Professor Dr. Sascha L. Schmidt
Center for Sports and Management

- Director of the Center for Sports and Management at WHU
- Chairholder of the Chair for Sports and Management at WHU
- Academic Director of the Sports Business Academy by WHU (SPOAC)
- Lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Sports Entrepreneurship Bootcamp
- Member of the "Digital Initiative" at Harvard Business School in Boston, USA
Vita
Sascha L. Schmidt is a professor and director of the Center for Sports and Management (CSM) at WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management, as well as the academic director of "SPOAC - Sports Business Academy by WHU" . The "Future of Sport" is one of Sascha's key research areas.
He studied economic sciences at the Universities of Essen and Zurich, where he also graduated with a doctorate. At the invitation of Harvard Business School faculty he worked in Boston as a visiting scholar, after which he joined strategy consulting. After several years at McKinsey, Sascha was appointed director of the ICS research program at the University of St. Gallen, and qualified as a professor at the EBS University (habilitation). He then entered into the world of entrepreneurship, building up the activities of recruitment agency a-connect within Germany. In 2011, he returned to academia and founded the Institute for Sports, Business & Society at EBS University. Sascha joined WHU in 2014. In 2019, he was a lecturer at the first MIT Sports Entrepreneurship Bootcamp.
- Name: Sascha Leonard Schmidt
- Born: February 8, 1971 in Hagen
- Marital Status: Married since 2003, 3 children
- Home: Düsseldorf
Date | University | Position |
---|---|---|
Since Jul. 2018 | Harvard University, Boston | Affiliate Professor, Laboratory for Innovation Science at Harvard (LISH) |
Since Aug. 2014 | WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management, Dusseldorf | Director, Center for Sports and Management |
Since Jan. 2014 | WHU - Otto Beisheim School of Management, Dusseldorf | Professor and Chairholder, Chair for Sports and Management |
Jan. 2014 - Dec. 2014 | EBS University, Oestrich-Winkel | Director, Center for Sports Marketing |
Apr. 2011 - Dec. 2013 | EBS University, Oestrich-Winkel | Director, Institute for Sports, Business & Society |
Since July 2012 | EBS University, Oestrich-Winkel | Senior Professor |
Jan. 2011 - Jun. 2012 | EBS University, Oestrich-Winkel | Honorary Professor |
Jul. 2006 - Dec. 2010 | EBS University, Oestrich-Winkel | Senior Lecturer |
Oct. 2003 - Feb. 2011 | EBS University, Oestrich-Winkel | Lecturer for Strategy Consulting |
Since 2007 | National Center for Econometric Research, Brisbane | Research Fellow |
Apr. 2003 - Mar. 2005 | University of St. Gallen | Co-leader of ICS-Research Program; Lecturer within Executive Education Program |
2002/03 | University of Oldenburg | Lecturer for Strategic Management / Consulting Research |
Jan. 1999 - Jul. 1999 | Harvard Business School, Boston | Visiting Scholar |
1995 | Harvard Business School, Boston | Research Associate |
1998 | University of Zurich | Lecturer for business administration |
1996 - 1999 | University of Zurich | Research and teaching assistant |
Since 2019 | em lyon business school Asia | Research Associate |
Since 2019 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) | Lecturer at the MIT Sports Entrepreneurship Bootcamp |
Date | University | |
---|---|---|
2003 - 2006 | EBS University, Oestrich-Winkel | Professor thesis (Habilitation) in business administration, reviewer: Prof. Dr. Jean-Paul Thommen (EBS), Prof. Dr. Hartmut Kreikebaum (EBS), Prof. Dr. Martin Welge (University of Dortmund) |
1996 - 1999 | University of Zurich | Doctoral studies in Business Administration (Dr. oec. publ.) summa cum laude; (reviewer: Prof. Dr. Edwin Rühli, Prof. Dr. Margit Osterloh) |
1993 - 1995 | University of Zurich | Graduate studies in Business Administration and Economics (Lic. oec. publ.) summa cum laude |
1991 - 1993 | University of Essen | Undergraduate Studies of Economics |
Date | Company | Position |
---|---|---|
Oct. 2006 - Mar. 2011 | a-connect Germany LTD, Dusseldorf | Managing Director, built up German business from scratch |
Mar. 2005 - Oct. 2006 | a-connect Switzerland LTD, Zurich | Business Builder, developed financial services practice |
Sep. 2001 - Mar. 2003 | McKinsey & Company, Johannesburg, Zurich and New York | Engagement Manager (Johannesburg and Zurich), PMI Officer of South African banking merger, led strategy projects in the area of life insurance, automotive |
Aug. 2000 - Aug. 2001 | McKinsey & Company, Johannesburg, Zurich and New York | Senior Associate / Junior Engagement Manager (New York), Strategy projects in the area of wealth management, equity trading, clearing & settlement, prime brokerage |
Oct. 1999 - Aug. 2000 | McKinsey & Company, Johannesburg, Zurich and New York | Associate Management Consultant (Zurich), Strategy projects in the area of online banking, PFS business building (incl. alliance‐ and M&A strategy), private banking, corporate finance |
2018 | Best Teacher Award by SPOAC Sports Business Academy by WHU |
---|---|
2005 | European Business School Excellence Award for Research |
2005 | Thomson South‐Western Award for Outstanding Research Based Paper on Management Consulting, Management Consulting Division, Academy of Management |
2005 | Nomination for Carolyn Dexter Award for the best international paper, Academy of Management |
2004 | Best Paper Award, 2nd International Conference on Management Consulting, Academy of Management |
2002 | Intern. Federation of Scholarly Associations of Management, Best Paper Award in the field of Strategic Management |
1999 | Swiss National Research Foundation, fulltime scholarship for Harvard Business School |
Publications
This paper examines the effect of superstars on external stakeholders’ organizational identification through the lens of sport. Drawing on social identity theory and the concept of organizational identification, as well as on role model theories and superstar economics, several hypotheses are developed regarding the influence of soccer stars on their fans’ degree of team identification. Using a proprietary data set that combines archival data on professional German soccer players and clubs with survey data on more than 1,400 soccer fans, this study finds evidence for a positive effect of superstar characteristics and role model perception. Moreover, it is found that players who qualify for the definition of a superstar are more important to fans of established teams than to fans of unsuccessful teams. The player's club tenure, however, seems to have no influence on fans’ team identification. It is further argued that the effect of soccer stars on their fans is comparable to that of executives on external stakeholders, and hence, the results are applied to the business domain. The results of this study contribute to existing research by extending the list of personnel‐related determinants of organizational identification.
Focus and Manager Magazin –
Read Professor Schmidt's regular columns
Professor Schmidt regularly publishes columns in Focus and Manager Magazin. Here you will find all of them in one place.
29.05.2020 | Digital statt analog: Riesige LED-Wände zaubern virtuelle Fans ins Fußballstadion
26.09.2019 | Elektronische Pille soll Athleten vor Überhitzung schützen
07.03.2019 | Dieser Management-Trend der Bundesliga ist sinnvoll
09.11.2018 | Wie der Profi-Fußball die Gaming-Szene erobert
07.08.2018 | Wie die Gaming-Sensation Fortnite jetzt die eSport-Szene aufmischen will
30.07.2018 | Ronaldo-Hype in Italien - braucht die Bundesliga auch einen globalen Superstar?
Read more08.06.2018 | Warum Real-Rüpel Ramos so viele Fans hat
15.03.2018 | Wie Algorithmen die Zukunft des Scoutings verändern
26.02.2018 | China bringt deutschen Fußball-Clubs ungeahntes Wachstum
08.02.2018 | Sportbosse haben falsche Vorstellung davon, was junge Fans wirklich wollen
08.12.2017 | Hängen paralympische Athleten die Olympia-Starter bald dank neuer Technik ab?
24.07.2017 | Ihre Bank wird bald zum Rivalen für Ihren Lieblings-Fußballverein
30.06.2017 | Tour de France kostet Düsseldorf Millionen - lohnt sich das?
05.05.2017 | Was eSports vom Fußball noch lernen kann
02.03.2017 | Wie neue Daten-Technologien den Fußball erobern
10.11.2016 | FC Schalke 04 macht’s vor: eGaming startet durch
15.09.2016 | Schlucken Profis bald Sensoren vor dem Spiel?
02.09.2016 | Wie Hobbyfußballer zu Alltagshelden werden
26.08.2016 | Bundesliga-Clubs haben ein Problem mit Dauerkarten-Besitzern
20.08.2016 | Bundesligisten konkurrieren mit Großfirmen um Top-Manager
26.07.2016 | Wieso den besten Spielern der größte Absturz droht
15.07.2016 | Treten bei der Fußball-WM 2050 Roboter gegen Menschen an?
06.07.2016 | Superstars im Vergleich: "Was Bale macht, würde Ronaldo niemals tun"
01.07.2016 | Warum die Nationalelf ganz Deutschland zusammenführt
30.05.2016 | Schalke 04 investiert in eSports - ein genialer Schachzug?
09.05.2016 | Bundesliga muss Münchner Dominanz nicht fürchten - sondern als Chance sehen
01.05.2016 | Das Leicester-Märchen: Kann es eine Fortsetzung geben?
22.04.2016 | Die Bundesliga-Clubs müssen bei der Trainer-Auswahl ganz neue Wege gehen
Read less15.05.2020 | Kulturwandel in der Bundesliga
14.04.2020 | Die Stunde der Leader
17.05.2019 | Bayern und Dortmund: In der Heimat Rivalen - in China Verbündete
09.03.2019 | Warum Spitzensportler gute Manager sind
15.10.2018 | Moneyball - wie Billy Beane das Sportbusiness verändert hat
20.08.2018 | Was Fußballvereine von Entwicklungsländern lernen können
04.07.2018 | Was Unternehmen von Messi und Ronaldo lernen können
Read more22.06.2018 | Was ein WM-Aus der Deutschen strategisch bedeuten würde
08.06.2018 | Robos statt Ramos
14.03.2018 | Vorsicht vor den Post-Millennials!
02.02.2018 | Sport oder Daddeln? Der Kampf um die "Generation Z"
12.10.2017 | Warum Gaming-Turniere ein gutes Investment für Unternehmen sind
15.07.2017 | Fußball-Boom - wo sind die Wachstumstreiber der Zukunft?
14.10.2016 | Wie man einen Fußball-Bundesligaclub erfolgreich neu aufstellt
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