Professor of International Management • European University Viadrina

Chair of International Management

The Chair of International Management deals with current issues in the management of internationally operating companies in research and teaching. The focus is on innovation and responsibility in global markets. In teaching, theoretical knowledge is consistently applied to management challenges, often in cooperation with practice partners.

Secretariat

Chair of International Management

Große Scharrnstraße 59 | 15230 Frankfurt (Oder)
N.N.
0335 5534 2269
soellner@europa-uni.de

To the team

The mission of the chair team is to create cutting-edge knowledge in the field of international management through relevant research contributions and to inspire students for the field of international management.

Latest news

ERLab-Days 2026

With the ERLab Startup Bootcamp “Bridging Ecosystems between East and West” Meike Joseph, Albrecht Söllner and the ERLab-Team organized an intensive, interdisciplinary, and international seminar designed to foster entrepreneurial thinking as a response to societal challenges in a globalized Europe. It is hosted by the Entrepreneurship Research Lab – the joint research initiative of Viadrina, Frankfurt (Oder) and Campus Founders, Heilbronn. The Bootcamp is embedded in the European Reform University Alliance (ERUA). The course brought together students and colleagues from partner universities from Sofia, Vilnius, Wroclaw and Krakow to collaboratively develop innovative, socially relevant (startup) ideas.

Special Issue Journal of Institutional Economics

Carlos Alberto Prieto Valero and Prof. Albrecht Söllner have begun their work as guest-editors of the Journal of Institutional Economis. Together with colleagues they develop a symposium/ special issue with title “Instiitutional Grammar: Method, Applications and Future Outlook”. The aim of the Symposium is to take stock of recent advances in the Institutional Grammar (IG) as a method for institutional analysis, to showcase innovative empirical and theoretical applications, and to explore future research directions.

Wirtschaftsjuniorenpreis 2026 goes to Suman Schaffa

Suman Schaffa´s Master-Thesis on the role of European innovation ecosystems for the green transformation of the EU - supervised by Dr. Yanis Hamdali and Professor Albrecht Söllner - took first place with her thesis. Suman took up the challenge of presenting her final theses in a pitch format and convinced a jury consisting of members of the Wirtschaftsjunioren Ostbrandenburg, the partner organisation of the Wirtschaftsjunioren Heilbronn-Franken, as well as representatives of the Viadrina and other guests.

Smart City Hackathon Sofia 2026

Meike Joseph, M.Sc. and Professor Albrecht Söllner and their Viadrina Students participate in a five-day intensive urban hackathon held from June 15 to June 19, 2026, hosted by the New Bulgarian University (NBU) in Sofia, Bulgaria. The event is Part of the European Reform University Alliance (ERUA) and brings together more than 40 international students and researchers to develop innovative entrepreneurial solutions for the city's urban challenges. Participants worked in interdisciplinary teams to tackle three specific municipal challenges

INU’s International Student Seminar for Global Citizenship and Peace 2026

Professor Albrecht Söllner will teach, serve as a coach in group-work and hold workshops on the topic “From Globalization to the Global Flower: Regional Pathways to Sustainable Development” during the two-weeks program in Japan. This workshop addresses one of the central challenges of sustainable development: how economic globalization can be reconciled with social justice, environmental integrity, and peaceful cooperation. Drawing on theories of path dependence, negative externalities, institutional economics, and ecological systems thinking, the workshop critically examines why current global economic structures tend to reproduce inequality, environmental degradation, and systemic vulnerability and introduces the “Global Flower” as a conceptual model for rethinking sustainable development.

PROS Conference 2026 in Chania, Greece

Meike Joseph presents her paper “Echo clash chambers - how competing truth claims constitute digital fan collectives”. Focusing on the antagonistic relationship between “Larries” and “Antis” within the fandom of the musicians Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, Meike Joseph demonstrates how competing truth claims function as constitutive mechanisms of organizational boundaries, networked decision-making, and collective agency. Professor Albrecht Söllner presents the paper “Discrimination and distinction as process: Sensemaking, temporality, and the legitimation of social categorization” about how to overcome discrimination through re-categorization and distinction.

EGOS Conference 2026

Meike Joseph presents her paper “Echo Clash Chambers – How Competing Truth Claims Constitute Digital Fan Collectives” at the 42nd EGOS Colloquium, Bergamo 2026. The general theme of the colloquiums is “Reframing Organizations in the More-than-Human Society”.

WINIR Conference 2026

Carlos Alberto Prieto Valero and Prof. Albrecht Söllner present their Paper „ Analyzing Entrepreneurial Ecosystems through Institutional Grammar: A Multi-Level Methodological Approach” at the 2026 WINIR Conference at Sapienza University of Rome.

IMBRA 2026, Munich

Meike Joseph. M.Sc. discusses her contributions about the constitution of Fandoms at the 17th International Music Business Research Days on ‘Music and Entrepreneurship’. IMBRA is a global community of scholars who research the music business. As the international music business research association, IMBRA is dedicated to advancing the understanding of the music business through rigorous research and scholarly collaboration.

Important information for students

Application procedure for seminars and lectures

Information on the application procedure for seminars and lectures can be found on Moodle under the course title "LS International Management (application procedure)". The possibility to apply for the list of successors is available!

Information for Final Theses

Information on requirements, application requirements and the general process for final theses

Before you take the important step of writing your final thesis in our department, we would like to inform you about the basic requirements, the application procedure and the general process.

Supervision of the final thesis

The application for supervision of the final thesis must be submitted centrally to the examination board. Please note the deadlines (15 March and 15 September)! Further information can be found here.

Research and teaching

Profile and projects

Research at the Chair of International Management strives to generate new and relevant knowledge in the areas of international management strategies and theories by focussing on innovation and responsibility in global markets. With a strong reference to institutional economic approaches and classical theories, the projects address diverse aspects such as market entry strategies, competitiveness and innovation processes.

Courses

At the interface between theory and practice, the Chair of International Management imparts in-depth knowledge of the challenges faced by globally active companies. Special emphasis is placed on co-operation with practice partners in order to offer students a realistic and application-oriented education.

Publications

The research work of Prof. Dr. Albrecht Söllner's chair at the European University Viadrina covers a broad spectrum in the field of international management, from evolution in energy production and distribution to resource mobilisation in start-ups, organisational adaptations to discontinuities and the importance of institutional distance for European integration. These works are characterised by their innovative approach and their contribution to the current discussion in international management research.