Prof. Dr. Stefanie Habersang
Assoziierte/r, Leuphana Center for Organization & Social Transformation
Werdegang
Stefanie Habersang ist Juniorprofessorin für Digitale Transformation am Institut für Management und Organisation. Sie hat Wirtschaftswissenschaften an der Ruhr-Universität Bochum und Betriebswirtschaftslehre an der Universität zu Köln und University of Sydney studiert. Ihre Promotion hat sie an der Leuphana Universität in Lüneburg abgeschlossen und wurde dafür mit dem Leuphana Promotionspreis 2021 ausgezeichnet. 2022 hat Frau Habersang als Post-Doc an der Copenhagen Business School geforscht.
Frau Habersangs Forschungsinteressen sind an der Schnittstelle des digitalen organisationalen Wandels und der Nachhaltigkeit angesiedelt. In ihrer Forschung fokussiert sie sich auf verschiedene Organisationstypen wie beispielsweise große, diversifizierte Unternehmen und Start-ups. Dafür nutzt sie insbesondere qualitative Forschungsmethoden. Frau Habersang ist insbesondere an der methodischen Weiterentwicklung von qualitativen Meta-Studien im Bereich der Management- und Organisationsforschung interessiert.
Ihre Arbeit wurde bereits mit mehreren Preisen ausgezeichnet, unter anderem mit dem „Academy of Management Best Student Paper Award 2018 (Research Methods Division)“, „ABCD Reviewing Award“ (AOM) und dem Leuphana Promotionspreis. Darüber hinaus wurde ihre Arbeit für den „EGOS Best Student Paper Award 2019“ (Top 3), den "Arnon Reichers Best Student Paper Award 2022 (Top 3)" der AOM Careers Division, den „SMS PhD Paper Prize 2020“ und dem "AOM SAP Best Paper Award 2025 (Top 3)" nominiert. Ihre Forschung wurde in Zeitschriften wie dem Journal of Management Studies, Organizational Research Methods, Organization Studies und den Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings sowie in dem Handbook of Philosophy of Management veröffentlicht. Von 2022-2024 wurde Frau Habersang mit dem Add-On Fellowship der Joachim Herz Stiftung gefördert.
Gemeinsam mit Carsten Wille leitet Frau Habersang das Female Entrepreneurship Program "ScaleF" an der Leuphana Universität. Dieses Programm bietet jährlich zehn Gründerinnen ein intensives Qualifizierungstraining, Coaching sowie finanzielle Unterstützung, um den Einstieg in eine erfolgreiche Selbstständigkeit zu fördern. Mehr Informationen für interessierte Gründerinnen gibt es hier.
Frau Habersang ist ebenfalls ein Gründungsmitglied der Initiative „Organization Scientists 4 Future“ (OS4Future) sowie "Data & Analytics Officer" der SAP Interest Group der Academy of Management.
Frau Habersang lehrt regelmäßig die Module „The Future of Work" sowie "Digitale Transformation" (Sommersemester) sowie "Digital-Sustainable Business Model Innovation" und "Empirical Research Project" (Wintersemester). Als Lehrbeauftragte war sie ebenfalls im Master Kurs „Business Innovation“ an der Universität St. Gallen tätig.
Projekte
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EXIST Women ScaleF 26
Stefanie Habersang (Wissenschaftliche Projektleiter*in) , Carsten Wille (Koordinator*in)
→Projekt: Forschung
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Exist Women - ScaleF Female Entrepreneurship Program
Stefanie Habersang (Wissenschaftliche Projektleiter*in) , Carsten Wille (Wissenschaftliche Projektleiter*in)
→Projekt: Transfer (Weiterbildung)
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EXIST Women - ScaleF
Stefanie Habersang (Wissenschaftliche Projektleiter*in) , Franziska Pohlmann (Partner*in) , Anja Thiem (Partner*in) , Carsten Wille (Koordinator*in) , Beate Friedrich (Partner*in)
→Projekt: Transfer (Weiterbildung)
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Temporalität und Disruptive Innovationsprozesse: Eine neue Agenda für Forschung und Praxis
Stefanie Habersang (Wissenschaftliche Projektleiter*in) , Sarah Stanske (Wissenschaftliche Projektleiter*in)
→Projekt: Forschung
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The impacts of bottom-up vs. top-down interventions in fostering female entrepreneurship in Mozambique
Mona Mensmann (Wissenschaftliche Projektleiter*in) , Francisco Campos (Partner*in) , Frederica Ricaldi (Partner*in) , Stefanie Habersang (Partner*in) , Gareth Roberts (Partner*in)
Projekt: Forschung
Publikationen
Bücher und Anthologien
- Special Issue: What do social and environmental responsibilities mean in the ‘Global South’? Towards pluriversal perspectives in management studies
Pilar Acosta (Herausgeber*in) , Booby Banerjee (Herausgeber*in) , Joel Bothello (Herausgeber*in) , Stefanie Habersang (Herausgeber*in) , Stella Nkomo (Herausgeber*in) , Kristina Potočnik (Herausgeber*in) , 2025Publikation: Bücher und Anthologien › Zeitschriftenhefte › Forschung
Beiträge in Zeitschriften
- Toward a Relational Perspective on Hybrid Entrepreneurship: Institutional Complexity and the Co-Construction of Liminal Space in Hybrid Female Entrepreneurship
Mulu Hundera (Autor*in) , Mona Mensmann (Autor*in) , Stefanie Habersang (Autor*in) , 18.06.2026 , in: Entrepreneurship Theory and PracticePublikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung
- Digital Responsibility: Building Bridges between Organization Theory and Information Systems
Hannah Trittin-Ulbrich (Autor*in) , Markus Philipp Zimmer (Autor*in) , Stefanie Habersang (Autor*in) , Leonhard Dobusch (Autor*in) , Maren Gierlich-Joas (Autor*in) , Elke Schüßler (Autor*in) , Benjamin Mueller (Autor*in) , Christina Mihale-Wilson (Autor*in) , Julia Zeller-Lanzl (Autor*in) , Stephan Bohn (Autor*in) , Marc-Fabian Körner (Autor*in) , Georg von Richthofen (Autor*in) , Ali Aslan Gümüsay (Autor*in) , 01.12.2025 , in: Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research (SBuR), 77, 4 , S. 597-642 , 46 S.Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung › begutachtet
- Navigating (In)Visibility: Exploring Political Dynamics in Future-Making
Stefanie Habersang (Autor*in) , Markus Reihlen (Autor*in) , Johanne Düsterbeck (Autor*in) , 01.07.2025 , in: Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, 2025, 1 , 6 S.Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Konferenzaufsätze in Fachzeitschriften › Forschung › begutachtet
- Navigating the Family Support Paradox in Female Entrepreneurship – A Developing Country Perspective
Mulu Hundera (Autor*in) , Mona Mensmann (Autor*in) , Stefanie Habersang (Autor*in) , 01.07.2025 , in: Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, 2025, 1Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Konferenzaufsätze in Fachzeitschriften › Forschung › begutachtet
- Advancing Qualitative Meta-Studies (QMS): Current Practices and Reflective Guidelines for Synthesizing Qualitative Research
Stefanie Habersang (Autor*in) , Markus Reihlen (Autor*in) , 01.04.2025 , in: Organizational Research Methods, 28, 2 , S. 210-244 , 35 S.Publikation: Beiträge in Zeitschriften › Zeitschriftenaufsätze › Forschung › begutachtet
Beiträge in Sammelwerken
- Realist Inquiry
Markus Reihlen (Autor*in) , Stefanie Habersang (Autor*in) , Natalia Nikolova (Autor*in) , 23.07.2022 Schweiz , S. 1-23 , 23 S.Publikation: Beiträge in Sammelwerken › Aufsätze in Sammelwerken › Forschung › begutachtet
- OS4Future: An academic advocacy movement for our future
Giuseppe Delmestri (Autor*in) , Helen Etchanchu (Autor*in) , Joel Bothello (Autor*in) , Stefanie Habersang (Autor*in) , Gabriela Gutierrez-Huerter O (Autor*in) , Elke Schüßler (Autor*in) , 30.09.2021 Cheltenham , S. 218-229 , 12 S.Publikation: Beiträge in Sammelwerken › Kapitel › Forschung › begutachtet
- Advancing Qualitative Meta-Analyses: A Realist and a Constructivist Approach
Stefanie Habersang (Autor*in) , Markus Reihlen (Autor*in) , 02.07.2018 Chicagpo , 6 S.Publikation: Beiträge in Sammelwerken › Abstracts in Konferenzbänden › Forschung › begutachtet
Impact
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Leuphana ScaleF-Programm befördert Startup-Gründungen von Frauen
Stefanie Habersang
Impact: Ökonomischer Impact, Sozialer Impact, Technologischer Impact
Aktivitäten
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What if Society Collapses? Re-envisioning Strategy and Organization Scholarship through Radical Hope
Elke Schüßler (Sprecher*in) , Stefanie Habersang (Ko-Autor*in) , Pilar Acosta (Ko-Autor*in) , Joel Bothello (Ko-Autor*in) , Giuseppe Delmestri (Ko-Autor*in) , Helen Etchanchu (Ko-Autor*in)
→Aktivität: Konferenzvorträge › Forschung
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Acknowledging the Pluriverse in Social and Environmental Responsibilities
Pilar Acosta (Panel-Teilnehmer*in) , Stefanie Habersang (Panel-Teilnehmer*in) , Bobby Banerjee (Panel-Teilnehmer*in) , Joel Bothello (Panel-Teilnehmer*in) , Frederike Döbbe (Panel-Teilnehmer*in) , Kristina Potocnik (Panel-Teilnehmer*in)
Aktivität: Konferenzvorträge › Forschung
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Innovating amid poly- and permacrisis: The role of time in organizing for disruptive innovation
Stefanie Habersang (Ko-Autor*in) , Eva-Maria Spreitzer (Ko-Autor*in) , Raghu Garud (Ko-Autor*in) , Tor Hernes (Ko-Autor*in) , Oliver Ibert (Ko-Autor*in) , Patricia Klarner (Ko-Autor*in) , Gargi Sharma (Ko-Autor*in) , Matthias Wenzel (Keynote Sprecher*in) , Sarah Stanske (Panel-Teilnehmer*in)
→Aktivität: Konferenzvorträge › Forschung
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Qualitative Knowledge Synthesis in Management Research: Approaches, Opportunities & Expert Insights
Stefanie Habersang (Sprecher*in) , Miriam Feuls (Panel-Teilnehmer*in) , Rikke Albertson (Panel-Teilnehmer*in) , Nick Berente (Panel-Teilnehmer*in) , Hans Behrends (Panel-Teilnehmer*in) , Christina Hoon (Panel-Teilnehmer*in) , Markus Reihlen (Panel-Teilnehmer*in) , Maria Rumyantseva (Panel-Teilnehmer*in)
Aktivität: Konferenzvorträge › Forschung
Auszeichnungen
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Nominierung CURIA Award - Kategorie: "Karriere gestalten"
Stefanie Habersang (Empfänger/-in) ,Auszeichnung: Externe Preise, Stipendien, Auszeichnungen, Ernennungen › Transfer
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OMT Above and Beyond the Call of Duty (ABCD) Reviewing Award, Academy of Management 2025
Stefanie Habersang (Empfänger/-in) ,Auszeichnung: Externe Preise, Stipendien, Auszeichnungen, Ernennungen › Forschung
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SAP Best Paper Award Finalist, Academy of Management 2025
Stefanie Habersang (Empfänger/-in) Markus Reihlen (Empfänger/-in) ,Auszeichnung: Externe Preise, Stipendien, Auszeichnungen, Ernennungen › Forschung
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Best Paper Award 2024
Stefanie Habersang (Empfänger/-in) ,Auszeichnung: Leuphana interne Preise, Stipendien, Auszeichnungen, Ernennungen › Forschung
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Impact Prize 2024
Stefanie Habersang (Empfänger/-in) ,Auszeichnung: Leuphana interne Preise, Stipendien, Auszeichnungen, Ernennungen › Transfer
Lehrveranstaltungen
(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
In this group research project, you will design and carry out your own inductive empirical study in the field of digital transformation. You will start from a phenomenon that puzzles you, gather qualitative data, and develop conceptual insights from that material. The course treats research as a craft that is learned by doing. You will move through the full research process, from identifying a relevant question to presenting findings that speak to both scholarly debates and managerial practice.
As future managers, you will need to make decisions about technologies whose effects are uncertain and often contested. The course aims to help you develop an informed and critical understanding of these developments. A central question throughout is how digital technologies can be used to build businesses that are economically viable while also taking their social and ecological responsibilities seriously. We will approach this question with an awareness that technological change is not neutral. Each new technology redistributes tasks, competences, visibility and power, and it creates opportunities for some actors while generating risks or burdens for others.
Each group will develop its own research question. A good question addresses a phenomenon that is empirically accessible within the time frame of the course and open enough to allow surprises. It should also relate to a meaningful debate in management and organization studies. Questions typically begin with “how” or “why” and focus on practices, experiences, meanings or processes rather than on measuring effects. The following examples illustrate possible directions (but you are fully free to choose your own question):
• How do managers use AI in their daily work, and how does this change the way they understand their own role and expertise?
• How do employees adapt their tasks and work routines when generative AI tools are introduced, and where do they draw boundaries around what they are willing to delegate?
• How do organizations make sense of data-driven decision making when algorithmic outputs conflict with experience-based judgement?
• How do start-ups and established firms frame the social and ecological responsibilities of their digital business models, and how are these claims enacted in practice?
• How do remote and hybrid teams build trust and coordinate work when interaction is mediated by digital platforms?
• How do frontline workers experience algorithmic management in logistics, retail or platform work
• How do organizations develop images of a digital future, and how do these visions shape present investment and strategy?
Course:
This course consists of the following 10 parts: (1) discussing relevant theories in the field of organization theory and digital transformation, (2) identifying a gap or puzzle and formulating a research question, (3) understanding different qualitative research designs, (5) designing a qualitative study (data access and data collection), (6) analyzing and interpreting qualitative data using a grounded-theory approach (7) coding qualitative data with MaxQDA, (8) presenting and writing-up qualitative findings, (9) building theory from qualitative findings (10) ethics in qualitative research.
In this class, students will also actively engage with AI models such as ChatGPT to support the ideation and creativity process in building a platform business model. Together, we will critically assess and discuss the use of AI for building a sustainable platform business model.
In line with our engagement in the PRME initative, this course draws on the I5 Playbook (https://www.i5playbook.org). Business leaders are undeniably one of the most important agents to create sustainable positive development for the world. In the wake of a global pandemic, rising inequalities and environmental disasters, it has become increasingly clear that leaders with a holistic skillset are in scarce supply. These humanitarian catastrophes have surfaced ‘wicked problems’ where no predefined methods exist to solve these transnational challenges and where the call for novel innovative solutions, and ‘minds-on/hands-on’ multi-disciplinary approaches are critically in demand. Today, there is an urgent need for world leaders who can leverage interconnected, dynamic and holistic skills to tackle the global challenges society faces. Therefore, this course implements the I5 principles:
1. Make learning Meaningful
2. Facilitate Active Engagement
3. Design for Iteration
4. Develop supportive Social Interaction
5. Foster Joy and Well-being