Henning Piezunka  

I am a professor at INSEAD in Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprises (and a visiting professor at Wharton and UPenn). I got a Ph.D. from Stanford University, a Master's degree from the London School of Economics (LSE), and a Diplom-Kaufmann from the University of Mannheim. 

Before I became a professor, I co-founded a company. I was the main shareholder and served as its CEO. We scaled the company to 25 employees and customers in 80 countries. After 10 years, in 2008, we decided to transfer the leadership of the company to my successor. The CEO-succession was successful. And as of 2024, the company continues to thrive. My experience as an entrepreneur shapes my (1) research, (2) teaching & speaking, and (3) my advisory on CEO-successions.

RESEARCH

So much of success is due to relationships. In my research, I strive to understand how to collaborate or compete more effectively. I examine, for example, how the current CEO and their successor can collaborate effectively, how organizations can tap into the knowledge of their employees and customers, or when does healthy competition turn into destructive conflict. My overarching interest lies in understanding what I call relational intelligence: the ability to understand better and leverage relationships.

Studies I have published have won various awards and I have been invited to present my research at prestigious places (e.g., Harvard, MIT, UPenn, Stanford, Chicago, Michigan, London Business School etc.). Fun fact: A lot of the topics I have studied became later the theme of famous TV shows: For example, leadership transition in family businesses (HBO: Succession), competition in chess (Netflix: The Queen's Gambit), or racing in Formula 1 (Netflix: Drive to Survive).

You can learn more about my research here, and find an overview over my research on my Academic CV or on my Google Scholar Profile.

TEACHING & SPEAKING

I teach at INSEAD and at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. You can take my class on New Business Ventures when you study there for your MBA or your Executive MBA. You can also come to INSEAD for one week and take my class. You can sign up here.

I also teach a free 3h-webinar on “Venture Capital, Business Angels, and Startups”. It has been attended by more than 25.000 people. There are two people who took it eleven times. I taught it 103 times. You can sign up here.

I often get asked to give keynotes and workshops at companies and industry conferences. I enjoy these a lot. I have won multiple teaching awards at INSEAD and Wharton. I like to teach people who make a difference. I customize the content of my speeches and workshops to match the particular interests and situations of the company and its audience; though the focus consistently revolves around being entrepreneurial and collaborating effectively. Regarding my speaking style: I make my presentations enjoyable and engaging for the listeners! I am happy to speak online or in person. If you want me to speak at your company or your event, you can contact me here.

RESEARCH & ADVISORY: CEO-SUCCESSION

Getting the CEO succession right is crucial. You know this from a relay race: You can run as fast as you want, but if you fail to pass the baton to the next runner, you and your company fail.

Mastering the CEO succession is challenging: the current CEO needs to resign, a successor needs to be found, the company must be ready for the succession, the successor needs to be onboarded, etc. If the last CEO was unsuccessful, the next one must succeed. If the last CEO was successful, the succession can be particularly challenging: expectations are high, and the danger of disappointment is looming large.

CEO-Succession is a key focus of my research. I also work with companies. Specifically, I work with

  1. the current CEO to prepare them and the company for the succession,

  2. the candidate(s) for the CEO succession to prepare them so that they are ready to take over, and

  3. the owners and the boards of companies.

I often work with family firms, which face particular challenges. Family dynamics need to be managed. Changes in leadership often imply changes in ownership. Children need to be coached long before they take over.

Companies contact me at different points in time—sometimes years in advance—to learn about the key issues in succession and start building a pool of potential successors. It has also happened that companies reach out when they are in the middle of things, and the transition is not going as hoped. You can contact me here.

WEBINAR: Between the Lines

I also run the INSEAD webinar “Between the Lines” I interview (mostly) business school professors who have written great books; for example, I have interviewed Herminia Ibarra, Erin Meyer, Ethan Mollick, Jennifer Petriglieri, Alex Edmans, Bob Sutton, Katy Milkman and Amy Edmondson. I announce news webinars on LinkedIn. So, if you are interested, just follow me there.

Links