Stephanie Rüegger

Supervisor

• Tima Bansal

Stephanie researches how organizations can deliberately transform the social and ecological systems on which they depend. Although firms rely on these life-support systems, much of strategy research still focuses narrowly on firm-level outcomes, as if firms were independent of them. Stephanie's work explores how organizations can act at the systems level, repairing historical injustices, convening diverse stakeholders, and sustaining change over time. She employs engaged scholarship approach, collaborating with organizational partners and communities to co-produce knowledge that is both theoretically rich and practically relevant.

Education

• MBA, INCAE Business School, 2021
• Master in Strategy and International Management, University of St. Gallen, 2021
• Bachelor of Arts in Economics, University of St. Gallen and Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, 2019

Research Interests

• Systems thinking
• Systems Change
• Actionable Futures
• Process philosophy

Publications

• Bansal, T., Lee, J. Y., Mascena, A., Rüegger, S., & Miller, E. M. (2025). Sustainable development at a temporal crossroads: Learning from the past while focusing on the future. Journal of Business Research, 190, 115232.
• Palmié, M., Rüegger, S., Holzer, M., & Oghazi, P. (2023). The “golden” voice of “green” employees: The effect of private environmental orientation on suggestions for improvement in firms’ economic value creation. Journal of Business Research, 156, 113492.
• Palmié, M., Rüegger, S., & Parida, V. (2023). Microfoundations in the strategic management of technology and innovation: Definitions, systematic literature review, integrative framework, and research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 154, 113351.
• Luis Cuenca, Stephanie Rüegger, and Urs Jäger. “Accounting as a mediating practice between values and contexts: a research agenda on impact investment” – Routledge Handbook of Green Finance, (publication in November 2023).

Awards and Honours

• Chisholm Scholarship, Ivey Business School
• High Honours from MBA in INCAE

Conferences

• All Aboard the Entrepreneur-ship [Conference]. (2025). Concordia University, Montreal, Canada. 
• Warwick Summer School on Practice & Process Studies [Summer school]. (2025). University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. 
• Entrepreneurship: The Underground Series [Conference]. (2024). INCAE Business School, Costa Rica. 
• Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Special Issue: "Addressing Systemic Social and Environmental Challenges: The Role of Accounting and Accountability Practices" [Paper Development Workshop]. (2023). Rome, Italy.
• Management Studies for Advanced PhD Students, Early Career Researchers (ECRs), and Junior Faculty in Latin-America: More Voices, Better Theories: Strengthening Research and Collaboration Between Latin America Scholars [Paper Development Workshop]. (2022). IAE Business School, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Sponsored by Academy of Management.

Academic Experience

• Researcher, VIVA Idea and Catedra de Sostenibilidad at INCAE Business School
• Research in Sustainability and Innovation, ITEM, Switzerland