Welcome to the Chair of Sustainable Human Resource Management & Leadership!
Our chair focusses on research and teaching in the fields of human resource management, leadership and sustainability. In our research, we deal with the conceptualisation and implications of sustainable human resource management and leadership. We develop theoretical models and test them using a variety of empirical methods. We are also part of the Paderborn Research Center for Sustainable Economy (PARSEC).
In our courses, we teach basic management and leadership theories and discuss the latest research. In addition, students learn scientific skills in our courses by developing their own hypotheses, collecting data and analysing it.
Our goal is to create practice-relevant insights and to conduct research and teaching that inspires.
Research
Our research approach is conceptual-empirical. We expand and combine existing theories and test the derived hypotheses quantitatively and empirically with company-level data (Thomson Reuters, Orbis), individual-level data (BoardEx, GSOEP, sports data, Facebook), or a combination of both. We enjoy conducting research in teams that cross not only national but also disciplinary boundaries.
Our research foci are:
Sustainable HRM & Leadership
Transformation of Work and Sustainable Use of Human Resources
Responsible Leadership & Ethical Human Relations
Green HRM & Leadership
Publications
Can You Go Home Again? Performance Assistance Between Boomerangs and Incumbent Employees
T. Grohsjean, G. Dokko, P. Yang, Organization Science (2024).
A (Bounded) Preference for Rule Breakers
S.W. Wakeman, P. Yang, C. Moore, Academy of Management Discoveries (2024).
Performance management and work engagement – New evidence using longitudinal data
S. Ehmann, P. Kampkötter, P. Maier, P. Yang, Management Accounting Research 64 (2023).
Exploring the impact of specialist and generalist stars on organizational performance
G. Nalbantis, C. Manger, T. Pawlowski, P. Yang, SSRN Electronic Journal (2023).
Extreme Bootlegging: Individual-level Antecedents to Creative Deviance
H. Tenzer, P. Yang, in: P. Augsdorfer (Ed.), Corporate Underground: Bootleg Innovation and Constructive Deviance, 2023, pp. 323–332.
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Teaching
Our teaching philosophy reflects the Paderborn University's mission statement for studying and teaching in its idea of research-based, diverse, activating, practical and skills-orientated teaching. We teach topics such as responsible corporate governance, sustainable HR management and the role of leadership in the economically, ecologically and socially sustainable transformation of companies. We want to inspire students for our field of research. This is why we discuss current studies in our modules and teach students how to independently formulate and test hypotheses. The following modules are offered in the Bachelor's and Master's programmes:
Bachelor modules
| Module name | Semester | ECTS | Language | Contact |
| M.184.3183 Sustainable Leadership Lecture with exercise | WS/Season | 10 | English, German | Prof. Dr. Philip Yang |
| M.184.3185 Sustainable Behavior in Organisations Seminar | WS/SoSe | 5 | English | Emily Nass Prof. Dr. Philip Yang |
Modules in the Master's programme
| Module name | Semester | ECTS | Module language | Contact |
| M.184.5183 Empirical Studies in SHRM & Leadership Seminar | WS | 5 | English | Prof. Dr Philip Yang |
| M.184.5185 Evidence-Based HRM & Leadership Seminar | WS/SoSe | 5 | English | Prof. Dr Philip Yang |
Final theses
We take part in the centralised allocation procedure for theses. You can find more detailed information on the procedure itself on this page: Theses - Faculty of Business Administration and Economics | Paderborn University.
If you would like to write your thesis at our chair, we expect you to submit a letter of motivation. This should be about half a page long, in which you write something about yourself, what interests you and which topics you can imagine within the research areas of our chair. The letter of motivation applies to Bachelor's and Master's theses.
All other documents to be submitted for the thesis application can be found on the pages of the Faculty of Business Administration and Economics. Of course, these also apply to our chair.
We are convinced that supervision in small groups and regular meetings ensures the best final theses. That's why we start with all students together at the beginning of each semester. We meet with the Bachelor's and Master's thesis students every 1-2 weeks. In this way, you can refine your topic step by step and receive extensive feedback on your thesis.
For Bachelor's theses, we recommend the form of a literature review. Master's theses can be qualitative, quantitative or a literature review.
On this page you will find format templates for writing your thesis in German and English.
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