Seckler Christoph | ESCP Business School

Christoph Seckler

Full Professor of Entrepreneurial Strategy

Department : Entrepreneurship
Campus : Berlin

Prof. Dr. Christoph Seckler is a Full Professor of Entrepreneurship at ESCP Business School in Berlin. He holds the Chair of Entrepreneurial Strategy, serves as the Academic Director of the Executive Master in Digital Innovation and Entrepreneurial Leadership (EMDIEL), and is Director of the research centers: Center for Design Science in Entrepreneurship (DS:E), and INSPIRE. The German magazine Capital recognised him in its ‘Top 40 Under 40’ and ‘Top 10 Upcoming Business Scholars.’ Through visiting positions, he has engaged with the academic communities of the University of Oxford (UK), NUS Business School (Singapore), and UQ Business School (Australia).

His research focuses on leveraging adversity, exploring how difficult situations can lead to meaningful change, such as fostering learning, innovation, and resilience. His work has been published in top international journals, including Accounting, Organizations and Society, Journal of Management Studies, and Academy of Management Discoveries. Christoph’s contributions have earned recognition, receiving three ‘Best Paper Awards’ from the Academy of Management.

As a teacher, Christoph aims to empower individuals to embrace life and succeed. He strives to support their development in ‘thinking,’ ‘doing,’ and ‘being,’ and his teaching approach focuses on action and interaction, creating a dynamic classroom environment. His commitment to excellence has been recognised with a 'Best Teacher Award' from ESCP Business School.

Christoph is also passionate about fostering a better error culture within organisations. He believes a positive error culture is fundamental to energising organisations. He regularly writes, speaks, and consults on this topic, with his work featured in major outlets such as Financial Times, World Economic Forum, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, DIE ZEIT, and Harvard Business Manager. He co-published the Error Culture Report for Germany in collaboration with EY Germany.

For more information, please feel free to reach out to him or visit his website.

PUBLICATIONS
AWARDS AND HONORS

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15 publications

Academic Articles

2026

MEISTER, A., S. MESTWERDT, M. , J. MROZEWSKI, R. MAUER, C. SECKLER

How do Entrepreneurs form Social Business Opportunity Beliefs? An Opportunity Actualization Perspective

ENTREPRENEURSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE, 1-37

Chapters

2026

SECKLER, C.

Foreword

In: Startup Fundraising Decoded: Design Principles and Tools for Entrepreneurs, Timothy Hor, Dimo Dimov, Georges Romme, and James Skinner SpringerNature

Academic Articles

2025

KRATZ, M., C. SECKLER, J. VOM BROCKE

Enacting Creativity Rigorously in Design Science Research: Towards a Typology of Creativity Strategies

LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, 15703, 68-82

Academic Articles

2025

TRUNK, J., K. REMKE, C. SECKLER

Trash to Treasure: Design Principles for Developing Cascading and Repurposing Business Models through Systemic Stakeholder Collaboration

PROCEEDINGS OF THE HAWAII INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SYSTEM SCIENCES (HICSS), 5020-5030

Academic Articles

2025

VANDAELE, J., C. SECKLER, R. MAUER

A Process for Corporates to Launch New Ventures Under Uncertainty: An Echeloned DSR Approach

LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE, 15704, 207-222

Academic Articles

2025

SECKLER, C., R. MAUER, J. VOM BROCKE, M. HANISCH, S. SCHRAGE, O. TERZIDIS, B. WEISSENBERGER

Design Science Across Disciplines: Building Bridges for Advancing Impactful Business Research

SCHMALENBACH JOURNAL OF BUSINESS RESEARCH, 1-43

Chapters

2025

SECKLER, C.

Scheitern als Sprungbrett zum Erfolg

In: Sonderband Zukunft der Arbeit an der Zukunft, J. Nachtwei & K. Nachtwei HR Consulting Review

Conference Presentations

2025

WEGENER, F., T. SCHOMANN, E.-M. SPREITZER, C. FREY-HEGER, A. GÜMÜSAY, M. HANISCH, P. LORINO, E. MARTI, J. REINECKE, C. SECKLER, G. SHARMA

PDW: Prospective, Prescriptive, and Pragmatist Theorizing and Methodology

Academy of Management (AOM)

Conference Presentations

2025

KILINC, B., M. KRATZ, M. GHAZI, H. BERGLUND, G. ROMME, C. SECKLER

PDW: How To Publish Design Science in High Impact Entrepreneurship and Innovation Journals

Academy of Management (AOM)

Media

2025

SECKLER, C

Interview: Mut zur Fehlbarkeit – wie demütige Führung neue Ideen freisetzen kann

WirtschaftsWoche

Research and expertise

News & events

Events

Financial Institutions and Corporate Finance

04 June 2026 - 05 June 2025
07.00 am - 02.00 pm

Events

Women’s Health as an Economic and Innovation Frontier

26 Mar 2026
05.00 pm - 08.00 pm

2025

DESRIST 2025 conference

Best Program in Entrepreneurship Education in Germany

2023

La French Tech

Best Teacher Award

2021

Master in Strategy and Digital Business, ESCP Business School

“Top 40 Under 40”

2021

Recognized as “Top 40 Under 40” by the German magazine Capital

Capital

Top 10 Upcoming Business Scholars

2021

CapitaL

Paper nominated as finalist for the “OMT Louis Pondy Best Dissertation Paper Award”

2020

2020 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management

Nominated for Best Paper Award

2019

G-Forum

Scholarly achievement award

2018

Process Perspective on Organizational Failure

Leuphana University

Best Paper Award in Management Consulting

2017

Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management

Winner of the “Thomson South-Western Outstanding Research-Based Paper on Management Consulting”

2017

Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management

Nominated for the “Carolyn Dexter Award” for best international paper

2013

Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management

Winner of the “Information Age Publishing Award: Outstanding Doctoral Student Paper on Management Consulting”

2013

Academy of Management

Best Paper Award – 2nd runner-up

2012

2012 European Academy of Management Doctoral Colloquium

Research and expertise

News & events

Events

Financial Institutions and Corporate Finance

04 June 2026 - 05 June 2025
07.00 am - 02.00 pm

Events

Women’s Health as an Economic and Innovation Frontier

26 Mar 2026
05.00 pm - 08.00 pm

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Academic Articles

2026

How do Entrepreneurs form Social Business Opportunity Beliefs? An Opportunity Actualization Perspective

Chapters

2026

Foreword

Academic Articles

2025

Enacting Creativity Rigorously in Design Science Research: Towards a Typology of Creativity Strategies

Academic Articles

2025

Trash to Treasure: Design Principles for Developing Cascading and Repurposing Business Models through Systemic Stakeholder Collaboration

Academic Articles

2025

A Process for Corporates to Launch New Ventures Under Uncertainty: An Echeloned DSR Approach

Academic Articles

2025

Design Science Across Disciplines: Building Bridges for Advancing Impactful Business Research

Chapters

2025

Scheitern als Sprungbrett zum Erfolg

Conference Presentations

2025

PDW: Prospective, Prescriptive, and Pragmatist Theorizing and Methodology

Conference Presentations

2025

PDW: How To Publish Design Science in High Impact Entrepreneurship and Innovation Journals

Media

2025

Interview: Mut zur Fehlbarkeit – wie demütige Führung neue Ideen freisetzen kann

Research and expertise

News & events

Events

Events

Herbert Simon Best Paper Award

2025

DESRIST 2025 conference

Best Program in Entrepreneurship Education in Germany

2023

La French Tech

Best Teacher Award

2021

Master in Strategy and Digital Business, ESCP Business School

“Top 40 Under 40”

2021

Capital

Top 10 Upcoming Business Scholars

2021

CapitaL

Paper nominated as finalist for the “OMT Louis Pondy Best Dissertation Paper Award”

2020

2020 Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management

Nominated for Best Paper Award

2019

G-Forum

Scholarly achievement award

2018

Leuphana University

Best Paper Award in Management Consulting

2017

Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management

Winner of the “Thomson South-Western Outstanding Research-Based Paper on Management Consulting”

2017

Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management

Nominated for the “Carolyn Dexter Award” for best international paper

2013

Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management

Winner of the “Information Age Publishing Award: Outstanding Doctoral Student Paper on Management Consulting”

2013

Academy of Management

Best Paper Award – 2nd runner-up

2012

2012 European Academy of Management Doctoral Colloquium

Research and expertise

News & events

Events

Events