prof.dr. S.R. (Steffen) Giessner

Full Professor

Department of Organisation and Personnel Management

Rotterdam School of Management (RSM)

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Fellow ERIM

Field: Organisation

Affiliated since 2004

T: +31 10 4081572

E: sgiessner@rsm.nl

Steffen R. Giessner is Professor of Organisational Behaviour and Change at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (RSM).

He holds an MSc in Psychology from the University of Kent at Canterbury, UK, and a PhD in Psychology from the Friedrich-Schiller-University Jena, Germany. His research is located at the intersection of organizational psychology and management. His primary research topics are employee support during organizational merger, follower’s perceptions of leadership, antecedents of leader behavior, and non-verbal communication of power. He has authored and co-authored papers in the areas of organizational behavior, management, and psychology. His research received media coverage in outlets like the New York Times, Financial Times, The Guardian, Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business Manager and Wall Street Journal.

Publications (48)

Key Publications (5)

S.I. Wong & S.R. Giessner (2018). The thin line between empowering and laissez-faire leadership: An expectancy match perspective. Journal of Management, 44 (2), 757-783. doi: 10.1177/0149206315574597
S. Reh, N. van Quaquebeke & S.R. Giessner (2017). The aura of charisma: A review on the embodiment perspective as signaling. The Leadership Quarterly, 28 (4), 486-507. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2017.01.001
S.R. Giessner, K.E. Horton & S.I.W. Humborstad (2016). Identity management during organizational mergers: Empirical insights and practical advice. Social Issues and Policy Review, 10 (1), 47-81. doi: 10.1111/sipr.12018
S.R. Giessner, D. van Knippenberg, W.P. van Ginkel & E. Sleebos (2013). Team-oriented leadership: The Interactive Effects of Leader Group Prototypicality, Accountability, and Team Identification. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98 (4), 658-667. doi: 10.1037/a0032445
S.R. Giessner & D. van Knippenberg (2008). "License to fail": Goal definition, leader group prototypicality, and perceptions of leadership effectiveness after leader failure. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 105 (1), 14-35. doi: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2007.04.002

Articles (33)

S.R. Giessner & T.W. Schubert (2019). Power and vertical positions in an organization chart: A pre-registered replication report of Study 3a and a modification of Study 1a, Giessner & Schubert (2007). Collabra: Psychology, 5 (1). doi: 10.1525/collabra.216
L. Monzani, V. Knoll, S.R. Giessner, R. van Dick & J.M. Peiró (2019). Between a rock and hard place: Combined effects of authentic leadership, organizational identification, and team prototypicality on managerial prohibitive voice. Spanish Journal of Psychology, 22 (1), 1-20.
N. Keck, S.R. Giessner, N. van Quaquebeke & E. Kruijff (2019). When do followers perceive their leaders as ethical? A relational models perspective of normatively appropriate conduct. Journal of Business Ethics, Accepted . doi: 10.1007/s10551-018-4055-3
R.A. Klein, M. Vianello, F. Hasselman, B.G. Adams, R.B. Adams, S. Alper, M. Aveyard, J.R. Axt, S. Bahnik, R. Batra, M. Berkics, M.J. Bernstein, D. Berry, O. Bialobrzeska, E. Binan, K. Bocian, M.J. Brandt, R. Busching, A.C. Redei, H. Cai, F. Cambier, K. Cantarero, C.L. Carmichael, F. Ceric, D.C. Cicero, J. Chandler, A. Chatard, E.E. Chen, J.H. Chang, W. Cheong, S. Coen, J.A. Coleman, B. Collisson, M.A. Conway, K.S. Corker, P.G. Curran, F. Cushman, Z.K. Dagon, I. Dalgar, A. Dalla Rosa, W.E. Davis, M. Bruijn, de, L. De Schutter, T. Devos, C. Dogulu, N. Dozo, K.N. Dukes, Y. Dunham, K. Durrheim, C.R. Ebersole, J.E. Edlund, A.S. English, A. Eller, C. Finck, N. Frankowska, M.A. Freyre, M. Friedman, E.M. Galliani, J.C. Gandi, T. Ghoshal & S.R. Giessner (2018). Many labs 2: Investigating variation in replicability across sample and setting. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 1 (4), 443-490. doi: 10.1177/2515245918810225
S.I. Wong & S.R. Giessner (2018). The thin line between empowering and laissez-faire leadership: An expectancy match perspective. Journal of Management, 44 (2), 757-783. doi: 10.1177/0149206315574597
H. Toscano, T.W. Schubert & S.R. Giessner (2018). Eye Gaze and Head Posture Jointly Influence Judgments of Dominance, Physical Strength, and Anger. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 42 (3), 285-309. doi: 10.1007/s10919-018-0276-5
R. van Dick, J.E. Lemoine, N.K. Steffens, R. Kerschreiter, S.A. Akfarit, L. Avanzi, K. Dumont, O. Epitropaki, S.R. Giessner & ,. et al. (2018). Identity Leadership Going Global: Validation of the Identity Leadership Inventory (ILI) across 20 Countries. Journal of Organizational and Occupational Psychology, 91 (4), 697-728. doi: 10.1111/joop.12223
G.G. van Houwelingen, D.A. Stam & S.R. Giessner (2017). So close and yet so far away: A psychological distance account of the effectiveness of leader appeals. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 47 (12), 665-676. doi: 10.1111/jasp.12469
M. Rosa, E. Kavanagh, P. Kounov, S. Jarosz, S. Waldzus, E. Collins & S.R. Giessner (2017). Change commitment in low status merger partners: The role of information processing, relative ingroup prototypicality and merger patterns. The British Journal of Social Psychology, 56 (3), 618-630. doi: 10.1111/bjso.12189
S. Reh, N. van Quaquebeke & S.R. Giessner (2017). The aura of charisma: A review on the embodiment perspective as signaling. The Leadership Quarterly, 28 (4), 486-507. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2017.01.001
S.R. Giessner, K.E. Horton & S.I.W. Humborstad (2016). Identity management during organizational mergers: Empirical insights and practical advice. Social Issues and Policy Review, 10 (1), 47-81. doi: 10.1111/sipr.12018
D.E. Rast, M.A. Hogg & S.R. Giessner (2016). Who trusts charismatic leaders who champion change? The role of group identification, membership centrality and self-uncertainty. Group Dynamics: Theory, Research and Practice, 20 (4), 259-275. doi: 10.1037/gdn0000053
S.R. Giessner, N. van Quaquebeke, S. van Gils, D. van Knippenberg & J.A.J.M. Kollée (2015). In the moral eye of the beholder: The interactive effects of leader and follower moral identity on perceptions of ethical leadership and LMX quality. Frontiers in Psychology, 6 , 1126. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01126
I.H. Gleibs, S. Täuber, G.T. Viki & S.R. Giessner (2013). When what we get is not what we want - The role of implemented versus desired merger patterns in support for mergers. Social Psychology, 44 (3), 177-190. doi: 10.1027/1864-9335/a000102
S.R. Giessner, D. van Knippenberg, W.P. van Ginkel & E. Sleebos (2013). Team-oriented leadership: The Interactive Effects of Leader Group Prototypicality, Accountability, and Team Identification. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98 (4), 658-667. doi: 10.1037/a0032445
D.E. Rast, M.A. Hogg & S.R. Giessner (2013). Self-uncertainty and support for autocratic leadership. Self and Identity, 12 (6), 635-649. doi: 10.1080/15298868.2012.718864
J.A.J.M. Kollée, S.R. Giessner & D. van Knippenberg (2013). Leader evaluations after performance feedback: The role of follower mood. The Leadership Quarterly, 24 (1), 203-214. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.10.007
K. Zanolie, S. Van Dantzig, I. Boot, J.. Wijnen, T.W. Schubert, S.R. Giessner & D. Pecher (2012). Mighty metaphors: Behavioral and ERP evidence that power shifts attention on a vertical dimension. Brain and Cognition, 78 (1), 50-58. doi: 10.1016/j.bandc.2011.10.006
S.A. Eisenbeiβ & S.R. Giessner (2012). The Emergence and Maintenance of Ethical Leadership in Organizations: A Question of Embeddedness? Journal of Personnel Psychology, 11 (1), 7-19. doi: 10.1027/1866-5888/a000055
S.R. Giessner, J. Ullrich & R. van Dick (2011). Social Identity and Corporate Mergers. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5 (6), 333-345. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2011.00357.x
S.R. Giessner, J. Ullrich & R. van Dick (2011). Teaching & Learning Guide for: Social Identity and Corporate Mergers. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 5 (7), 500-504. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2011.00359.x
S.R. Giessner, M.K. Ryan, T.W. Schubert & N. van Quaquebeke (2011). The power of pictures: Vertical picture angles in power pictures. Media Psychology, 14 (4), 441-463. doi: 10.1080/15213269.2011.620541
S.R. Giessner (2011). Is the merger necessary? The interactive effect of perceived necessity and sense of continuity on post-merger identification. Human Relations, 64 (8), 1079-1098. doi: 10.1177/0018726711406979
N.A. Hakimi, D. van Knippenberg & S.R. Giessner (2010). Leader Empowering Behaviour: The Leader's Perspective. British Journal of Management, 21 (3), 701-716. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8551.2010.00703.x
S.R. Giessner & N. van Quaquebeke (2010). Using a relational models perspective to understand normatively appropriate conduct in ethical leadership. Journal of Business Ethics, 95 (supplement 1), 43-55. doi: 10.1007/s10551-011-0790-4
N. van Quaquebeke & S.R. Giessner (2010). How embodied cognitions affect judgments: Height-related attribution bias in football foul calls. Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology, 32 (1), 3-22. doi: 10.1123/jsep.32.1.3
S.R. Giessner, D. van Knippenberg & E. Sleebos (2009). License to fail? How leader group prototypicality moderates the effects of leader performance on perceptions of leadership effectiveness. The Leadership Quarterly, 20 (3), 434-451. doi: 10.1016/j.leaqua.2009.03.012
T.W. Schubert, S. Waldzus & S.R. Giessner (2009). Control over the Association of Power and Size. Social Cognition, 27 (1), 1-19. doi: 10.1521/soco.2009.27.1.1 [go to publisher's site]
S.R. Giessner & A. Mummendey (2008). United we win, divided we fail? Effects of cognitive representations and performance feedbacks on merging groups. European Journal of Social Psychology, 38 (3), 412-435. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.439
T.W. Schubert & S.R. Giessner (2008). The naked power: Understanding nonverbal communication of power. In-Mind Magazin, 2 (6).
S.R. Giessner & D. van Knippenberg (2008). "License to fail": Goal definition, leader group prototypicality, and perceptions of leadership effectiveness after leader failure. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 105 (1), 14-35. doi: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2007.04.002
S.R. Giessner & T.W. Schubert (2007). High in the Hierarchy: How Vertical Location and Judgments of Leaders' Power are Interrelated. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 104 (1), 30-44. doi: 10.1016/j.obhdp.2006.10.001
S.R. Giessner, G.T. Viki, S. Otten, D.J. Terry & S. Täuber (2006). The challenge of merging: Merger patterns, pre-merger status and merger support. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 32 (3), 339-352. doi: 10.1177/0146167205282151 [go to publisher's site]

Book Contributions (7)

S.I.W. Wong, E. Solberg, P. Junni & S.R. Giessner (2016). The role of human resource management practices in mergers & acquisitions. In C..L. Cooper, S..Y. Tarba, R..M. Sarala & M..F. Ahammad (Eds.), Mergers and acquisitions in practice (pp. 138-161). New York: Routledge
S.R. Giessner & G. Jacobs (2014). Identität und Prototypikalität. In J. Felfe (Ed.), Trends der psychologischen Führungsforschung – Neue Konzepte, Methoden und Erkenntnisse (pp. 117-128). Hogrefe
G. Jacobs & S.R. Giessner (2014). Führung von Veränderungsprozessen: Die Bedeutung von Identität und der Umgang mit Widerstand. In J Felfe (Ed.), Trends der psychologischen Führungsforschung – Neue Konzepte, Methoden und Erkenntnisse (pp. 491-500). Hogrefe
S.R. Giessner, J. Ullrich & R. van Dick (2012). A Social Identity Analysis of Mergers & Acquisitions. In D. Faulkner, S. Teerikangas & R. Joseph (Eds.), Handbook of Mergers & Acquisitions (pp. 474-495). Oxford: Oxford University Press
S.R. Giessner (2009). Diskriminierung und Toleranz bei Unternehmensfusionen. In Andreas Beelman & Kai Jonas (Eds.), Diskriminierung und Toleranz: Psychologische Grundlagen und Anwendungsperspektiven (pp. 399-418). Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften
D. van Knippenberg, B. van Knippenberg & S.R. Giessner (2007). Extending the follow-centered perspective: Leadership as an outcome of shared social identity. In B Shamir, R. Pillai, M.C. Bligh & M. Uhl-Bien (Eds.), Follower-centered perspective on leadership: A tribute to the memory of James R. Meindl (pp. 51-70). Greenwich: Information Age Publishing
S.R. Giessner (2003). Eine Intergruppenperspektive auf Unternehmensfusionen [An intergroup perspective on organizational mergers]. In J. Straehle (Ed.), Interkulturelle Mergers & Acquisitions. Eine interdisziplinare Perspektive [Intercultural merger and acquisitions. An interdisciplinary perspective] (pp. 168-194). Berlin: Sternenfels

Doctoral Thesis

S.R. Giessner. United we run, divided we fail? Effects of cognitive representations and performance feedbacks on merging groups. University of Jena, Germany (133 pag.) ( Digitale Bibliothek Thueringen) Prom./coprom.: A. Mummendey & Prof. Dr. R.J. Brown.

Inaugural Speech

S.R. Giessner (2016). Organisational mergers. A Behavioural perspective on identity management. (2016, april 1). Rotterdam: Erasmus Research Institute of Management

Professional Publications (6)

S.I. Wong, S.R. Giessner, C. van Ballen & V. Roufanis (2017). Using new ways of working to attract millennials. Communication for Leaders , 24-25.
S.R. Giessner & S.I. Wong (2016). The fine line between hands-on and hands-off leadership. RSM Discovery - Management Knowledge, 25 (1), 11-13. [go to publisher's site]
S.I.W. Humborstad, S.R. Giessner & E. Solberg (2015). Key to Success in Mergers & Acquisitions. Communication for Leaders, 2015 (2), 8-9.
M.H. van Dijke, S.R. Giessner, R. Van Tulder & R.I. Gilbert (2014). What value ethical leadership? RSM Discovery - Management Knowledge, 18 (2), 8-11.
S.R. Giessner (2011). Identity management key to successful mergers. RSM Insight, 6 (2), 7-9.
N. van Quaquebeke, T. Eckloff, S. Zenker & S.R. Giessner (2009). Leadership in the Eye of the Beholder: Cognitive Construction, Recognition, and Interpretation of Leadership. Personalfuhrung, 1 , 34-41.