Welcome to the regular Q&A feature where we shine the spotlight on our EHL research faculty and their current work. With a view to going behind the scenes to better understand the fascinating, impactful world of research, the EHL Institutional Visibility team regularly catch up with an EHL researcher whose work is making a difference in both the classroom and industry.
This month’s researcher spotlight is cast upon the work and career of Dr Stefan Güldenberg, Full Professor at EHL and Academic Director of EHL’s Graduate School. In 2020, Stefan joined EHL Campus Passugg as Adjunct Professor and, in 2022, became part of the expanding Graduate School team, charged with the direction of the newly launched MIHM program.
Stefan has more than 25 years of working experience in strategy research, organizational learning and consulting, and is also an entrepreneur specializing in start-up ‘expert platforms’. He conducts research and teaches courses in strategic management, sustainable leadership and knowledge management. He is on the editorial board of several scientific journals, including EURAM Sparks, the Journal of Knowledge Management and the Journal of Digital Economy.
More recently, he was appointed editor-in-chief of the prestigious Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice (Die Unternehmung), the main Swiss academic business journal that covers a range of topics including marketing, accounting, organization and business management, as well as newer areas such as technology and innovation. This editorial promotion plays a specific role in Stefan’s arrival at EHL and forms the basis of many of our questions to him today.
What do we need to know about your academic and entrepreneurial background?
SG: I gained my diploma at Ulm University in Business Mathematics with English and Philosophy. ‘Business Mathematics’ had just been introduced as a subject in Germany, it combined math with information science, business and economics - in some ways, it was an early form of AI! While studying, I became interested in the business of learning which developed my first entrepreneurial streak. I started my own company based on private math tuition and other subjects, and installed an incentive payment scheme based on student success which worked very well.
This performance dependent payment was even more successful in groups. It got me asking the question: Why do some people learn better in groups? I called in some university researchers to understand what makes good learning in different contexts, i.e., individual, group, and institutional learning. This led me to a doctor’s degree in business and social sciences at the Vienna University of Economics & Business. My PhD thesis on knowledge management and organizational learning was published and sold very well as a book (now in its 4th edition), and even got plagiarized twice leading to some additional royalties which I’m glad to say I received both times!
I then applied for a scholarship to Harvard University and managed to get in on the Schumpeter fellowship program as an assistant professor. One year at Harvard was followed by time spent at MIT Sloane School of Management to do more research on organizational learning and knowledge management (a very niche subject back in the late 90s). As a consequence of these experiences, I decided to continue my academic career and become a full professor thereby gaining my Habilitation at Vienna University.
In addition to my earlier foray into private tuition, I also set up a knowledge management ‘expert platform’ while I was working on my Habilitation. It was basically an early version of a LinkedIn start-up that connected German business people and knowledge managers - at a time when there was not so many of them around! It was a big success and still exists today as an expert platform for connecting business people.
What is essentially your area of expertise?
SG: My roots are in primarily in consulting, organizational learning and knowledge management. For me today, these areas have all merged into the development of new strategy and leadership models, e.g., how to lead knowledge workers at a time when their role has become extremely relevant. Knowledge workers need a modernized style of leadership compared to manual workers since their skill set is quite different. I’ve recently published work on servant leadership and shared leadership to address the models suitable for knowledge workers and how to better nurture their growth.
My math background also helps me understand how to measure intellectual capital, i.e., ‘intangibles’. What are the KPIs in the knowledge economy and how can they be used to reflect new strategies? These types of questions have recently led me to sustainability, (also considered an ‘intangible’); for example, how to measure the common good? I focus on the common traits of intangibles and how to develop their measurement, impact and practice.
What brought you to EHL Hospitality Business School?
SG: I had been working at the University of Liechtenstein, transforming the former University of Applied Science into a Research University accredited according to Swiss standards. In my 10 years there, I worked as Professor and Chair of International Management, and later the Director of the Institute of Entrepreneurship and Dean of the Graduate School. Thanks to my experience with the Swiss accreditation model, I learnt that the Swiss university system is very resourceful and protected when it comes to freedom of science and research compared to other countries, for example, access to research funding and the value given to the role of the researcher.
Interestingly, back in 2017 the Swiss Journal of Business Research & Practice contacted me to become their editor-in-chief but there was a requirement to have an affiliation with a Swiss institution in order to have stronger ties with Swiss business professors. When the opportunity presented itself, I joined EHL Campus Passugg as Adjunct Professor, and soon after, was accepted into the EHL Pathfinder program – a corporate transformation scheme that opened up my awareness towards EHL’s scope for growth and development.
My current position is now within the Graduate School at EHL Campus Lausanne where I have focused my attention on developing the new Master in Hospitality Management program. As Academic Director, I have seen application rates double every year since the program’s inception in 2022, alongside its specializations that have been expanded to include more entrepreneurial, leadership and sustainability angles.
As a way of putting into practice new leadership models, the directorship of the MIHM has recently changed towards a shared leadership model with four specialization directors and the Associate Dean as primus inter pares. This means that I can work on more projects linked to sustainability, faculty and course development, for example, the Gifted program based on industry professors with years of experience coming to EHL to learn how to teach their expertise. The idea is for hospitality to have more professors with a practical background sharing their expertise in the classroom, (also known as harnessing ‘people power’ for positive educational outcomes).
What research projects are you currently engaged in?
SG: As I mentioned before, my main focus has recently shifted to sustainability. I am now the specialization director of the CRS & Sustainability Transformation track, and as an example of my research, I’m currently studying the perception and behavior patterns of the next generation towards climate awareness. This involves running a study survey in Germany, Austria and Switzerland on how Gen Z are managing mobility behaviors for their private and professional movement.
I recently published a paper on the connection between servant leadership and AI, and have coined a new term “robot leadership” which brings up some provocative questions, e.g., Can AI robots empower a person and show them empathy? My findings show that much depends on your ethical perspective: How do you define human dignity, what does it mean to be a human being, what kind of decision making can be left to AI? In Japan, robots carry out elderly care which suggests that AI is trusted to extend a basic level companionship and affective support. While this is encouraging, it is also vital that ethical considerations in any type of AI leadership are regulated by a governing body.
The breakdown of my professional activities is 30% research, 15% community service & professional development, and 55% teaching. In truth, research takes a much bigger role especially now that I am journal editor.
Describe your new editorial role at the Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice
SG: With an almost 80-year history, the journal is renowned for being an important reference point for Swiss business research. It receives full funding from both the Swiss Academy of Social Sciences and from its publisher, NOMOS.
After decades of having a German focus, it is now moving to the English language in a uniquely digital format and with Open Access availability. This repositioning implies a more international, open perspective, (e.g., topics to include culture, gender and other ‘new research’ agendas). In short, less conservative attitudes and a break beyond the boundaries of traditional research subjects. Where new research fields are arising, we want to be there! Let’s open up the possibilities.
I suggest topics for guest editors, and so increase the academic network and output. The journal has direct contact to the Swiss Academy of Social Sciences and agenda setting, and here, the aim for me is to promote topics that are relevant today to our field, like the circular economy, AI and new leadership models.
Science can be often a quite conservative and traditional area; scientific research is limited to specific journals. For example, in my early academic career when wanting to publish a paper on a new field like knowledge management, I was often met with rejections – “Yes great idea! But it does not fit in with our journal”.
The Swiss Journal of Business Research & Practice is published four times a year. My more basic tasks are to edit, proofread and format the content, guide the continuous development of the journal by sourcing interesting contributors and update the journal’s website. I check for research paper submissions, forward them to the editorial board, set-up and manage double-blind reviews, and lastly, check for any AI and plagiarism issues. All this with a great amount of support from my research assistant, Lionel Saul.
Essentially, I look at prospective papers in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research areas that go beyond business administration, e.g., environmental science, circular economy, philosophy. I treat short prospective papers as well as official research papers. Thinking of our next generation of researchers, I believe in less tactical research moves, i.e., less of “what and where can I publish?” because, for me, this restricts ideas and publication possibilities.
How do all your activities interconnect as an academic?
SG: Research has a strong self-marketing and personal networking component. I like the part where you are inspired to make connections. The self-marketing side I like less! It’s hard work to be one’s own constant self-promoter.
We are in an economy based on knowledge management but also attention extraction. To become a thought leader, one needs to be proactive in developing a high profile in the media, (you can’t just write a research paper and then go hide your head in the sand!). So this chief-in-editor role, I guess, forces me to be more visible and knowable, especially in terms of developing an active Swiss business network and beyond.
My new editorial role also helps with EHL funding and positioning the school as a renowned organization. My appointment as editor-in-chief is a good message for EHL as a reputable academic institution that now sits aside the universities of St Gallen, Zurich and Basel on the board of the journal – not because of anything I’ve done but because of the journey that EHL has accomplished over the years in terms of developing its academic research profile.
