page

Vita

Matthias Wenzel is Professor of Organization Studies at the Leuphana University of Lüneburg,Germany, as well as Honorary Professor at the Universidad EAFIT in Medellín, Colombia. Before moving to Leuphana in September 2019, he conducted his studies (Bachelor: 2008; Master: 2011), PhD (2015) and the subsequent PostDoc phase at the European University Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder).
Prof. Wenzel examines the interplay between organizing and strategizing through a practice lens as well as the societal implications of this interplay. He mostly conducts qualitative studies based on different analytical approaches, including critical discourse analysis and video analysis, among others. His work has been published in journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Perspectives, Business & Society, Business Ethics Quarterly, Human Relations, Journal of Business Research, Journal of Management Inquiry, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Long Range Planning, Organization Studies, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Strategic Management Journal, and Strategic Organization. Furthermore, he serves as Editor of zfo - Zeitschrift Führung+Oranisation, as well as member of the Editorial Boards of the Academy of Management Journal and Strategic Organization.

BACHELOR- AND MASTER THESIS

For information on final theses, please refer to myStudy.

Projects

  1. Strategische Praktiken in Krisenzeiten
    Matthias Wenzel (Project manager, academic)
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    Project: Research

  2. Förderung wiss. Nachwuchs Managerial Accounting
    Matthias Wenzel (Project manager, academic) , Stella von Schnakenburg (Project staff) , Rainer Lueg (Project manager, academic)
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    Project: Research

  3. Embracing Transformation: Organizing in Times of Crisis
    Elke Schüßler (Project manager, academic) , Matthias Wenzel (Co-Projectmanager, academic) , Iris Seidemann (Project staff) , Hanna Pauline Börries (Project staff)
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    Project: Research

  4. Future Matters: How Future-making Shapes Organizational Path Dependence
    Matthias Wenzel (Project manager, academic)
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    Project: Research

  5. LeuFIT
    Matthias Wenzel (Project manager, academic)
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    Project: Scientific event

View all projects

Publications

Books and anthologies

  1. Imagination and Organization Studies: Insights and Reflections
    Matthias Wenzel (Editor) , 2023 Lüneburg , 46 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research

  2. Foundations of Management & Entrepreneurship: Courses and Cases
    Matthias Wenzel (Editor) , 2023 Lüneburg , 435 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research

  3. Foundations of Management & Entrepreneurship: Courses and Cases
    Matthias Wenzel (Editor) , 2023 2 ed. Lüneburg , 455 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research

  4. Organizing for Innovation: The Case of Accelerators
    Matthias Wenzel (Editor) , 2022 Lüneburg , 126 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research

  5. Foundations of Management & Entrepreneurship: Concepts and Cases
    Matthias Wenzel (Editor) , 2022 2 ed. Lüneburg , 333 p.

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Collected editions and anthologies › Research

View all publications

Journal contributions

  1. The Manifold Impacts of Management Research
    Matthias Wenzel (Author) , Philip Gylfe (Author) , Saku Mantere (Author) , Joep Cornelissen (Author) , 01.09.2026 , in: Journal of Management Studies, 63, 6 , p. 2831-2860 , 30 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  2. Organizational Adaptability: Synthesizing Emergent and Deliberate Innovation Processes Into an Evolutionary Model
    Jochen Koch (Author) , Lorenzo Skade (Author) , Sarah Stanske (Author) , Matthias Wenzel (Author) , Paul Vetter (Author) , 06.05.2026 , in: Journal of Product Innovation Management , 19 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  3. Reviewing is caring! Revaluing a critical, but invisibilized, underappreciated, and exploited academic practice
    Leonhard Dobusch (Author) , Mie Plotnikof (Author) , Matthias Wenzel (Author) , 01.04.2026 , in: Organization, 33, 3 , p. 458-474 , 17 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

  4. Futures Imagined: Navigating Sustainability, Digitalization, and Entrepreneurship in Business and Management Research
    Markus Reihlen (Author) , Matthias Wenzel (Author) , Thomas Gehrig (Author) , Monika Imschloss (Author) , 01.12.2025 , in: Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, 77, 4 , p. 585-596 , 12 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Other (editorial matter etc.) › Research

  5. Projectification without projects? Theorizing temporal structures of agile-based organizing
    Joana Geraldi (Author) , Iben Stjerne (Author) , Matthias Wenzel (Author) , 01.11.2025 , in: International Journal of Project Management, 43, 8 , 13 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Journal articles › Research › peer-review

View all publications

Contributions to collected editions/anthologies

  1. Foresight
    Regina Gattringer (Author) , Matthias Wenzel (Author) , 01.12.2025 , p. 412-414 , 3 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Articles for encyclopedia › Research

  2. Future-Making
    Matthias Wenzel (Author) , Eva-Maria Spreitzer (Author) , 01.12.2025 , p. 418-419 , 2 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Articles for encyclopedia › Research

  3. Vertrauen in Organisationen
    Markus Reihlen (Author) , Matthias Wenzel (Author) , 12.08.2025 , p. 39-50 , 12 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research

  4. Multimodality in Strategy-as-Practice Research
    Eric Knight (Author) , Matthias Wenzel (Author) , 11.03.2025 3 ed. Cambridge , p. 729-739 , 11 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research › peer-review

  5. Multimodality
    Ehud Lehrer (Author) , Matthias Wenzel (Author) , Eric Knight (Author) , 01.01.2024

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Chapter › Research

View all publications

Activities

  1. Responses to entrepreneurial identity tensions: A self-theory approach
    Matthias Wenzel (Speaker) , Ronit Yitshaki (Speaker)

    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

  2. Innovating amid poly- and permacrisis: The role of time in organizing for disruptive innovation
    Stefanie Habersang (Coauthor) , Eva-Maria Spreitzer (Coauthor) , Raghu Garud (Coauthor) , Tor Hernes (Coauthor) , Oliver Ibert (Coauthor) , Patricia Klarner (Coauthor) , Gargi Sharma (Coauthor) , Matthias Wenzel (Keynote Speaker) , Sarah Stanske (Panel participant)
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    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

  3. Future-making at a crossroads
    Matthias Wenzel (Speaker) , Laure Cabantous (Speaker) , April L. Wright (Speaker) , Antonio Comi (Speaker) , Lorenzo Mosca (Speaker) , Eva-Maria Spreitzer (Speaker) , Johanne Düsterbeck (Speaker)
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    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

  4. Strategizing for tomorrow's wars today: A process perspective on future-making in the military context
    Lorenzo Skade (Speaker) , Matthias Wenzel (Speaker) , Jochen Koch (Speaker) , Sarah Stanske (Speaker)
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    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

  5. Sociotechnical imaginaries: How Sheila Jasanoff’s approach to futures illuminates future-making
    Matthias Wenzel (Speaker)
    →

    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

View all activities

Press / Media

  1. Reading the Room to Influence Decisions and Strategies
    1 time cited

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

    Press/Media: Press/Media

  5. IBAE: Der Studiengang zum Entrepreneur in Lüneburg
    2 Media contributions

    Press/Media: Press/Media

View all press/media coverage

Prizes

  1. Honorary Visiting Professor
    (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

  2. Transfer- und Impact Award der Leuphana Universität Lüneburg
    (Recipient) (Recipient) (Recipient) (Recipient) (Recipient) (Recipient) (Recipient) (Recipient) (Recipient) ,

    Prize: Leuphana internal Prize, Scholaships, distinctions, appointments › Transfer

  3. Transfer & Impact Award 2025
    (Recipient) (Recipient) (Recipient) (Recipient) (Recipient) ,

    Prize: Leuphana internal Prize, Scholaships, distinctions, appointments › Research

  4. Transferpreis
    (Recipient) ,

    Prize: Leuphana internal Prize, Scholaships, distinctions, appointments › Transfer

  5. Most Engaging Session Award for “Video Methods in Organizational Studies”
    (Recipient) ,

    Prize: external Prizes, scholarships, distinctions, appointments › Research

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Courses

Forum for Bachelor Thesis I Qualitative Research Methods
Matthias Wenzel
The Bachelor Colloquium is designed for students working on their final thesis with a focus on qualitative research methods. It covers the following topics:
(1) What is an "appropriate" research question?
(2) What is "appropriate" literature, and where do I find it?
(3) What is an "appropriate" research design?
(4) How to "appropriately" generate and report research outcomes?
The concept of the Colloquium is "inverted". That is, rather than lecturing, the Colloquium centers on students' thesis projects as well as the questions and concerns that arise in and through them. These questions and concerns are elicited through short, max. 3-min thesis "pitches" (without slides) and jointly discussed. This enables collective learning that directly relates to students' thesis projects on the one side, and raises important issues that students might have thought about regarding their own project on the other.
Next appointment:
Thursday, 2026-10-15 at 16:15
Room: C 6.317 Seminarraum
Foundations of Management & Entrepreneurship
Matthias Wenzel
What does it mean to be a “manager” and/or “entrepreneur” in today’s ever-more complex business environment and societal context? What does it mean to be a student or researcher of management and entrepreneurship? Among others, this seminar provides a forum for reflections and discussions on the skills needed in today’s business environments, as well as the contents of a “modern” study program of business administration and management to form those skills.
The seminar builds on students’ group reflections, discussions, investigations, and presentations. Therefore, participants are asked to bring any digital devices (notebooks, tablets, smartphones, etc.) that they would like to use for in-class investigations.
Next appointment:
Wednesday, 2026-10-14 at 14:15
Room: C HS 1
Organization, Strategy and Innovation
Leonie Anika Eising, Pauline Reinecke, Matthias Wenzel
COURSE DESCRIPTION
Managing organizations in today’s competitive and societal environment is complex and challenging. Think about the newspaper industry, which is undergoing one of its most fundamental changes triggered by the rise of digital technology. Firms are seeking salvation in a declining industry by creating new business models and defensive cost cutting strategies. The key issue we address in this course is how managers orchestrate the interplay between strategy, organization, and innovation for navigating their organizations through complex economic, cultural, political, and ecological demands. This course is built upon the premise that students of management should learn to combine state of the art scientific knowledge with practical applications and reflections. Instead of regarding the student as a passive memorizer of predefined knowledge, participants will reflect upon theories and become active inquirers themselves.

COURSE STRUCTURE
We will use a flexible teaching style mixing lectures, case discussions, and multimedia presentations whenever appropriate. It is imperative for you as a student to have read the required book chapters, articles, and cases before coming to class. Class discussion will be used to explore theoretical as well as practical business implications from an interdisciplinary perspective.
Next appointment:
Monday, 2026-10-12 at 16:15
Room: C HS 1
Qualitative Research Methods - Lecture
Sünje von Helldorff, Matthias Wenzel
This course offers students a basic introduction into qualitative research methods. Qualitative research is a strategy to study a given phenomenon of interest through interviews, participant observations, and documents. In contrast to quantitative research approaches, these large bodies of unstructured data can often not be analyzed by formal, statistical approaches. Students will learn to differentiate between qualitative and quantitative research and to discern the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches. We will cover topics such as the nature of qualitative research, different research designs, data collection, data analysis and coding, writing up qualitative research, and ethics in qualitative research.
Next appointment:
Lectures for this semester ended.
Research Forum EMI
Pauline Reinecke, Elke Schüßler, Hannah Trittin-Ulbrich, Matthias Wenzel
Please refer to the Syllabus under "Materials" for further details.
Note that the syllabus also contains an extended session plan!
If you want to present your project, please register for a date under "groups".
Zoom links for each session will be provided in the "seminar plan" tab - but note that the default mode is in presence and you should only opt for online participation if it is not possible otherwise.
Next appointment:
Tuesday, 2026-10-27 at 16:00
Room: C 5.019 Seminarraum