Jochen Menges

Associate Professor in Organisational Behaviour

BA, MA (University of Heidelberg), PhD (University of St Gallen)

My research interests include the social dynamics between leaders and followers. I examine, for example, how charismatic leaders affect followers, how emotions spread through organisations, and how leaders build emotional intelligence into organisational systems. My research relies on experimental, archival, survey and field studies. I’m a member of the Organisational Behaviour subject group at Cambridge Judge Business School, which aspires to promote our understanding of behaviour within organisations and translate our scientific research into practical applications.

Jochen Menges.

Professional experience

Jochen’s research has been published in top-tier academic outlets such as the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. He regularly writes for Harvard Business Review and his discoveries have been featured in two TEDx talks and the media around the world, for example, by the BBC, CNN, The Economist, The Financial Times, Le Monde, The New York Times, NPR, The Wall Street Journal, and Die Zeit.

In his research, teaching and consulting, Jochen has worked with a diverse set of companies and organisations including the Adecco Group, the Boston Consulting Group, British Telecom, Daimler, easyJet, the European Commission, Google, Grey, Jaguar Land Rover, L’Oréal, Media Arts Lab, Microsoft, Nordea, Rolls-Royce, Trivago, the UK’s Cabinet Office, and the World Bank. As a co-founder of the Global HR Valley, a future-of-work ecosystem that is part of the Reskilling Revolution of the World Economic Forum, he builds a platform together with prominent businesses, organisations and governments to prepare leaders and organisations for a changing world of work.

Jochen has lectured at all academic levels and received multiple best teacher awards. He has also taught at startup incubators such as Plug & Play in Silicon Valley and the Venture Café Foundation in Boston, as well as at prestigious military academies, such as the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in the UK and the Center for Leadership in Germany. Jochen is amongst the founders of the Experimental Laboratory at Cambridge Judge Business School. He is an Associate Editor for the Academy of Management Discoveries and a member of the Editorial Board of The Leadership Quarterly; previously, he was a Consulting Editor for Emotion and served on the Editorial Board of the Academy of Management Journal. He is a Subject Matter Expert of the Academy of Management and  an executive board member of the International Society for Emotional Intelligence. He is also an expert member for the Emotion Revolution in the Workplace project by the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence.

Previous appointments

Jochen’s primary appointment is with the University of Zurich, Switzerland, where he is a Full Professor, holds the Chair of Human Resource Management and Leadership, and serves as the Director of the Center for Leadership in the Future of Work. Previously, Jochen held the Chair of Leadership and HRM at WHU – Otto Beisheim School of Management in Düsseldorf, Germany; was a Research Associate at the Institute for Leadership and Human Resource Management at the University of St Gallen, Switzerland; and was a Visiting Scholar at the Graduate School of Arts and Science at Yale University in the United States.

Publications

Selected publications

Journal articles

Books, monographs, reports and case studies

  • Menges, J.I. (2009) Organizational-level affect: antecedents, boundary conditions, and consequences of emotional climates and competencies. Bamberg: Difo-Druck.
  • Menges, J.I., Ebersbach, L. and Welling, C. (2008) Erfolgsfaktor Emotionales Kapital – Menschen begeistern, Ziele erreichen [Emotional capital, a success factor: inspire people, reach goals]. Bern: Haupt Verlag.
  • Menz, M., Ebersbach, L. and Menges, J.I. (2007) Mergers und acquisitions: von der Strategie zur Integration [Mergers and acquistions: from strategy to integration]. Bern: Haupt Verlag.

Book chapters

  • Menges, J.I. (2017) “Charisma.” In: Moghaddam, F.M. (ed.) The SAGE encyclopedia of political behavior: vol.1. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, pp.81-84
  • Walter, F., Vogel, B. and Menges, J.I. (2013) “A theoretical examination of mixed group mood: the construct and its performance consequences.” In: Zerbe, W.J., Ashkanasy, N.M. and Härtel, C.E.J. (eds.): Research on emotions in organizations: vol.9: Individual sources, dynamics, and expressions of emotion. Bingley: Emerald, pp.119-152
  • Menges, J.I. (2012) “Organizational emotional intelligence: theoretical foundations and practical implications.” In: Härtel, C.E.J., Zerbe, W.J. and Ashkanasy, N.M. (eds.): Research on emotions in organizations: vol.8. Bingley: Emerald, pp.355-373
  • Menges, J.I. and Bruch, H. (2009) “Organizational emotional intelligence and performance: an empirical study.” In: Härtel, C.E.J., Zerbe, W.J. and Ashkanasy, N.M. (eds.): Research on emotions in organizations: vol.5. Bingley: Emerald, pp.181-209

Awards and honours

  • Best Entrepreneurship Implications Paper Award (for the paper “Investors increase financial support to entrepreneurs who share a personal shortcoming” with Lauren Christine Howe), Organizational Behavior Division, Academy of Management, 2022
  • Highly Commended Paper Award, Emerald Literati Awards, 2019
  • Annual Prize for the Best Leadership-related Article, Institute for Leadership, Ivey Business School, 2019
  • Teaching Prize, MBA Programme, University of Cambridge Judge Business School, 2018
  • Best Reviewer Award, Academy of Management Journal, 2017
  • Academy of Management Annals Best Article Award, 2015
  • Academy of Management Best Paper Award, Managerial and Organizational Cognition Division, 2013
  • Finalists for the SAGE Best Paper Award, 2013
  • Outstanding Author Contribution Award Winner at the Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence, 2010
  • Best Paper Award, International Conference on Emotions and Organisational Life, INSEAD, 2008
  • German Study Award (Deutscher Studienpreis), 2007
  • German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes) Scholarship, 2002-2005
  • Baden-Württemberg Stipend (Landesstiftung Baden-Württemberg) Scholarship, 2002-2003

News and insights

Leadership and organisational behaviour

How to turn Blue Monday less blue

Two Cambridge Judge Business School faculty members offer tips on how to chase the blues away on Monday 16 January – through serendipity, mindfulness and other techniques. 

Family CEOs are more likely to make employees feel positive about their workplace and stay longer due to their ‘emotion-evoking double role’, finds a new study co-authored by Dr Jochen Menges of Cambridge Judge Business School.

Entrepreneurs who expose flaws like insecurity can boost investment by attracting investors with similar flaws, finds study co-authored by Dr Jochen Menges of Cambridge Judge that won a top Academy of Management award.

Media coverage

Phys.org | 3 November 2022

Why keeping it in the family can be good news when it comes to CEOs

A study co-authored by Jochen Menges, Associate Professor in Organisational Behaviour at Cambridge Judge Business School, is mentioned in this article about CEOs in family firms. According to the study “Research suggests that firms with family CEOs differ from other types of businesses, yet surprisingly little is known about how employees in these firms feel and behave compared to those working in other firms.”

“There has long been a conundrum in family business research: why do many such firms thrive despite anachronistic management structures and low investment in employees?” says Jochen. “This study helps unlock that paradox by focusing on the positive role of emotions tied to family CEOs.”

The Times | 15 September 2022

Why admitting your flaws may earn your start-up more investment

Cambridge Judge Business School is mentioned in this article about how showing nerves when pitching may secure start-up founders more money from investors than if their presentations are perfect. The study is co-authored by Jochen Menges, Associate Professor in Organisational Behaviour .

Workplace Insight | 1 August 2022

Employees who practice mindfulness are more likely to think their job is stimulating

Study titled “It’s so boring – or is it? Examining the role of mindfulness for work performance and attitudes in monotonous jobs”, co-authored by Jochen Menges, Associate Professor in Organisational Behaviour at Cambridge Judge Business School, is mentioned in this article about employees practicing mindfulness at work.

“Monotonous jobs are held by millions of people around the world and more research needs to be done about those jobs. Our research now seeks to redress the balance in favour of blue-collar workers. We find that more mindful employees perceive their monotonous job as less boring and have higher job satisfaction and are thus less likely to leave,” Jochen says.

Fortune, 16 May 2022
Climbing the corporate ladder yields greater emotional benefits for men than women, study shows

Der Spiegel, 30 April 2022
Come here, old age!

Phys.org, 19 April 2022
Women are ‘running with leaded shoes’ when promoted at work, says study

The Economist, 2 April 2022
The case of managerial decency

World Economic Forum, 17 January 2022
Struggling to retain top talent? Try corporate empathy

Forbes, 22 June 2021
What does commuting do to innovation?

The Atlantic, 9 June 2021
The psychological benefits of commuting to work

Mic, 4 December 2020
What makes someone charismatic?

Harvard Business Review, 24 August 2020
How to (actually) save time when you’re working remotely

BBC Worklife, 20 May 2020
Why you might be missing your commute

Financial Times, 5 May 2020
The executive education courses teaching how to beat burnout

People Management, 23 April 2020
Working from home could deny employees commuting benefits

BusinessWeekly, 3 April 2020
Denied a commute could drive workers off course says Cambridge academic

Financial Times, 27 March 2020
Sharon White mucks in to help Waitrose’s panicky buyers

Harvard Business Review, 20 March 2020
How common is unethical Behavior in U.S. organisations?

Harvard Business Review, 13 December 2019
Do you need charisma to be a great public speaker?

Voice America, 27 September 2019
Emotional health at work

Arcadis, 19 July 2019
Re-imagining work

Strategy+Business, 20 May 2019
How to create happier employees

NDTV, 13 August 2018
Emotions instrumental in employee productivity

Biz Ed Magazine, 29 April 2015
Spy games

BBC, 8 August 2018
The neglected benefits of the commute

Financial Times, 21 June 2018
Can we learn to be flexible

My Science, 18 June 2018
How emotions shape our work life

TED Radio Hour, 18 May 2018
What role does charisma play in inspiring followers

The New York Times, 6 May 2018
Feeling burned out? Here are three things that can help

The HR Director, 20 April 2018
Businesses failing to connect useful workers together

HR Zone, 11 April 2018
Keep a caring eye on your most engaged staff

The HR Director, 24 February 2018
Burnout is fuelling attrition

My Science, 21 February 2018
Many highly engaged employees suffer from burnout

Ideas TED, 10 October 2017
The dark side of charisma

HR Zone, 5 October 2017
The dark side of emotional intelligence

Irish Times, 25 August 2017
Changing attitude can give dull jobs meaning

Cambridge Business Magazine, 1 July 2017
Family motivation can re-energise boring work

Inc, 1 June 2017
5 signs that a charismatic leader is manipulating you

Cambridge News, 27 April 2017
Are you a miserable commuter?

Nautilus, 16 February 2017
The anatomy of charisma

The Economist, 17 December 2016
In Germany mature workers are answering to young supervisors

Globe Advisor, 30 November 2016
If it had been windier on election day, the world might look different todays

Cambridge TV, 29 November 2016
Weather and voting

Cambridge News, 17 November 2016
Windy weather affects how we vote, study finds

Yahoo Canada, 17 November 2016
Blown away: Wind affects voting decisions

Cambridge TV, 13 July 2016
Masculinity in Business

Cambridge TV, 7 July 2016
Quitting in anger

Cambridge Business Magazine, 1 July 2016
What’s in a face?

Australasian Lawyer, 11 June 2016
Why angry workers may not necessarily quit

Financial Times, 1 June 2016
When a little anger can be a good thing

Human Resources, 20 May 2016
How to look like a competitive boss

Human Resource, 20 May 2016
How to look like a competitive boss

My Science, 10 May 2016
Reading the face of a leader

Cambridge TV, 4 February 2016
Awestruck effect

Phys.org, 23 December 2015
Beware the awestruck effect

El Confidential, 25 March 2014
The dark side of emotional intelligence

Maaarine, 9 February 2014
The dark side of emotional intelligence

Xalo, 19 January 2014
Three secrets of emotional intelligence

LeSoirdAlgerie, 14 January 2014
The dark side of emotional intelligence

Yahoo! Finance France, 5 January 2014
The dark side of emotional intelligence

The Atlantic, 23 December 2013
The dark side of emotional intelligence

Le Monde, 28 October 2013
Age differences in business

The Economist, 28 September 2013
Winning the generation game

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