Assistant Professor Georg Wernicke of HEC Paris

Georg Wernicke

Age: 42

Assistant Professor

How long at HEC Paris: Five years

Education: Ph.D. in Management (University of Mannheim/Germany)

List of EMBA courses you currently teach: Academic director of the EMBA Specialization, “How to be an Effective Board Member”. I also teach selected sessions in Corporate Strategy.

LIFE AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR

I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when….There was no single event. I have been interested in business-related topics since high school, so one led to another.

What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it? 

If I weren’t a business school professor…I never imagined another career path.

What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? Nothing really. My colleagues at HEC are inspiring scholars and teachers, I am fortunate to be among them. Nothing makes one better than the other, we have all individual strengths.

One word that describes my first time teaching: Scary

Professor I most admire and why: Denis Gromb. He was one of the nicest colleagues at HEC, and while being in a different department and field than I am, he regularly checked in with me about how life, teaching, or research were going. He was also an inspiring scholar and teacher. He was the rare kind of person in academia who was awesome in whatever he did while being a friendly person with a genuine interest in the well-being and development of others! 

TEACHING

What do you enjoy most about teaching business students? I find teaching business students an incredibly rewarding experience, as they bring a unique energy and enthusiasm to the classroom that is hard to match. I enjoy their practical and results-oriented approach to problem-solving and I find them eager to learn and constantly seeking new ways to improve their knowledge and skills. It’s truly inspiring to see their passion and dedication, and as an educator, it motivates me to deliver my best teaching and support. They also bring a diversity of perspectives and experiences to the classroom, which makes for lively and engaging discussions. Their unique backgrounds and insights add depth and richness to class conversations, and it’s always fascinating to see how different students approach the same problem from different angles. 

What is most challenging? Students sometimes tend to value practical relevance over theoretical abstraction, so the challenge is sometimes to illustrate the power of abstracting.

In one word, describe your favorite type of student: Curious.

LIFE OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM

What are your hobbies? I enjoy sailing, traveling, and clubbing.

How will you spend your summer? Usually on Ibiza, but this year at home in Paris as my partner and I expect our first child to be born.

Favorite place(s) to vacation: Clearly Ibiza, but I love traveling and each place has something unique to offer.

Favorite book(s): Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer, Life of Pi by Yann Martel

What is currently your favorite movie and/or show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much? The Lives of Others because it relates back to life in East Germany (GDR) and Berlin and how it was affected by the Stasi (the East German secret police) from a partially unusual perspective (perpetrator). I spent part of my childhood in the GDR and grew up in Berlin, and thus can relate to the places where the movie plays and partially also relate to the challenges people faced then.

What is your favorite type of music or artist(s) and why? Electro music – no explanation why and too many favorite DJs to list them all.

REFLECTIONS

If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this… prioritize experiential learning, increase its focus on solving real-world problems, especially the grand challenges and stronger embrace technology to enhance the learning experience.

In my opinion, companies, and organizations today need to do a better job at…acknowledging and being transparent about their performance beyond the financial bottom line and to more strongly include their impact on society and the environment in their core decision-making.

I’m grateful for…the people in my life!