Karin Kreutzer

Karin Kreutzer is Professor of Social Business at EBS Business School, EBS University of Business and Law, holding the Chair of Social Business while serving as Head of the Impact Institute and Vice Dean of Research. Her academic leadership bridges theoretical rigor with practical social impact through extensive engagement with social enterprises and nonprofit organizations.

Her educational foundation includes a doctorate from the University of St. Gallen complemented by studies at Bocconi University, Universities of Passau and Parma, and a visiting scholar position at ESADE Business School in Barcelona. This diverse academic background informs her interdisciplinary approach to social business research.

Professor Kreutzer's research program centers on social entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility, strategic NGO-corporate partnerships, and nonprofit strategic management, employing qualitative methodologies to dissect organizational identity dynamics and hybrid institutional logics. Her work reveals how social enterprises navigate inherent tensions between social missions and business sustainability, particularly during scaling phases and organizational transitions.

Analysis of her 2021-2024 publications shows evolving focus on age-diverse volunteer teamwork, discursive construction of social entrepreneurship in pitch contexts, and career transitions of corporate managers entering nonprofit sectors. These studies consistently appear in premier outlets like Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management Studies, and Journal of Business Ethics, demonstrating methodological sophistication and theoretical contribution.

She actively translates research into practice through board memberships in social enterprises and advisory roles for nonprofits and public sector entities. Her teaching spans bachelor's, master's, MBA, and PhD programs covering business administration, CSR, social entrepreneurship, and qualitative research methods.

As Head of the Impact Institute, she directs a research hub fostering social innovation through academic-practitioner collaboration, with current projects examining organizational responses to human rights challenges during conflicts and sustainability managers' moral engagement.