Faculty of Economics and Business

Arpan Rijal recently received a Veni grant of € 320,000 from the Dutch Research Council (NWO). The assistant professor at FEB’s Department of Operations was awarded the grant for his project on personnel scheduling and employee wellbeing in labor-intensive workplaces. He talked to FEB Research about the various factors that affect employee well-being and the role workforce scheduling and logistics can play in this issue.

In her research, PhD candidate Franzisca Fastje focuses on how hybrid work shapes work outcomes such as job satisfaction and performance. Last year, she spent time at the Future of Work Institute in Perth, Australia. There she got the opportunity to work with one of her academic role models, an esteemed scholar in the field of work design research. FEB research talked to Fastje about her stay in Australia and the importance of adopting an international perspective and connecting with other academics to spur innovative thinking.

Charities have a vital role in addressing societal challenges, but little is known about what drives people to donate and the infl uence marketing strategies can have. With their collective research projects, associate professors Marijke Leliveld and Hans Risselada try to fi ll this knowledge gap. They received one of the six acceleration grants from FEB’s Research Institute for a new project with charity consulting fi rm Data Inside, which aims to create a knowledge exchange platform for charity organizations and enable those organizations to make data-driven decisions.

Anne Kellers recently joined the Faculty of Economics and Business as an assistant professor within the Department of Global Economics and Management. She likes the simultaneously small-town and international atmosphere in Groningen and is happy to work in a department that focuses on interdisciplinary research addressing real-world challenges. “The department provides an ideal setting for growth and impactful research.”

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.