dr. Nikolas Rathert

Bio

My research and teaching focus on the role of corporations and alternative forms of organizing such as social enterprises in addressing a range of complex challenges facing societies today. I study why and how these organizations integrate social goals into their commercial activities, the opportunities and challenges they encounter both from within and outside the organization, and how organizing for social and economic goals differs across institutional contexts. 

I have a PhD in Management from the Freie Universitaet Berlin and was a visiting PhD student at the Kellogg School of Management and a Fulbright Scholar at Cornell University. Before joining Tilburg University, I was a postdoctoral scholar at the Hertie School.

Courses

• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Wicked Problems 301: Intervention Theories and Tools
• International Organizations
• Societal Developments and Institutions
• Tutorial Premaster Organization Studies

Top publications

1. Alternative organizing with social purpose - Revisiting institutional…

   Mair, J., & Rathert, N. (2021). Alternative organizing with social purpose: Revisiting institutional analysis of market-based activity. Socio-Economic Review, 19(2), 817-836.

2. Strategies of legitimation - MNEs and the adoption of CSR in response…

   Rathert, N. (2016). Strategies of legitimation: MNEs and the adoption of CSR in response to host-country institutions. Journal of International Business Studies (JIBS), 47(7), 858–879.

3. Private governance as regulatory substitute or complement? - A compar…

   Jackson, G., & Rathert, N. (2017). Private governance as regulatory substitute or complement? A comparative institutional approach to CSR adoption by multinational corporations. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 49, 445-478.

4. Let’s talk about problems - Advancing research on hybrid organizing, …

   Mair, J., & Rathert, N. (2020). Let’s talk about problems: Advancing research on hybrid organizing, social enterprises, and institutional context. In M. L. Besharov, & B. C. Mitzinneck (Eds.), Research in the sociology of organizations: Organizational hybridity: Perspectives, processes, promises (Vol. 69, pp. 189–208). (Research in the Sociology of Organizations). Emerald Publishing.

5. Understanding firm- and field-level change toward sustainable develop…

   Bünder, T., Rathert, N., & Mair, J. (2022). Understanding firm- and field-level change toward sustainable development: insights from the pharmaceutical industry and access to medicine, 1960-2020. In G. George, M. R. Haas, H. Joshi, A. M. McGahan, & P. Tracey (Eds.), Handbook on the business of sustainability: The organization, implementation, and practice of sustainable growth (pp. 300-319). (Research Handbooks in Business and Management). Edward Elgar.