Moritz Appels

Title of Dissertation:
Don`t Mix Business with Politics? The Interplay of Corporate and Political Actors.

Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Laura Marie Edinger-Schons
University: University of Mannheim
Scholarship: SDW Scholarship
Cohort: 6th Cohort, since 2019
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

• Short Abstract

  
  Companies have traditionally chosen to remain silent on debated socio-political issues such as LGBT rights or gun regulation for fear of alienating stakeholders. However, in recent years, respective corporate activism has become more frequent with the outspoken goal of influencing the political process towards a political outcome which the firm deems desirable.

  This cumulative dissertation is aimed at investigating antecedents, outcomes, and boundary conditions surrounding this nascent phenomenon. Specifically, stakeholder psychological processes relating to both political and consumer behavior are investigated in experimental settings. Further, an upper echelons perspective is as-sumed investigating the interplay CEO characteristics and governance mechanisms as determinants of the decision to become socio-politically involved.
  

• Research Interests

  • Corporate Activism
  • Corporate Social Responsibility
  • Upper Echelons & Strategic Leadership
  • Corporate Political Activity
  • Quantitative Methods

• Education

  Since 09/2019	PhD Candidate at the Chair of Corporate Social Responsibility, University of Mannheim, Germany. “Don’t Mix Business with Politics? The Interplay of Corporate and Political Actors” – supervised by Laura Marie Edinger-Schons.
  Since 10/2019	International Doctoral Program “Ethics and Responsible Leadership in Business”, Wittenberg-Center for Global Ethics, Wittenberg, Germany.
  09/2017 – 07/2019	Mannheim Master in Business Research (M.Sc.), University of Mannheim, Germany. Focus: Quantitative Research Methods, Corporate Social Responsibility, Executive Personality Research.
  09/2012 – 03/2016	Business Psychology (B.Sc), Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences. Focus: Human Resources; Corporate Social Responsibility.

• Professional and Academic Career

  Since 10/2017	Research Assistant at the Chair of Corporate Social Responsibility, University of Mannheim.
  04/2017 – 09/2017	Research Assistant at the Chair of Energy and Resource Economics, University of Münster.
  10/2016 – 02/2017	Student Researcher at the Chair of Media and Marketing, University of Münster.
  02/2014 – 12/2014	Student Researcher at the Chair of Management and Economics, Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences.
  2013 – 2016	Multiple company internships in Germany and the UK (total work experience: 18 months).

• Publications

  • Appels, M., Edinger-Schons, L. M., Korschun, D., & Balk, L. (2020). Don’t Mix Business with Politics? Understanding Stakeholder Reactions to Corporate Political Activism. Marketing Review St. Gallen, 4, 24-30. https://ifmhsg.ch/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/MRSG_03_SPT_Appels_200622_mb.pdf

• Conference Contributions: Talks

  08/2020	Academy of Management 80th Annual Meeting, Vancouver, Canada: “It Takes Courage! How Corporate Activism Inspires Political Participation”
  06/2020	2020 Business & Society Research Seminar, Namur, Belgium: “It Takes Courage! How Corporate Activism Inspires Political Participation” (cancelled due to Covid-19)
  03/2020	Mannheim Forum, Mannheim, Germany: “Corporate CEO Activism – Die neue politische Rolle von CEOs“ (cancelled due to Covid-19)
  12/2019	think17 Summit, Mannheim, Germany: “Brands Taking Stands: A Critical Look at Corporate Political Activism”
  11/2019	Wittenberg Interdisciplinary Business Ethics Conference, Wittenberg, Germany: “It Takes Courage! How Corporate Activism Inspires Political Participation”

• Conferences: Participation

  10/2018	Autumn Academy “Business Ethics and Digitalization”, Wittenberg Center for Global Ethics, Wittenberg, Germany.
  01/2018	PhD Summer University “Advances in Modelling Dynamics”, IPSA-USP, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil.
  10/2017	Sustainable Business Summit, University of Mannheim, Mannheim, Germany.
  04/2017	Spring University “Europe in an Age of Uncertainty”, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic.

• Memberships

  • Friends of the Earth Leipzig
  • Wikiversity Fellow-Programm Freies Wissen

• Reviewing Activity

  • Business & Society
  • Journal of Public Policy and Marketing

• Awards

  • 2021, Most Innovative Student Paper Award (OB Division; Academy of Management Annual Meeting)
  • 2021, Overall Best Conference Paper Award (European Academy of Management Conference)
  • 2021, Best Paper Award in Leadership (OB SIG; European Academy of Management Conference)
  • 2020, Best Paper Award of the Strategic Management SIG (European Academy of Management Conference)