Chair of
Strategic Management and Decision Making

Prof. Dr. Philip Meissner, Chair Owner, Chair of Strategic Management and Decision Making, Berlin campus, ESCP“Welcome to the Chair of Strategic Management and Decision Making. At the chair, we mainly focus on two questions that are crucial for organizations today. First, we investigate how companies can adapt to the dynamic technological environment we face today. This includes strategy techniques like scenario-based planning but also a deep investigation of how new technologies like Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, 3D Printing and Virtual Reality reshape entire industries as well as how these technologies can be managed best from a strategic point of view. Second, we study how executives can make better decisions and how decision making processes in organizations can be optimized. For this, we analyse the effect of biases and emotions in strategic decisions and the decision making techniques that can be quickly applied to make better decisions.”

-Prof. Dr. Philip Meissner

The team

From left to right: Dennis Heumann, Astrid Tröster, Prof. Dr. Philip Meissner, Theresa Voigt, Christoph Keding, Afrodita Bojadjieva

Teaching
We offer the following courses:

Bachelor in
Management (BSc)

  • Strategy and International Management
Go to the programme

Master in
Management

  • Strategy
Go to the programme

MSc in
Digital Business Project Management & Consulting

  • International Business Strategy
Go to the programme

MSc in
Strategy and Digital Business

  • Strategic Management
  • Problem Solving and Communication
  • Strategic Decision Making
  • TED Talk Seminar
Go to the programme

EMBA
Executive MBA

  • Scenario-based Strategic Planning
Go to the programme

Executive
Education

  • Different courses in Strategy, Decision Making and Digital Transformation
Go to the programmes

Research

Research approach

Our research combines rigour and relevance. Thus, we aim at generating findings that contribute to theory building in the field while at the same time being relevant for a practitioner of management to learn from. Ultimately, strategy is about making large-scale decisions about the future. In a large body of studies, psychological research has shown that decision-makers are influenced by biases and emotions when making such decisions. We try to translate these findings into the specific requirements and circumstances induced by the business environment. Our interdisciplinary research that combines the domains of psychology and management is based on experiments both in the lab and in the field. We use these rigorous methods to help answer questions that are equally relevant for researchers and practitioners.

Research topics

Artificial Intelligence in Decision Making

In this research field, we investigate the influence of artificial intelligence on the decision-making behaviour of executives in organizations. We both analyse its effect on different outcome dimensions of decision-making processes as well as cross-cultural differences.

Emotions and their Effect in the Strategy Process

Emotions are a crucial factor in every decision. We study, how different emotions influence the decision-making process in companies as well as the judgment of executives. Based on these foundational insights, we also study how the negative effect of emotions can be reduced to improve the quality of decisions.

Methods for Improving Strategic Decisions

Cognitive Biases have been shown to reduce performance and decision quality. At the same time, different simple and quick techniques have been developed and tested that can debias decision processes and improve decision quality as well as overall firm performance. We contribute towards this research by developing and testing tools to improve strategic decisions.

Focus on:
Last Publications

Press

Philip Meissner, Torsten Wulf, Sophie Florian (2019): Differences in Strategic Issue Interpretation across Cultures – A Socio‐Cognitive Perspective, July 2019
Philip Meissner, Torsten Wulf, Sophie Florian (2019): Differences in Strategic Issue Interpretation across Cultures – A Socio‐Cognitive Perspective. The framing of strategic issues as opportunities or threats has been shown to significantly affect strategic behaviour in organizations. However, whether and how this framing effect differs among executives from different national cultures remains unclear… [Read more]

Press

Philip Meissner, Torsten Wulf (2018): So reagieren Sie auf Disruption. Havard Business Management, April 2018
Philip Meissner, Torsten Wulf (2018): So reagieren Sie auf Disruption. Übersteigerter Optimismus und das Festhalten am Status quo können Unternehmen lähmen. Lernen Sie, in drei Schritten Ihre Kultur zu modernisieren, damit Veränderungen Sie nicht aus der Bahn werfen.

Publications
Find an overview

Display:
23 publications

Other Intellectual Contributions

2024

MEISSNER, P., S. FLORIAN, T. WULF , X. XU, P. YANG

When We Are Happy, We Are the Same—Emotions as a Boundary Condition for the Impact of Cultural Differences on Strategic Decisions

SCHMALENBACHS ZEITSCHRIFT FUR BETRIEBSWIRTSCHAFTLICHE FORSCHUNG : ZFBF

Other Intellectual Contributions

2023

MEISSNER, P.

Alles im grünen Bereich

HARVARD BUSINESS MANAGER

Academic Articles

2022

KIEGLER, S., T. WULF , N. NOLZEN, P. MEISSNER

Psychological capital and strategic decision outcomes

JOURNAL OF STRATEGY AND MANAGEMENT, 15(2), 303-325

Academic Articles

2021

MEISSNER, P., C. POENSGEN, T. WULF

How hot cognition can lead us astray: The effect of anger on strategic decision making

EUROPEAN MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, 39 (4), 434-444

Academic Articles

2021

MEISSNER, P., C. KEDING

The Human Factor in AI-Based Decision-Making

MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW, 63 (1), 1-5

Academic Articles

2021

KEDING, C., P. MEISSNER

Managerial overreliance on AI-augmented decision-making processes: How the use of AI-based advisory systems shapes choice behavior in R&D investment decisions

TECHNOLOGICAL FORECASTING AND SOCIAL CHANGES, 171, 120970

Academic Articles

2020

MEISSNER, P., S. FLORIAN, T. WULF

Differences in Strategic Issue Interpretation across Cultures – A Socio‐Cognitive Perspective

EUROPEAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW, 17(1), 197-208

Academic Articles

2020

MEISSNER, P., A. HOENL, T. WULF

Betting the farm and playing it safe? Hyper-core self-evaluation in decisions when managers are winning and losing

BUSINESS RESEARCH, 13 (3), pages1293–1316

Academic Articles

2020

MEISSNER, P., T. WULF

The hidden values driving strategy

MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW, 62 (2), 1A-5A

Academic Articles

2018

MEISSNER, P., M. SCHUBERT, T. WULF

Determinants of group-level overconfidence in teams: A quasi-experimental investigation of diversity and tenure

LONG RANGE PLANNING, 51(6), 927-936

Team and contact

Prof. Dr. Kerstin Alfes, Chair Owner of the Strategic Management and Decision Making Chair, Berlin Campus, ESCP

Prof. Dr. Philip Meissner

Chairholder & European Academic Director
Master in Strategy and Digital Business
pmeissner@escpeurope.eu
Astrid Tröster, Assistant, Chair of Strategic Management and Decision Making, Berlin Campus, ESCP

Astrid Tröster

Assistant
atroester@escpeurope.eu
Sabine Scholz, Research Associate, Chair of Strategic Management and Decision Making, Berlin Campus, ESCP

Christoph Keding

Research assistant / PhD student
ckeding@escpeurope.eu
 
Afrodita Bojadjieva, Programme Coordinator, Chair of Strategic Management and Decision Making, Berlin Campus, ESCP

Afrodita Bojadjieva

Programme Coordinator
Specialised Master Programmes
abojadjieva@escpeurope.eu
Dennis Heumann, Student assistant, the Strategic Management and Decision Making Chair, Berlin Campus, ESCP

Dennis Heumann

Student assistant
dennis.heumann@edu.escpeurope.eu

Partners
Our network consists of successful companies and institutions from different areas. We constantly exchange ideas in joint lectures, seminars, workshops and research projects.

Company Partners

Logo Henkelx, Partner of the chair Strategic Management and Decision Making, ESCP, Berlin campus Logo Bain and Company, Partner of the chair Strategic Management and Decision Making, ESCP, Berlin campus Logo McKinsey Company, Partner of the chair Strategic Management and Decision Making, ESCP, Berlin campus Logo Hitfox, Partner of the chair Strategic Management and Decision Making, ESCP, Berlin campus Logo Siemens, Partner of the chair Strategic Management and Decision Making, ESCP, Berlin campus Logo Wayfair, Partner of the chair Strategic Management and Decision Making, ESCP, Berlin campus Logo Daimler, Partner of the chair Strategic Management and Decision Making, ESCP, Berlin campus Logo Zalando, Partner of the chair Strategic Management and Decision Making, ESCP, Berlin campus Logo Mister Spex Partner of the chair Strategic Management and Decision Making, ESCP, Berlin campus