Alexander Keßler

Alexander Keßler is a university lecturer (Universitätsdozent) at the Institute for Family Businesses within the Department of Management at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien). He serves as Deputy Director of the Institute for Family Businesses and has been with WU since completing his doctorate in 2001. His academic journey at WU includes positions as Contract Assistant (1999-2001), University Assistant (2002-2008), Senior Lecturer in World Trade (July 2014-September 2021), and University Lecturer in Management (October 2021-present).

Dr. Keßler's educational background includes:

• Master's degree in Social and Economic Sciences from WU Vienna (1999)
• Doctorate in Social and Economic Sciences from WU Vienna (2001)
• Habilitation in Business Administration from WU Vienna (2008)

His research focuses on family businesses and (corporate) entrepreneurship, with particular emphasis on innovation and digitalization in family businesses, as well as the functioning and management of entrepreneurial families. Dr. Keßler has developed several measurement scales in his field, including the Family Influence Familiness Scale (FIFS) and scales for measuring digitalization orientation and enterpriseness in business families. His work demonstrates how family businesses can leverage their unique characteristics to drive innovation while maintaining socioemotional wealth across generations.

Dr. Keßler's research has been published in top-tier journals including Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Family Business Review, Journal of Family Business Strategy, Journal of Family Business Management, and British Journal of Management. His recent publications (2023-2025) show a strong trend toward developing measurement tools for digitalization orientation in family businesses and exploring the enterpriseness concept in business families, reflecting the growing importance of digital transformation in this sector.

His scientific awards include:

• Wilford White Fellows Award from the International Council for Small Business (ICSB)
• Multiple Emerald Literati Awards for Excellence
• Rudolf Sallinger Award for SME Research
• WU Vienna journal publication awards (2017, 2020)
• IFERA Research Development Workshop Best Paper Award (2014)

Dr. Keßler has led numerous research projects focused on family businesses, including studies on successful digitalization strategies for family-owned SMEs in Austria's manufacturing sector, the future of family businesses in retail, and management of entrepreneurial families across different generations. He has also contributed to media discussions about the importance of family businesses to Austria's economy, noting that they face significant challenges but remain qualitatively and quantitatively important to the economic landscape.

Outside his primary affiliation with WU Vienna, Dr. Keßler has held external positions including Head of the Master's Program in Executive Management and Head of the Entrepreneurship Competence Team at the Vienna University of Applied Sciences (2009-2014).