Georg WERNICKE

Associate Professor

Strategy and Business Policy

Biography

Georg Wernicke’s research is on topics in, and at the intersection of, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility (CSR), broadly defined. More specifically, he is interested in the drivers of public disapproval of firms’ practices, for example the compensation firms pay to their CEOs, how firms’ prosocial activities affect disapproval, and, in turn, which subset of firms and CEOs reacts to being targeted. Georg also analyzes how the characteristics and values of CEOs affect firm level outcomes such as corporate misconduct or the adoption of prosocial practices, as well as how demographic minority status affects labor-market outcomes for directors after occurrences of financial fraud. Furthermore, Georg engages in projects that explore the antecedents of superior firm performance on CSR.

Georg received his Ph.D. in Management from the University of Mannheim and is a graduate of the University College London and Humboldt University of Berlin. His Ph.D. dissertation was awarded with the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation Best Dissertation Award. His research won or was shortlisted for a number of Best Conference Papers Awards and been pubslished in Organization Science and the Strategic Management Journal, besides others. As conference reviewer, he has been recognized with multiple Best Reviewer Awards.

Before joining the HEC Paris faculty, Georg was an Assistant Professor in Corporate Governance at Copenhagen Business School and a visiting scholar at Stern School of Business/NYU, the University of Antwerp, Kellogg School of Management/Northwestern University and at INSEAD. In Copenhagen, he taught courses in General Management, Corporate Governance, Sustainability and Social Responsibility as well as in Strategy and International Business. In 2016, he has been nominated for the CBS wide Best Teacher Award. At HEC Paris, Georg teaches Strategic Management.

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Scientific articles

The Ideological Imperative: Corporate Social Responsibility and News Media Coverage of Firms

Organization Science, September - October 2024, vol. 35, n° 5, pp 1930 - 1955, (in coll. with Y. DEWAN, T. SIMONS)

When Is CEO Activism Conducive to the Democratic Process?

Journal of Business Ethics, April 2024, vol. 190, pp 755-774, (in coll. with A. Feix)

How Much Influence Do CEOs Have on Company Actions and Outcomes? The Example of Corporate Social Responsibility

Academy of Management Discoveries, March 2022, vol. 8, n° 1, pp 36-55, (in coll. with MIHA SAJKO, CHRISTOPHE BOONE)

Last to Come and Last to Go? The Complex Role of Gender and Ethnicity in the Reputational Penalties for Directors Linked to Corporate Fraud

Academy of Management Journal, 2020, vol. 63, n° 3, pp 881-902, (in coll. with I. NAUMOVSKA, E. J. ZAJAC)

Signal Incongruence and Its Consequences: A Study of Media Disapproval and CEO Overcompensation

Organization Science, September-October 2018, vol. 29, n° 5, pp 796-817, (in coll. with J.-P. VERGNE, S. BRENNER)

Drilled to Obey? Ex-Military CEOs and Financial Misconduct

Strategic Management Journal, November 2018, vol. 39, n° 11, pp 2943-2964, (in coll. with I. F. KOCH-BAYRAM)

Global Cities and Liability of Foreignness

European Journal of International Management, 2016, vol. 10, n° 1, pp 78-94, (in coll. with K. MEHLSEN)

Proceedings

‘Not My CEO’: Employee Reactions to the Threat of Female Leadership

2023 Academy of Management Annual Meeting , 2023 , 2023 , 1 (S. Brenner, I. Solal)

Bringing Counterclaimants in: Corporate Social Responsibility and Media Coverage of Firms

2023 Academy of Management Annual Meeting , 2023 , 2023 , 1 (Y. DEWAN, T. Simons)

Changes in the Boardroom: The Present and the Future

2022 AOM Conference , 2022 , 2022 , 1 (J. Kang, S. Graffin, D. C. Hambrick, C. A. Post, C. Shropshire)

Policies without Plans? Sequential CSR Responses and the Role of Resources for Policy Implementation

2021 Academy of Management Annual Conference , 2021 , 2021 , 1 (N. Rathert)

Scientific articles

The Ideological Imperative: Corporate Social Responsibility and News Media Coverage of Firms

Organization Science, September - October 2024, vol. 35, n° 5, pp 1930 - 1955, (in coll. with Y. DEWAN, T. SIMONS)

When Is CEO Activism Conducive to the Democratic Process?

Journal of Business Ethics, April 2024, vol. 190, pp 755-774, (in coll. with A. Feix)

How Much Influence Do CEOs Have on Company Actions and Outcomes? The Example of Corporate Social Responsibility

Academy of Management Discoveries, March 2022, vol. 8, n° 1, pp 36-55, (in coll. with MIHA SAJKO, CHRISTOPHE BOONE)

Last to Come and Last to Go? The Complex Role of Gender and Ethnicity in the Reputational Penalties for Directors Linked to Corporate Fraud

Academy of Management Journal, 2020, vol. 63, n° 3, pp 881-902, (in coll. with I. NAUMOVSKA, E. J. ZAJAC)

Proceedings

‘Not My CEO’: Employee Reactions to the Threat of Female Leadership

2023 Academy of Management Annual Meeting , 2023 , 2023 , 1 (S. Brenner, I. Solal)

Bringing Counterclaimants in: Corporate Social Responsibility and Media Coverage of Firms

2023 Academy of Management Annual Meeting , 2023 , 2023 , 1 (Y. DEWAN, T. Simons)

Changes in the Boardroom: The Present and the Future

2022 AOM Conference , 2022 , 2022 , 1 (J. Kang, S. Graffin, D. C. Hambrick, C. A. Post, C. Shropshire)

Policies without Plans? Sequential CSR Responses and the Role of Resources for Policy Implementation

2021 Academy of Management Annual Conference , 2021 , 2021 , 1 (N. Rathert)

Education

2016
Ph.D., Management, University of Mannheim - Germany
2008
M.Sc. in Business Administration, Humboldt University - Germany
2007
M. A. Comparative Business Economics (with distinction), University College London - United Kingdom

Academic appointments

Academic Responsibilities at HEC

2023- Associate Professor, Strategy and Business Policy HEC Paris
2018-2023 Assistant Professor, Strategy and Business Policy HEC Paris
2019- Member of GREGHEC, the joint research laboratory CNRS-HEC Paris HEC Paris

External Academic Responsibilities

2013-2018 Assistant Professor Copenhagen Business School
2017-2017 Visiting Scholar INSEAD
2016-2017 Visiting Scholar Kellogg School of Management
2015-2015 Visiting Scholar University of Antwerp
2009-2010 Visiting Ph.D. New York University, Stern School of Business

Scientific Activities

Conference organisation

2021-2023 Representative at Large at the Stakeholder Strategy IGRepresentative at Large at the Stakeholder Strategy IG

2020- Program Team of the ONE Division

2020- Research Commitee of the STR Division

2019-2020 Representative at Large at the Strategic Leadership and Governance IG

2019-2024 Organizer of the S&O Research Day of the Society & Organizations (S&O) Institute

Awards & honors

2023 Outstanding Reviewer Award, Strategic Leadership Governance IG, SMS 2023Outstanding Reviewer Award, Strategic Leadership Governance IG
2023 2023 BNP Paribas Vernimmen Teaching Prize
2022 2022 Best Paper Award of the German Academic Association of Business Research (VHB) for Naumovska, I., Wernicke, G. and Zajac, E. 2020. Last to Come and Last to Go? The Complex Role of Gender and Ethnicity in the Reputational Penalties for Directors Linked to Corporate Fraud, Academy of Management Journal 63 (3)
2020 Best Reviewer Award, ONE Division
2020 Outstanding Reviewer Award, STR Division
2019 Outstanding Reviewer Award, Stakeholder Strategy IG
2017 ABCD Award, OMT Division
2017 Outstanding Reviewer Award, BPS Division
2017 Feigenbaum Best Paper Award (Nominee), Israel Strategy Conference
2017 Best Conference Paper Award (Finalist with Honorable Mention)
2017 Best Paper Award (Honorable Mention), Strategic Leadership Governance IG
2016 Best Reviewer Award
2016 Best Reviewer Award, Corporate Governance SIG
2016 Nominee DSEB Education Prize (University Wide Best Teacher Award)
2016 Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation Best Dissertation Award
2015 Best Empirical Paper on Environmental and Social Practice (Runner-up), OMT
2015 Best Paper Award (Nominee), International Corporate Governance Society (2x papers)
2015 Best Paper Award Strategic Management SIG, EURAM
2015 Best Paper Award General Track, Strategic Management SIG
2014 Best Paper Award (Runner-up), 12. Workshop on International Management
2012 PREBEM Best Conference Paper Award