EMBA Professors - BERLIN Campus

Kerstin Alfes is a Professor of Organisation and Human Resource Management at ESCP's campus in Berlin. She researches and teaches on topics such as Leadership, Diversity and Inclusion, Meaningful Work and Strategic Human Resource Management. In 2023 she was selected as one of the top 40 HR experts in the DACH region.

Houdou Basse Mama is a full professor of finance at ESCP Business School Berlin, where he holds the Chair in International Financial Markets. His main research interest lies in the intersection of financial markets and real economic activity. He has a particular research interest in empirical asset pricing, international finance, as well as innovation economics and climate change. His research has been published in leading international journals including Research Policy, Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Applied Economics, Energy Economics, Energy Policy, Review of Managerial Science, Journal of Business Economics, Finance Research Letters.

Besides, Houdou has been serving since 2020 as the local academic director of the School’s Bachelor in Management introduced in 2015. However, before joining academia, Houdou capitalized more than 3.5 years industry experience with Deutsche Börse and Siemens where he gained insights in derivatives-based indices and financial controlling and insurance services, respectively.

Christian F. Durach is a Professor and Chair of Supply Chain and Operations Management at ESCP Berlin, where he teaches operations, sustainable supply chains, and research methods. His research focuses on sustainability, supply chain risk management, and the interplay between digitalisation and sustainability, with publications in top journals such as JOM and POM. He serves in several editorial roles, including European Co-Editor of the Journal of Business Logistics, and is active in international academic networks. Before joining ESCP, he led the Center for International Logistics Networks at TU Berlin and earned his doctorate and habilitation there.

Marion Festing (PhD) is Professor of Human Resource Management and Intercultural Leadership at ESCP Business School’s Berlin campus, codirects the Women in Finance Chair and serves as the academic director of the Women in Leadership executive programs. Her expertise is in diversity, equity and inclusion as well as in international human resource management.

Jack Fuchs is an investor, global entrepreneur, and lecturer at Stanford University ESCP, and TuM. His current roles include VC Operating Partner, Board representative, investor, and advisor positions with AI, tech, med-tech, and cleantech businesses. He mentors entrepreneurs and teaches around the world – his driving force.

René Mauer is Professor and Chair of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at ESCP Berlin, where he also leads the Executive Master in Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership and coordinates the school’s European Entrepreneurship Department. His expertise focuses on entrepreneurial decision-making in both start-up and corporate settings, supported by collaborations with companies such as BASF, BMW, DHL, and P&G. Before joining ESCP, he taught at RWTH Aachen and led its start-up centre. He has professional experience at 3M, in consulting and start-ups, and is involved in multiple venture projects, including his own family business.

Daniela Marzavan is a pioneering PRACADEMIC who blends industry expertise with academic insight. As the founder of Change Darer, an international innovation agency, she leads a network of consultants, designers, and educators to drive transformation using #designthinking as a social practice for #change.A coworking pioneer in Germany and Lisbon (2008–2010), Daniela also introduced citizen-centric design for policymaking with GIZ, managing projects across Africa, Latin America, the Caucasus, and Southeast Asia in areas like gender justice, green economy, and youth empowerment. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she enabled 200 cities to collaborate digitally on crisis communication. Her clients span industries such as automotive, pharmaceuticals, government, education, and global development in regions from Colombia to Nepal, Portugal to Kazakhstan. Her PhD at Bauhaus University focused on Design Thinking and post-rational innovation practices through a praxeological lens. As a guest professor at higher education institutions she teaches mostly Executive MBAs courses in Portuguese (IADE, ESCP, NOVASBE) , in English (Kristiania, Oslo; Laurea Helsinki; ESCP Berlin), in German and Romanian (ASE Bucharest), her work bridges theory and practice in innovation and organizational change globally.

Philip Meissner is a leading voice on AI-based decision-making and future technologies. The ESCP professor and author focuses on strategy, technology and psychology and is co-founder and director of the European Center for Digital Competitiveness. In 2022, he was appointed to the World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders.

Ulrich Pape is Professor of Finance at the Berlin Campus of the ESCP Business School, where he has been a faculty member since 2002. His academic career began in 1991 at the Technical University of Berlin, where he worked as a lecturer and as an assistant professor.

Ulrich teaches a range of finance courses in the undergraduate, postgraduate and Executive MBA programmes and is actively involved in the PhD programme. His expertise covers various aspects of corporate finance, including financial management, corporate valuation and value-based management, and he has authored numerous journal articles and books on these topics.

In addition to teaching and research, Ulrich is the local academic director of the Master in Management (MIM) programme. In collaboration with colleagues from ESCP's international campuses, he focuses on the strategic coordination and continuous development of the MIM programme, the School's longest running programme.

Juergen Pauthner is a member and advisor of executive boards of global companies for transition- and crisis scenarios in Integrated Global Governance, Risk, and Compliance (iGRC) with more than 20 years’ experience. Responsibilities covering more than 150 countries, several GRC book publications, director of GRC study programmes. Education in international and comparative law in EU and US, extensive Ivy League professional education in risk, strategy and GRC; ESCP EMBA 2007.

Stefan Schmid is Professor for International Management and Strategic Management at the Berlin campus. He joined ESCP as a professor in 2002, and since then has served the School in many functions. He was Academic Dean of the Executive MBA between 2015 and 2018, and currently is the Local Academic Director of this programme in Berlin. He offers a core course on "Strategy" as well as an elective on "International Strategy and Structure" in the programme.

Martin Schmidt is a Professor in the Financial Reporting and Audit department at ESCP Business School, where he has held the Chair of International Accounting since 2013. He previously worked at Deloitte & Touche, the German Accounting Standards Board, and several international standard-setting institutions. His main interests include financial and sustainability reporting and auditing, and he has authored over 100 publications in leading academic and professional journals. He is an active member of multiple scientific committees and editorial boards and has been a visiting professor at several U.S. universities. Martin holds a doctorate and habilitation from Freie Universität Berlin, along with additional studies completed at UCLA.

Robert Wilken is a Professor of International Marketing at ESCP Berlin, teaching data-driven marketing, pricing, consumer behaviour, and sales across all programme levels. Erik Strauss is Professor of Management Control at ESCP Berlin and Visiting Professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam, with research at the intersection of management accounting, AI, and organisational behaviour. His work examines how digital technologies shape control systems and decision-making, and is published in leading accounting journals. Alongside his academic roles, he supports organisations in developing human-centred, strategic approaches to AI.

Veronique Tran is Professor of Organizational Behavior and Executive Vice President in charge of Executive Education and Corporate Relations. Veronique has extensive experience in executive education and international management development, with emphasis on topics such as personality, group decision-making, teamwork, emotional competence, leadership, and agile organisations. She also performs personal coaching on the same topics.

Robert Wilken is a Professor of International Marketing at ESCP Berlin, where he teaches data-driven marketing, pricing, consumer behaviour, and sales at all programme levels. His research focuses on willingness-to-pay, sustainable pricing mechanisms, and intercultural business negotiations, and he collaborates with scholars across Europe and the U.S. At ESCP, he also serves as Vice-Rector for Faculty and Research and Associate Director of the Doctoral Programme. He studied Mathematics and Business Administration in Muenster, completed his PhD in 2007, and has been part of ESCP since then.