Steve Sauerwald

Professor

Steve Sauerwald

Bio

Steve Sauerwald is a Professor of Management in the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. Before joining the University of Houston, he was an Associate Professor of Management and Director of Undergraduate Studies for the B.S. in Management program at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Dallas in 2014, after earning his MBA there in 2008 with support from the Fulbright Commission. His research interests focus on corporate governance, strategic leadership, and corporate social responsibility (CSR). Dr. Sauerwald pursues this research program in a global setting by examining how institutions surrounding domestic and multinational firms shape organizational outcomes. His scholarship has been published in journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of Management, and Journal of International Business Studies, among others.

His research has been covered by the Harvard Business Review and news outlets such as the BBC. He has received several research awards, including the "Best Paper Award" from the Academy of Management (SIM Division) and the "Best Paper in Corporate Social Responsibility and Sustainability" from the Academy of Management (IM Division). Dr. Sauerwald also received Best Reviewer Awards from Corporate Governance: An International Review and Academy of Management Perspectives.

Before entering academia, Dr. Sauerwald worked as a management consultant in Germany and Switzerland. He is a co-author of the textbook Strategic Management: Creating Competitive Advantages (published by McGraw-Hill) with Dess, McNamara, and Eisner. He serves on the editorial boards of Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management Studies, and Journal of Management, among others. Dr. Sauerwald currently serves as Associate Editor at Corporate Governance: An International Review and as Representative-at-Large for the Stakeholder Strategy Interest Group of the Strategic Management Society (SMS).

Link to CV

Research Interests

  • Corporate Governance
  • Strategic Leadership
  • Corporate social responsibility and sustainability

Selected Publications

  • Sauerwald, S., & Norlander, P. 2026. Political directors and the recruitment of foreign workers. Journal of Management, 52(3): 1069–1099.
  • Turturea, R., Sauerwald, S., & Heugens, P. P. M. A. R. 2025. Forging agents of the state? How political institutions impact CEO compensation in state-owned enterprises. Journal of International Business Studies, 56: 589–607.
  • Yin, J., Wu, Y., Liden, R. C., Kluemper, D., Sauerwald, S., & Gu, J. 2024. The interactive effects of abusive CEOs and philanthropic corporate social responsibility on organizational innovation and performance. Academy of Management Journal, 67(6): 1612–1633.
  • Callahan, C., Mitra, A., & Sauerwald, S. 2024. Ethics of care and employees: The impact of female board representation and top management leadership on human capital development policies. Journal of Business Ethics, 195: 615–629.
  • Andrei, A., van Oosterhout, H., & Sauerwald, S. (2023). Symbolic Shareholder Democracy: Toward a Behavioral Understanding of the Role of Shareholder Voting in CEO Dismissals. Organization Science, 34(5): 1736–1758.
  • Chen, V.Z., Duran, P., Sauerwald, S., Hitt, M., & van Essen, M. (2023). Multistakeholder Agency: Stakeholder Benefit Alignment and National Institutional Contexts. Journal of Management, 49(2): 839-865.
  • Marano, V., Sauerwald, S., & van Essen, M. (2022). The Influence of Culture on the Relationship Between Women Directors and Corporate Social Performance. Journal of International Business Studies, 53: 1315–1342.
  • Nair, K., Haque, W., & Sauerwald, S. (2022). It’s Not What You Say, but How You Sound: CEO Vocal Masculinity and the Board’s Early-stage CEO Compensation Decisions. Journal of Management Studies, 59(5): 1227-1252.
  • Mitra, A., Post, C., & Sauerwald, S. (2021). Evaluating Board Candidates: A Threat-Contingency Model of Shareholder Dissent Against Female Director Candidates. Organization Science, 32(1): 86-110.
  • Aguilera, R., Duran, P., Heugens, P., Sauerwald, S., Turturea, R., & van Essen, M. (2021). State Ownership, Political Ideology, and Firm Performance Around the World. Journal of World Business, 56(1): 101113.
  • Heugens, P., Sauerwald, S., Turturea, R., & van Essen, M. (2020). Does State Ownership Hurt or Help Minority Shareholders? International Evidence from Control Block Acquisitions. Global Strategy Journal, 10(4): 750-778.
  • Sauerwald, S. & Su, W (2019). CEO Overconfidence and CSR Decoupling. Corporate Governance: An International Review, 27(4): 283-300.
  • Blevins, D., Sauerwald, S., Hoobler, J., & Robertson, C. (2019). Gender Differences in Pay Levels: An Examination of the Compensation of University Presidents. Organization Science, 30(3): 600-616.
  • Tihanyi, L., Aguilera, R., Heugens, P., van Essen, M., Sauerwald, S., Duran, P., & Turturea, R. (2019). State Ownership and Political Connections. Journal of Management, 45(6): 2293-2321.
  • Sauerwald, S., Heugens, P., Turturea, R., & van Essen, M. (2019). Are All Private Benefits of Control Ineffective? Principal-Principal Benefits, External Governance Quality, and Firm Performance. Journal of Management Studies, 56(4): 725-757.
  • Zhu, H., Ma, X., Sauerwald, S., & Peng, M. (2019). Home Country Institutions Behind Cross-Border Acquisition Performance. Journal of Management, 45(4): 1315-1342.
  • Sauerwald, S., van Oosterhout, H., van Essen, M, & Peng, M. (2018). Proxy Advisors and Shareholder Dissent: A Cross-Country Comparative Study. Journal of Management, 44(8): 3364-3394.
  • Su, W. & Sauerwald, S. (2018). Does Corporate Philanthropy Increase Firm Value? The Moderating Role of Corporate Governance. Business & Society, 57(4): 599-635.
  • Sauerwald, S., van Oosterhout, H., & van Essen, M. (2016). Expressive Shareholder Democracy: A Multilevel Study of Shareholder Dissent in 15 Western European Countries. Journal of Management Studies, 53(4): 520-551.
  • Sauerwald, S., Lin, Z., & Peng, M. (2016). Board Social Capital and Excess CEO Returns. Strategic Management Journal, 37(3): 498-520.

Contact Info

Phone:
 713-743-4650 
Email:
  ssauerwald@uh.edu
Room:
 315H
Website:
  Visit Web Site

Education

Ph.D. & MBA - University of Texas at Dallas