Faculty of Economics and Business

More and more companies are appointing Chief Sustainability Officers (CSOs). But what makes the presence of CSOs effective for companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR)? PhD candidate Marloes Korendijk explores this together with Professor Rian Drogendijk, who is the Director of Graduate Studies at the Faculty of Economics and Business. They examine how the relationship between CSOs and their companies’ CSR activities is shaped by firm-level factors such as board diversity and the presence of a CSR committee, as well as country-level factors like CSR standards. Additionally, the researchers investigate whether the CSO’s role is merely symbolic for CSR communication or if they have a tangible impact on CSR outcomes.

Assistant Professor Katrin Heucher is one of six FEB researchers who received an acceleration grant from FEB's Research Institute. She has extensively researched how individuals can catalyze positive social change from within organisations. FEB Research talked to her about her project proposal and what she intends to achieve.

How can consumers be more accepting, satisfied of and compliant with service robots in frontline service settings, such as retail and even healthcare? This is the question Jana Holthöwer focused on in her PhD research. A relevant topic in this day and age of staff shortages. Holthöwer stresses that it is important to understand how robot characteristics and contextual factors can influence the service experience to be able to ensure a successful integration of service robots the health realm. This is at the core of her research and dissertation. With her work, she enriches our understanding of the integration of service robots in the healthcare sector.

In his research at FEB, Hagen Kruse focused on topics of macroeconomic development. Part of his PhD research, on structural change in developing countries, is already mentioned in a report of the World Bank and another of his projects serves as background to a forthcoming World Bank report. Now, on the brink of obtaining his PhD, Hagen has started a job as an economist at the World Bank head-quarters in Washington, D.C.

Professors Harry Garretsen and Janka Stoker reach large and diverse audiences with their expertise and research on leadership. In 2018, their first Dutch book ‘Goede leiders zweven niet’ (translates to English as: ‘Good leaders don’t levitate’) was published. They were then also asked to become columnists at Het Financieele Dagblad (the Dutch Financial Times). These columns formed the basis of their second book, written for managers, policymakers and the general public, called ‘Goede leiders in onzekere tijden’ (Good leaders in turbulent times). This book, published in 2022, got lot of attention in the Dutch media, and was the reason to start a podcast on leadership in turbulent times. Till now they have mainly focused on Dutch audiences, but they are branching out to reach an international audience, as an English book is also in the making.

Concerns over climate change are more pressing than ever. More and more firms are taking actions to improve corporate environmental sustainability (CES), such as appointing governance actors with assigned roles and responsibilities to improve the environmental sustainability of the corporation. For example, Royal Dutch Shell appointed clean energy leaders to manage Shell's transition from brown to green energy. However, only weeks before Shell was set to announce the strategy for the transition, its clean energy leaders left the firm. Intrigued by such developments, PhD scholar Ina Karn and co-authors wondered why improving CES remained a challenge, even though firms take actions such as appointing relevant actors.

All of Assistant Professor Iina Ikonen’s research focuses on societally relevant outcomes, for instance regarding how consumers respond to more inclusive marketing communications. Together with co-authors from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Ikonen examined how the size of models on online fashion shopping platforms influences consumers.  ---There is also a Dutch translation of this article available. ---

Innovative research is often a collaborative effort between multiple disciplines. In the past years, several PhD candidates started interdisciplinary projects that are a collaboration between the Faculty of Economics and Business and other faculties of the University of Groningen. Georgios Fraros is one of them. His project on the additive bias in the context of sustainable change involves FEB’s Department of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behaviour and the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences.

Iina Ikonen recently joined the Faculty of Economics and Business as an assistant professor within the Department of Marketing. She grew up in Finland and before coming to Groningen, obtained her PhD in Amsterdam and worked as an assistant professor at the University of Bath. She likes the collegial and friendly atmosphere of her new department in Groningen and to her, the Netherlands feels like a familiar home away from home. “At work, the people around you are what makes the difference.”

Dirk Bezemer published his book “Een Land van Kleine Buffers: Er is genoeg geld, maar we gebruiken het verkeerd” (translated as A Land of Small Buffers: there is enough money, but we are using it the wrong way) in 2020. The book highlights financialization in the Dutch economy and its consequences for the housing market and the pension system, and proposes policies to address these issues. In his follow-up research, he continues to focus on these themes.