Lea Ruesch

Lea is an Assistant Professor of Decision Sciences in the area of Operations and Technology at IE Business School. Previously, she worked as a Research and Teaching Fellow in Organizational Psychology at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Lea completed her PhD in Management at the intersection of Organizational Psychology and Humanitarian Operations at the Kuehne Logistics University (KLU) and worked as a visiting researcher at the Rotterdam School of Management (RSM). Her mission as a teacher and researcher is to contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by zooming in on the question of how strategic partnerships can be leveraged for global development (SDG 17). Specifically, her research and education focus on inter- and intra-organizational cooperation in resource scarce contexts as a key to socially responsible and sustainable operations. To explore this, she uses quantitative (multilevel regression analysis, text mining, and agent-based simulation) as well as qualitative methods. Lea has published her research in the field of humanitarian operations in the Production and Operations Management Journal.

To complement her academic training, she used to work in the communications, coaching, and consultancy sectors at international companies such as Kienbaum Singapore, Deutsche Bank London and Frankfurt and ZDF (German public-service television broadcaster).

Academic Experience

• Assistant Professor of Decision Science, IE Business School, Spain, 2022 - Present

• Research and Teaching Fellow, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, 2021 - 2022

• Doctoral Candidate and Research Assistant, Kuehne Logistics University, Germany, 2017 - 2021

Academic Background

• Ph.D. in Management, Kuehne Logistics University, Germany, 2022

• MSc in Organizational Social Psychology, London School of Economics and Political Science, UK, 2017

• B.A. in Communication Science and Economics, Johannes Gutenberg University, Germany, 2014

Corporate Experience

• Intern in HR-Consulting, HR Pepper, Berlin (Germany), 2015 - 2016

• Research Analyst in Executive Search, Kienbaum, Singapore, 2015

• Intern in Corporate Communications, Deutsche Bank, London (UK) & Frankfurt (Germany), 2013 - 2014

• Editorial Assistant, heute-Journal/ Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, Mainz (Germany), 2011 - 2013