Chair of Business Negotiations & Procurement I

The Rotterdam School of Management (RSM) conducted a study to evaluate the intensity of the focus on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the research of business schools, positioning WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management at #1 in Germany and #11 globally. Leveraging machine learning techniques, RSM assessed various international publications for their SDG relevance before ranking the institutions. This evaluation included research published in the journals from the "50 Journals Used in FT Research Rank" between 2018 and 2021. During this period, our team contributed two articles to these esteemed journals.

The Case Centre's collection includes 140 cases from WHU, with nine being award-winning and many others supplemented with complementary study materials, software, and videos. Out of the 140 cases, more than 90, and three out of the nine award winners, were contributed by our teams.

The Best Paper Award - New Directions from the Conflict Management Division of the Academy of Management was bestowed upon Katja Woelfl and Lutz Kaufmann for their work, "Changing Perspective – Toward a Configurational Perspective on Deception in Business Negotiations from a Target’s Viewpoint," co-authored with Craig Carter from Arizona State University. The nomination by the judges recognized the paper's exceptional quality and its significant contribution to the field of conflict literature. The paper was presented at the 2022 AoM conference in Seattle.

Lutz Kaufmann received the Outstanding Reviewer Award 2022 from the Operations & Supply Chain Management Division of the Academy of Management.

The article 'Configurational Approaches to Theory Development in Supply Chain Management,' authored by Dave Ketchen, Craig Carter, and Lutz Kaufmann and published in 2022 in the Journal of Supply Chain Management (volume 58, issue 3, pages 71-88), was among the most downloaded papers in its first 12 months of publication.

Lutz Kaufmann was honored with the Distinguished Scholar Award 2021 from the Academy of Management (AoM), becoming the first researcher from a continental European institution to receive this prestigious global award. The award acknowledges the recipients' lifetime achievements across various categories of management research. Professor Kaufmann earned the OSCM-Distinguished Scholar Award for his scholarly contributions and for his support services for young researchers and junior faculty.

The IPSERA Best Doctoral Dissertation Award 2021 was awarded to Assistant Professor Jiachun Lu for her dissertation titled, “An Exploration of the Role of Advice Exchanges in Supply Management.” The International Purchasing and Supply Education and Research Association (IPSERA), a diverse network committed to advancing education, research, and best practices in Purchasing and Supply Management, recognized Jiachun’s work for its theoretical and practical contributions. This marks the fourth occasion in seven years that a member of Professor Kaufmann's team, following Barbara Yilmaz (2015), Claudia M. Wagner (2017), and Jens Esslinger (2019), has achieved this global accolade.

The InPraxi Outstanding Thesis Award 2020 was awarded to Charlotte Both for her thesis titled, “Sustainability’s Unintended Consequences,” under the guidance of Professor Lutz Kaufmann. WHU’s alumni organization InPraxi grants this award to theses that delve into issues of significant importance and practical influence on business and society.

At the 13th Scientific Symposium of the German Association Materials Management, Purchasing and Logistics (BME), which took place on March 9 and 10, 2020, in Mannheim, Germany, Dr. Jens Esslinger's dissertation, “Managing Unexpected Events in Joint Buyer–Supplier Projects,” was recognized as an outstanding dissertation in the field of supply management by the jury.

The 2019 IPSERA Doctoral Dissertation Award was presented in Milano, Italy, to Dr. Jens Esslinger for his dissertation “Managing Unexpected Events in Joint Buyer–Supplier Projects.” The selection committee, evaluating dissertations globally, based their decision on criteria such as originality, rigor, and the work's scientific and practical impacts. Jens' research has been featured in top SCM journals, like the Journal of Supply Chain Management and the practitioner-oriented Supply Chain Management Review.

Dr. Jörg R. Rottenburger was awarded the 2019 Research Award by the German Association Materials Management, Purchasing and Logistics (BME) for his dissertation on deception in business negotiations. This prestigious award, which has been presented annually by the BME since 1988 and includes a €7,000 cash prize, recognizes the best dissertation of the year. Dr. Rottenburger conducted his research under the guidance of Professor Lutz Kaufmann and with Professor Christian Schlereth as his second supervisor.

The article “Multimarket Contact and the Use of Power in Buyer-Supplier Relationships,” co-authored by Felix Reimann, Pei Shen, and Lutz Kaufmann and published in 2017 in the Journal of Business Logistics (volume 38, issue 1, pages 18-34), was recognized as one of the TOP 20 most-read papers in the JBL for articles published between January 2017 and December 2018.

The Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) bestowed the Doctoral Dissertation Award upon Dr. Tobias Kosmol for his work, “Supplier Quality Management in Emerging Markets – The Interplay of Behavior and Cognition.” Presented at the 2018 CSCMP conference in Nashville, TN, this marked the third instance in a decade that a dissertation from Professor Kaufmann's team received this distinguished U.S. award, highlighting WHU as the leading non-US institution in the award's history since 1973.

Lutz Kaufmann, Claudia M. Wagner, and Craig R. Carter (Arizona State University) received the 2018 Best Paper Award from the Journal of Business Logistics for their paper, “Reconceptualizing Intuition in Supply Chain Management.” The Journal of Business Logistics (JBL), being one of the leading journals for empirical supply chain research, is listed in The SCM Journal List. The award was presented to them during the 2018 CSCMP conference in Nashville, TN.

Lutz Kaufmann, Jörg R. Rottenburger, and Craig R. Carter (Arizona State University) received the IPSERA 2017 Best Paper Award for their paper, “It’s Alright, It’s Just a Bluff: Why Do Corporate Codes Reduce Lying, But Not Bluffing?” The judges nominated the paper for its innovative approach and high-quality research methodology.

The 2017 IPSERA Highly Commended Dissertation Award was granted to Jörg R. Rottenburger for his research “Differentiating Deception: New Insights into Bluffing, Lying, and Paltering in Business Negotiations.” His study was acknowledged for its exceptional academic and practical contributions, offering novel and pertinent insights into deceptive practices in buyer-supplier negotiations.

The 2016 Doctoral Dissertation Award from the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) was awarded to Dr. Barbara Yilmaz for her dissertation “Implementing Environmental Supply Chain Management Initiatives: A Social Network Perspective.” Recognized at the 2016 CSCMP Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, Barbara's work earned her the distinction of being the 43rd laureate of this esteemed award since 1973.

Dr. Claudia M. Wagner received the IPSERA Best Doctoral Dissertation Award 2016 for her work on “Intuition in Supplier Selection – An Emotional Perspective of Team Decision Making.” The award committee, consisting of professors from the United States, Finland, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, judged all dissertations written at universities worldwide based on originality, rigor, and scientific and practical impact. Dr. Wagner was honored with the award during the 26th annual IPSERA conference, which took place from April 9 to April 12, 2017, in Budapest, Hungary.

Dr. Gavin Meschnig received the 2016 Research Award from the German Association Materials Management, Purchasing and Logistics (BME) for his dissertation, “Decision-Making in Cross-Functional Teams - A Behavioral Perspective on Supplier Selection Decisions.” The scientific jury highlighted that Gavin's research provided significant theoretical contributions and practical insights. Since 1988, the BME has annually presented this award for the best dissertation.

Lutz Kaufmann and Jörg R. Rottenburger received the Best Paper Award in New Directions at the 76th Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Anaheim, California, USA, for their paper, “The Big Bluff Theory: A Reconceptualization of Business Bluffing.” The judges recognized the paper for its high quality and innovative research methodologies.

Lutz Kaufmann and Tobias Kosmol were honored with the Best Conference Reviewer Award by the Academy of International Business (AIB) at the 2016 Annual Meeting for their “outstanding contribution to the AIB Annual Conference.” The conference occurred from June 27 to June 30, 2016, in New Orleans, USA.

Emerald and EFMD (European Foundation for Management Development) awarded Dr. Claudia M. Wagner a Highly Commended Award for her dissertation titled, “Intuition in Supplier Selection – An Emotional Perspective of Team Decision Making.” This marked the eighth time a dissertation from Professor Kaufmann's research team received an accolade in this competition, making WHU the most successful institution in the history of the prestigious EFMD/Emerald competition.

At the 25th annual IPSERA conference, Dr. Barbara Wichmann received the Best Doctoral Dissertation Award 2015 for her dissertation, “Implementing Environmental Supply Chain Management Initiatives: A Social Network Perspective.” The award committee, comprising professors from various countries, selected Dr. Wichmann's work among dissertations from North America, Asia, and Europe. According to Professor van Raaij, two dissertations evaluated by the committee, including those by Barbara Wichmann and Gavin Meschnig, were ranked among the top three by all members.

Dr. Gavin Meschnig won the 2015 Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Awards (ODRA) in the supply chain management category for his dissertation titled, “Decision-Making in Cross-Functional Teams - A Behavioral Perspective on Supplier Selection Decisions.” The award, which includes a cash prize of 1,500 Euros, was given for dissertations demonstrating significant theoretical and practical implications, originality, innovation, appropriate methodology, and high-quality research.

In September 2014, Lutz Kaufmann was recognized as one of the 25 best-selling authors over the past 40 years by The Case Centre. The cases from WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management have been extremely popular, with 40,000 downloads from The Case Centre since 2003.

For its 33rd edition in January 2014 in Montreal, Canada, the International Case Competition (ICC) selected six original business cases. Among them was WHU's “Henkel’s Journey to Purchasing Excellence - Escape from an Adverse Sourcing Situation,” authored by Sotris Politis as his master's thesis under Gavin Meschnig and Lutz Kaufmann's supervision. Notably, this case was the first at the event to delve deeply into the procurement field, especially highlighting Henkel AG & Co. KGaA's purchasing practices, capturing the attention and engagement of many attendees.

Lutz Kaufmann has been honored as an Outstanding Reviewer of the International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management (IJPDLM) in the Emerald Literati Network 2014 Awards for Excellence.

The paper titled “Intuitive Team Members in Sourcing Team Decision Making,” co-authored by Lutz Kaufmann, Gavin Meschnig, Matthias Ehrgott, and Felix Reimann, was honored with the Best Paper Award at the 23rd North American Research Symposium on Purchasing and Supply Chain Management (NARS), hosted by Arizona State University on March 14 & 15, 2013. Selected from all the submissions for its exemplary quality, the paper achieved the highest score among the entries, distinguishing itself at the symposium.

Emerald and EFMD have honored Dr. Dominik Riedl with a Highly Commended Award for his dissertation, “Behavioral Supply Management – A Decision-Theory-Based Investigation of Decision Process Decomposition in the United States and China.” It was the sixth time that a dissertation from the chair won an award in this prestigious research competition.

For the IJPDLM Highly Commended Paper Award, the article “The Impact of Individual Debiasing Efforts on Financial Decision Effectiveness in the Supplier Selection Process” by Lutz Kaufmann, Craig R. Carter, and Christian Buhrmann has been chosen as the Highly Commended Award Winner 2012 by the International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management (IJPDLM). The Editorial Team selected the paper because it was one of the most impressive pieces of work they had seen throughout 2012.

The paper “Rationality in Supplier Selection Decisions: The Effect of the Buyer’s National Task Environment,” co-authored by Lutz Kaufmann, Sebastian Kreft, Matthias Ehrgott, and Felix Reimann, was granted the 2012 Best Paper Award by the Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management (JPSM) at the 22nd Annual IPSERA Conference in Nantes, France. This paper, which examines the influence of the national task environments in China and Germany on rational decision-making in supplier selection, stood out for its insightful analysis and contribution to the field.

Nikola Denk and Christian Buhrmann were bestowed with the Highly Commended Award by Emerald and EFMD for their dissertations titled “Internationalization of Emerging Market Firms - Grounded Theory-based Evidence of Relational Ambidexterities” and “Supplier Selection Decisions - Reducing the Vulnerability to Judgment and Decision Biases and the Implications for Supplier Performance,” respectively. Competing in the annual Outstanding Doctoral Research Award Competition, Denk in the Management & Governance and Buhrmann in the Logistics & Supply Chain Management categories, both scholars conducted their research under the guidance of Lutz Kaufmann.

Together The WHU Executive Development Team, in collaboration with Saïd Business School of Oxford University and their client MAN, secured the 2010 Excellence in Practice Award from the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD) in the Executive Development category. This award, recognizing the programs designed for MAN SE's Senior Management, marked the first occasion it was bestowed upon a German business school and the first time it was awarded to a consortium of partners, including a major corporation and two business schools from different countries.

On September 29, 2010, Matthias Ehrgott received the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Doctoral Dissertation Award for his dissertation entitled, “Social and Environmental Sustainability in Supplier Management - A Stakeholder Theory Perspective on Antecedents and Outcomes.”

The 2010 SCMRC Doctoral Dissertation Proposal Award was presented to Dominik Riedl on September 26, 2010, for his research on “Behavioral Supply Management - A Decision Theory Based Investigation of Buyer Behavior in China, Mexico, Germany, and the United States.” This was the first time in its 11-year history that the award was given to a researcher outside the United States.

Alex Michel and Dirk Breitschwerdt were distinguished as winners of the global Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Award. Michel's thesis, “Behavioral Supply Management – A Review of Human Judgment and Decision-Making Theory and Its Integration into the Field of Supply Management,” excelled in the Logistics and Supply Chain Management division. Concurrently, Breitschwerdt's study, “International Production Mandates of Subsidiaries – Conceptual Framework and Empirical Evidence from German MNEs,” triumphed in the Operations and Production Management category. So far, WHU stood out as the sole institution to secure two awards in a single year.

Dr. Matthias Ehrgott was the recipient of the 2008 Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Award in the supply chain management category, for his dissertation titled, “Social and Environmental Sustainability in Supplier Management - A Stakeholder Theory Perspective on Antecedents and Outcomes.” His research delved into the motivations and resultant competitive benefits of sustainable procurement practices, emphasizing the interactions between Western companies and suppliers in Asia, Eastern Europe, and Latin America.

The case study titled, “SIG Combibloc: Supply Chain Innovations” clinched the top prize in the supply chain management category, adjudicated by an autonomous panel from the European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD). Authored by Dominik Boskamp, Holger Materlik, Franziska May, and Dominik Steinkühler under the mentorship of Lutz Kaufmann and Alex Michel, the case exemplifies excellence in supply chain innovation.

The case study “Xelibri – A Siemens Mobile Adventure,” crafted by WHU alumni Florian Clemens, Henning Hagen, Fabian Hedderich, and Hendrik Sassmann, achieved the “Best Selling Case” accolade from the ECCH, under the guidance of Lutz Kaufmann. Notably, it became the inaugural WHU case to be translated into Chinese, marking a significant milestone for the institution.