Elisa Sauerbier, M.Sc.

Elisa Sauerbier is a doctoral researcher at the Institute for SME Research (ifm) at the University of Mannheim, pursuing her PhD under the supervision of Prof. Dr. Michael Woywode. She studied at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management and at the University of Mannheim, and in 2025 she was a visiting researcher at Stanford University.

Her research interest lies in new and decentralized forms of organization – in particular self-organized and decentrally governed organizations, as well as the conditions under which such structures emerge, change, or are dismantled. A further focus of her work is on social enterprises and the question of how these can be systematically captured and classified.

In her teaching, she is involved in the coordination and design of various courses in the field of management and family business, including “Managing the Family Business” (MAN607) and “Strategic and International Management” (MAN301).

Teaching:

• MAN 301 – “Strategic and International Management”
• MAN 607 – “Managing the Family Business – Strategy, Governance, and Change”