Prof. Dr. Stefanie Habersang

21335 Lüneburg, Universitätsallee 1, C6.132
Fon +49.4131.677-2313, stefanie.habersang@leuphana.de
Junior Professor, Junior professorship of business administration, in particular digital transformation
Associated member, Leuphana Center for Organization & Social Transformation

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Vita

Stefanie Habersang is an Assistant Professor of Digital Transformation at the Institute for Management and Organization. She studied Business & Economics at Ruhr University Bochum and Business Administration at the University of Cologne and the University of Sydney. She earned her PhD at Leuphana University Lüneburg, where she was awarded the Leuphana Dissertation Award in 2021. In 2022, Dr. Habersang was an externally funded postdoctoral researcher at Copenhagen Business School.

Her research interests lie at the intersection of digital organizational transformation and sustainability. She focuses on various types of organizations, including large diversified firms and start-ups, employing primarily qualitative research methods. A particular focus of her work is the methodological advancement of qualitative meta-studies in the field of management and organization studies.

Her work has been recognized with several awards, including the Academy of Management Best Student Paper Award 2018 (Research Methods Division), the ABCD Reviewing Award (AOM), and the Leuphana Dissertation Award. In addition, her research was nominated for the EGOS Best Student Paper Award 2019 (Top 3), the Arnon Reichers Best Student Paper Award 2022 (Top 3, AOM Careers Division), the SMS PhD Paper Prize 2020, and the AOM SAP Best Paper Award 2025 (Top 3). Her work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Management Studies, Organizational Research Methods, Organization Studies, the Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings, and the Handbook of Philosophy of Management. From 2022 to 2024, she was supported by the Add-On Fellowship of the Joachim Herz Foundation.

Together with Carsten Wille, Stefanie Habersang co-directs the Female Entrepreneurship Program "ScaleF" at Leuphana University. Each year, this program provides ten female founders with intensive training, coaching, and financial support to facilitate their successful entry into self-employment. More information for interested founders is available here.

Dr. Habersang is also a founding member of the initiative Organization Scientists 4 Future (OS4Future) and serves as Data & Analytics Officer of the SAP Interest Group within the Academy of Management.

She regularly teaches the modules "The Future of Work" and "Digital Transformation" (summer semester), as well as "Digital-Sustainable Business Model Innovation" and "Empirical Research Project" (winter semester). She has also taught in the master's course "Business Innovation" at the University of St. Gallen.

Projects

  1. EXIST Women ScaleF 26
    Stefanie Habersang (Project manager, academic) , Carsten Wille (Coordination)
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    Project: Research

  2. Exist Women - ScaleF Female Entrepreneurship Program
    Stefanie Habersang (Project manager, academic) , Carsten Wille (Project manager, academic)
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    Project: Transfer (professional training)

  3. EXIST Women - ScaleF
    Stefanie Habersang (Project manager, academic) , Carsten Wille (Coordination) , (Partner) , Anja Thiem (Partner) , Beate Friedrich (Partner)
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    Project: Transfer (professional training)

  4. A Temporal Perspective on Disruptive Innovation Processes: A new Agenda for Research and Practice
    Stefanie Habersang (Project manager, academic) , Sarah Stanske (Project manager, academic)
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    Project: Research

  5. The impacts of bottom-up vs. top-down interventions in fostering female entrepreneurship in Mozambique
    (Project manager, academic) , (Partner) , (Partner) , Stefanie Habersang (Partner) , (Partner)

    Project: Research

View all projects

Publications

Books and anthologies

  1. Special Issue: What do social and environmental responsibilities mean in the ‘Global South’? Towards pluriversal perspectives in management studies
    Stefanie Habersang (Editor) , Pilar Acosta (Editor) , Booby Banerjee (Editor) , Joel Bothello (Editor) , Stella Nkomo (Editor) , Kristina Potočnik (Editor)

    Research output: Books and anthologies › Special Journal issue › Research

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Journal contributions

  1. Digital Responsibility: Building Bridges between Organization Theory and Information Systems
    Hannah Trittin-Ulbrich (Author) , Markus Philipp Zimmer (Author) , Stefanie Habersang (Author) , Maren Gierlich-Joas (Author) , Leonhard Dobusch (Author) , Elke Schüßler (Author) , Benjamin Mueller (Author) , Christina Mihale-Wilson (Author) , Julia Zeller-Lanzl (Author) , Stephan Bohn (Author) , Marc-Fabian Körner (Author) , Georg von Richthofen (Author) , Ali Aslan Gümüsay (Author) , 01.12.2025 , in: Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research (SBuR), 77, 4 , p. 597-642 , 46 p.

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

  2. Navigating (In)Visibility: Exploring Political Dynamics in Future-Making
    Stefanie Habersang (Author) , Markus Reihlen (Author) , Johanne Düsterbeck (Author) , 01.07.2025 , in: Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, 2025, 1 , 6 p.

    Research output: Journal contributions › Conference article in journal › Research › peer-review

  3. Navigating the Family Support Paradox in Female Entrepreneurship – A Developing Country Perspective
    Stefanie Habersang (Author) , Mulu Hundera (Author) , Mona Mensmann (Author) , 01.07.2025 , in: Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, 2025, 1

    Research output: Journal contributions › Conference article in journal › Research › peer-review

  4. Advancing Qualitative Meta-Studies (QMS): Current Practices and Reflective Guidelines for Synthesizing Qualitative Research
    Stefanie Habersang (Author) , Markus Reihlen (Author) , 01.04.2025 , in: Organizational Research Methods, 28, 2 , p. 210-244 , 35 p.

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

  5. Media Review: Extrapolations - A View from OS4F
    Stefanie Habersang (Author) , Elke 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 contributions › Critical reviews › Research

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Contributions to collected editions/anthologies

  1. Realist Inquiry
    Markus Reihlen (Author) , Stefanie Habersang (Author) , Natalia Nikolova (Author) , 23.07.2022 Schweiz , p. 1-23 , 23 p.

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

  2. OS4Future: An academic advocacy movement for our future
    Stefanie Habersang (Author) , Elke Schüßler (Author) , Giuseppe Delmestri (Author) , Helen Etchanchu (Author) , Joel Bothello (Author) , Gabriela Gutierrez-Huerter O (Author) , 30.09.2021 Cheltenham , p. 218-229 , 12 p.

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

  3. Advancing Qualitative Meta-Analyses: A Realist and a Constructivist Approach
    Stefanie Habersang (Author) , Markus Reihlen (Author) , 02.07.2018 Chicagpo , 6 p.

    Research output: Contributions to collected editions/anthologies › Published abstract in conference proceedings › Research › peer-review

View all publications

Impact

  1. Leuphana ScaleF programme catalyzes start ups for women
    Stefanie Habersang , Carsten Wille

    Impact: Economic Impact, Social Impact, Technological Impact

View all impacts

Activities

  1. What if Society Collapses? Re-envisioning Strategy and Organization Scholarship through Radical Hope
    Elke Schüßler (Speaker) , Stefanie Habersang (Coauthor) , Pilar Acosta (Coauthor) , Joel Bothello (Coauthor) , Giuseppe Delmestri (Coauthor) , Helen Etchanchu (Coauthor)
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    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

  2. Acknowledging the Pluriverse in Social and Environmental Responsibilities
    Pilar Acosta (Panel participant) , Stefanie Habersang (Panel participant) , Bobby Banerjee (Panel participant) , Joel Bothello (Panel participant) , Frederike Döbbe (Panel participant) , Kristina Potocnik (Panel participant)

    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

  3. 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) , Sarah Stanske (Panel participant) , Matthias Wenzel (Keynote Speaker)
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    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

  4. Qualitative Knowledge Synthesis in Management Research: Approaches, Opportunities & Expert Insights
    Stefanie Habersang (Speaker) , Miriam Feuls (Panel participant) , Rikke Albertson (Panel participant) , Nick Berente (Panel participant) , Hans Behrends (Panel participant) , Christina Hoon (Panel participant) , Markus Reihlen (Panel participant) , Maria Rumyantseva (Panel participant)

    Activity: Conference Presentations › Research

View all activities

Prizes

  1. Nominierung CURIA Award - Kategorie: "Karriere gestalten"
    Stefanie Habersang (Recipient) ,

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

  2. OMT Above and Beyond the Call of Duty (ABCD) Reviewing Award, Academy of Management 2025
    Stefanie Habersang (Recipient) ,

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

  3. SAP Best Paper Award Finalist, Academy of Management 2025
    Stefanie Habersang (Recipient) Markus Reihlen (Recipient) Johanne Düsterbeck (Recipient) ,

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

  4. Best Paper Award 2024
    Stefanie Habersang (Recipient) ,

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

  5. Impact Prize 2024
    Stefanie Habersang (Recipient) ,

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

View all prizes

Courses

1st Phase WiSe 26/27 - Habersang: Digital Transformation
Stefanie Habersang
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The Professorship for Digital Transformation supervises bachelor's and master's theses in the fields of digitalization and sustainaility (digital-ecological transformation), organization theory but also in the field of (female) entrepreneurship. These theses can be conceptual papers or qualitative studies. You can either work on a predefined topic (see current offerings in materials folder) or propose an area of interest, including relevant literature, from which a research question can be developed during supervision. You can either come with a fixed topic idea or you can specify a broad area of interest out of which a research question will be developed in the course of the supervision.

(1) Application and selection
The selection procedure is inseparably connected with the formal procedure for coordinating supervision places at the School of Management & Technology. The application deadline is communicated by the Study Dean’s Office, and selection decisions are communicated in keeping with the regulations by the Study Dean’s Office.
For an application to be complete, please upload an up-to-date performance record in the folder “applications” on myStudy and short description of your field of interest (e.g. by filling out the Kick-Off Page, see here: https://www.leuphana.de/en/institutes/imo/digital-transformation/final-theses.html)

If the number of applications exceeds available supervision capacities (3 supervisions per semester), decisions on acceptance/rejection are made based on your performance in courses and seminars of the Professorship for Digital Transformation.

(2) Topic Development
You can either develop a topic on your own or you look at the materials folder as I have 1-2 topics as a suggestion uploaded.

(3) Registration process
If we can find a common area for supervision and you are selected, the process will be as follows:
- Initial meeting based on your application.
- Preparation of an exposé within one month; another meeting will be held to support this process.
- Feedback on your exposé and resubmission after 14 days.
- Registration of the thesis. Please note: the latest date for registering your thesis in the summer term is the following date: Master thesis: April, 30 // Bachelor thesis: May, 30. The lastest date for registering your thesis in the winter term is the following date: Master thesis: Oct, 30 // BAchelorthesis: Nov, 30). In case the deadline is not met, I cannot supervise your thesis anymore!!!
- Completion of the thesis within the current semester. After registering your thesis, up to two more meetings for further coordination can be scheduled.

All the steps mentioned above must be completed on time to ensure your thesis is finished within the current semester!

(4) Proposal details
You have to compose a proposal (max. six pages) for your final thesis. This proposal should explicate the following aspects:
-Cover sheet including the title of your thesis and research question (also: name, matriculation number, etc)
-Relevance: Why is it interesting to address this research question or topic?
-Positioning: In which stream of literature is the topic embedded? What do we know? What do we not know or what is the problematic assumption that you would like to challenge? What is the research question that emerges out of your problematization/gap-spotting in the literature?
-Methodological approach: If your intend to conduct an empirical study, please specify your research design and your aspired data collection procedures. Please note that conceptual theses are eligible as well. If so, elaborations on methodical procedures are not required.
-Abstract description of expected findings: When developing your ideas, you might already have ideas about the direction that your analysis might take.
-References
Next appointment:
Lectures for this semester ended.
Digitalization
Paul Drews, Stefanie Habersang, David Loschelder, Mario Mechtel, Matthias Werner
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In this course, students are introduced to and discuss opportunities and challenges of digitalization on the organizational level while also considering the individual, society and digital technology. By taking a multidisciplinary perspective, students learn how their own discipline as well as other disciplines seize topics related to digitalization in research. Reports and guest talks about digitalization efforts and use cases for applying digital technologies in practice enrich the understanding of digitalization as a phenomenon of interest. Negative and unintended consequences of digitalization are discussed in order to foster critical reflection of digitalization endeavours and to support responsible management practices in digital transformation activities and projects.
Next appointment:
Monday, 2026-04-27 at 16:15
Room: C HS 1
PoE: Digital and platform entrepreneurship
Stefanie Habersang
⌄
The emergence of digital technologies, digital platforms and digital infrastructures has transformed innovation and entrepreneurship significantly. Beyond simply opening new opportunities for (corporate) entrepreneurs, digital technologies have broader implications for value creation and value capture. Studies have shown how digital technologies fuel new forms of entrepreneurial initiatives that cross traditional industry/sectoral boundaries, embrace networks, ecosystems, and communities, integrate digital and non-digital assets, and accelerate the inception, scaling and evolution of new ventures. Studies have also documented the ways by which established large companies engage in forms of corporate entrepreneurship to redefine themselves and radically restructure their innovation strategies and practices to respond to digitization. It is undeniable that new digital technologies transform the nature of uncertainty inherent in entrepreneurship thereby, encouraging a radical rethink of how individuals, organizations, and collectives pursue creative endeavors.
Importantly, digitization of innovation and entrepreneurship holds implications at a broader regional/national and societal levels with the potential to inform policy making entities and other stakeholders. Studies have indicated how digitization can translate into innovation productivity gains, increased regional entrepreneurial activity, and broader economic and social gains. Similarly, digital infrastructures and platforms have allowed for the emergence of new work structures that redefine industry/sectoral boundaries and shape local and regional economic health.

The following selected topics will be discussed and worked on in the seminar:

(1) Digital business models
(2) Scaling a digital business model
(3) Openness in digital business models
(4) Managing the digital ecosystem
(5) Digitalization and corporate entrepreneurship
(6) Guest lecture
Next appointment:
Monday, 2026-05-11 at 08:15
Room: C 14.103 Seminarraum
Quality Circle Major International Business Administration and Entrepreneurship
Boukje Cnossen, Stefanie Habersang, Sünje von Helldorff, Saskia Poth, Matthias Wenzel
Next appointment:
Wednesday, 2026-06-17 at 14:15
Room: C 5.325 Seminarraum
The Future of Work: Perspectives on Digitalization in the Workplace (SBP)
Stefanie Habersang
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In recent years, technology has rapidly changed the way we work. Digitalization, automation and novel ways of communication have altered the way that employees engage with the workplace. Career pathways have also changed. Today, graduates have many jobs, craft multiple careers and work in many industries in their lifetime. Rapid advances in technology, i.e., the use of AI, are enabling firms to automate processes, which is displacing or changing routine work. Simultaneously, the power of knowledge workers is rising. In parallel, new platform industries and new forms of collaborative and distance-based work are emerging. All of this is offering new challenges and opportunities. In this course you will explore how rapid technological advances are creating digital disruption that will impact your work in the future. It will enable you to identify opportunities to craft your own career pathway in a rapidly globalising, knowledge and service-intense economy. In particular, we will discuss

(1) Digitalization and datafication in the workplace
(2) Constant connectivity and shifting (work-life) boundaries
(3) Digitalization and job crafting
(4) Digitalization, control and resistance
(5) Platform economy and platform work
(6) AI and the changing nature of (routine) work
Next appointment:
Monday, 2026-05-04 at 10:15
Room: C 14.103 Seminarraum