Research focus Strategic Management Sustainability Degrowth

  
Dr. Swantje Freund has been a  postdoctoral researcher since November 2024. Her research focuses on the intersection of strategic management and sustainability, with an empirical focus on the energy and IT sectors. She examines how firms pursue non‑growth, decline, or divestiture strategies to address environmental challenges. Her work aims to understand how adjustments in firm size and resource allocation can reduce negative environmental impacts while maintaining strategic and operational effectiveness.

Before starting her postdoctoral position, Swantje Freund completed her PhD in the Management Research Group. She was a visiting researcher at ETH Zurich in the Sustainability and Technology research group and spent part of her doctoral studies at the Smith School for Enterprise and the Environment at the University of Oxford. Prior to her PhD, she earned a Master’s degree in Sustainability Economics and Management from the University of Oldenburg and a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Diversity and Ecology from the University of Göttingen.

Selected publications

Oll, J., Freund, S., Hoppmann, J. (2023): All Tied Up? How Shareholders’ Financial and Non-Financial Interests Affect Strategic Divestitures. Academy of Management Proceedings ("Best Paper"), doi: 10.5465/AMPROC.2023.237bp