Univ.Prof. Dr. Rouven Kanitz

Short Bio

Rouven Kanitz is Professor and Head of the Institute of Leadership and Strategic Change (ILSC). Prior to joining WU Vienna, he served as Assistant Professor of Organizational Change at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, and held a postdoctoral position at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, where he also earned his Doctoral Degree in Management. Before entering academia, Rouven worked in the medical technology industry and in management consultancy, gaining experience with strategic change projects across a wide range of organizations. He currently serves on the Editorial Review Boards at Organization Science, Academy of Management Discoveries, and Journal of Applied Behavioral Science.

Research

Rouven’s research examines how leaders can navigate organizational change effectively and responsibly. His work spans three connected areas:

1. Strategy and change: how change agents design and implement transformation processes, and how organizations manage portfolios of multiple, often competing, change initiatives.

2. Leadership and change: how leaders can intervene in change processes and constructively engage people who hold diverse attitudes toward change.

3. Employees and change: how people experience change, how their responses can be conceptualized and measured, and what drives resistance and support.

 

Guided by the principles of engaged scholarship and open science, he collaborates closely with organizations, including field experiments that test the effectiveness of change interventions. His work has been published in leading academic journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management,Journal of International Business Studies and Organization Science.

• Google Scholar

• ORCID

Teaching

Rouven teaches across Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Executive Education programs. His courses cover the science and art of leading change, the psychology of organizational change, and the management of strategic change processes. His teaching draws on current research and his practical experience with strategic change projects.

Impact

Beyond academia, his research has been featured in news outlets, podcasts, and management magazines, including the Harvard Business Review or Forbes. He received international awards for his research, such as Best Paper Awards from the Academy of Management’s Organizational Development and Change (ODC) division. Find out more about his publications here.