HENNING PIEZUNKA
PROFESSOR & ADVISOR ON FOUNDER- & CEO SUCCESSIONS  

Henning Piezunka is a professor at The Wharton School. Before joining Wharton, he was a professor at INSEAD. He 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 was the founder & CEO of a company. When I left the company and another CEO took over, the company had 25 employees and customers in 80 countries. The CEO-succession was successful - and as of 2024, the company continues to thrive. This helps explain my interest in CEO-succession - a focus of my research and advisory. 

RESEARCH

For an overview, see my Academic CV or my Google Scholar Profile.

The focus of my research is on Founder- & CEO Successions. I have also devoted myself to research on Competition & Collaboration as well as on Crowdsourcing. 

My research serves as the foundation of my teaching, speaking, and advisory work. Studies I have published have won various awards, and I have been invited to present my research at Harvard, MIT, Stanford, Chicago, London Business School, etc.

Summaries of my research on INSEAD Knowledge, videos about some of my papers on YouTube, and links to my papers can be found on my academic CV 

ADVISORY: FOUNDER- & CEO-SUCCESSION

Getting founder- & CEO-Successions 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, and so on. Expectations are high, and the danger of disappointment is looming large.

I work with companies helping them to get the CEO succession right. I have worked with

Please contact me here if you seek advice regarding the CEO succession in your company. 

  • Making sure the CEO-succession works is the most important job of the owners and the board. While the CEO manages the company, the owners and the board need to decide who is in charge. I help owners and boars to manage the complete succession process. Identifying candidates, selecting a successor, dealing with ownership issues (e.g., transfer of ownership, (partial) sale etc.).

  • It is crucial for a good succession that the current CEO is supportive. While CEOs often initially want to ensure a good succession, they often end up being a hindrance rather than helpful. I work with the current CEO to get themselves - and the company ready for succession.

  • Companies have multiple candidates for the CEO position. These candidates may have CEO potential, but are for sure not ready. For example, high-performing managers. I help companies assess and coach such managers. I also help devise a career plan that helps them to one day take on the CEO position.

  • Once the next CEO determines it is crucial that (s)he is prepared for the succession. The first hundred days are crucial - but also the year before the first hundred days is crucial. I help the next CEO to be well-prepared to take over the reigns.

TEACHING, WORKSHOPS & SPEAKING

I teach at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. So, as a UPenn student, you can take my class. I look forward to have you in class. 

I often get asked to give workshops and keynotes. I run workshops at companies; typically attended by board members, top management teams, and high potentials. Simply said, I like to teach people who strive to make a difference. I also give keynotes at company and industry events. I enjoy these a lot. I have won multiple teaching awards at INSEAD and Wharton. I customize the content of my speeches and workshops to match your particular interests and situation. The focus, though, consistently revolves around the questions of (1) how to make companies more entrepreneurial, (2) how to build a fair organization, and (3) founder- and CEO-successions. Regarding my speaking style: I make my presentations enjoyable and engaging for the listeners! I speak online or in person. If you want me to speak at your company or your event, 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, Markus Reitzig, Alex Edmans, Bob Sutton, Katy Milkman, Amy Edmondson, Felix Oberholzer-Gee and Scott Page. I announce new webinars on LinkedIn. So, if you are interested, just follow me there.


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