Prof. dr. Fabian Sting

Professor of Operations Management

Department of Technology and Operations Management

Rotterdam School of Management (RSM)

Erasmus University Rotterdam

Profile

Prof. Dr. Fabian Sting is chaired professor of Digital Supply Chain Innovation at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (part-time). As main affiliation, he holds the chair of Supply Chain Management – Strategy and Innovation at University of Cologne, Germany (see here).

He explores how organizations implement, reinforce, and shape their strategy by innovating their operations and processes. Specific research and teaching topics include:

Implementing digital innovation and Industry 4.0
Leading change initiatives and collaborative projects
Managing employee behavior in agile operations and projects
Sparking and integrating frontline employee ideas and innovation

This research has been published or is forthcoming in leading academic journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Management Science, Production and Operations Management, Journal of Operations Management as well as in premier practitioner journals such as Harvard Business Review, and MIT Sloan Management Review. For his scholarship he received prestigious awards, including the Richard Beckhard Memorial Prize by the MIT Sloan Management Review, the Jürgen Hausschildt Award for Innovation Management by the German Association of Business Research (VHB), and the Top Academic Article Award by the Erasmus Institute of Management (ERIM).

He teaches courses on undergraduate, graduate, and executive levels. For his courses "Operations Management" and "Primaire Processen" Fabian Sting earned multiple teaching awards.

Collaborating with the business schools IESE (Spain), INSEAD (France) and WHU (Germany), he serves as Academic Director of the Industrial Excellence Award in Europe (see here).

Before joining RSM Fabian Sting was Postdoctoral Research Fellow at INSEAD's Technology and Operations Management Department and visiting scholar at Northwestern University. He holds a Doctorate from WHU and graduate degrees in Management Science (KU Eichstätt-Ingolstadt) and Applied Mathematics (FU Hagen).

Professional experience

Full Professor

Erasmus University Rotterdam
RSM - Rotterdam School of Management
Department of Technology and Operations Management

Publications

Key Publications (18)

F.J. Sting, C. Fuchs, M. Schlickel & O. Alexy (2019). How to Overcome the Bias We Have Toward Our Own Ideas. Harvard Business Review, hbr.org (online). Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2019/05/how-to-overcome-the-bias-we-have-toward-our-own-ideas? [go to publisher's site]
P.B. Cornelius, B. Gokpinar & F.J. Sting (2021). Sparking Manufacturing Innovation: How Temporary Interplant Assignments Increase Employee Idea Values. Management Science, 67 (4), 1993-2656. doi: 10.1287/mnsc.2020.3673 [go to publisher's site]
P.B. Cornelius, B. Gokpinar & F.J. Sting (2021). How Temporary Assignments Boost Innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 2021 (March). [go to publisher's site]
P. Schneider & F.J. Sting (2020). Employees’ Perspectives on Digitalization-Induced Change: Exploring Frames of Industry 4.0. Academy of Management Discoveries, 6 (3). doi: 10.5465/amd.2019.0012
C. Fuchs, F.J. Sting, M. Schlickel & O. Alexy (2019). The Ideator’s Bias: How Identity-induced Self-efficacy Drives Overestimation in Employee-driven Process Innovation. Academy of Management Journal, 62 (5). doi: 10.5465/amj.2017.0438 [go to publisher's site]
F.J. Sting, M. Stevens & M. Tarakci (2019). Temporary deembedding buyer-supplier relationships: A Complexity Perspective. Journal of Operations Management, 65 (2), 114-135. doi: 10.1002/joom.1008
P. Crama, F.J. Sting & Y. Wu (2019). Encouraging Help across Projects. Management Science, 65 (3), 955-1453. doi: 10.1287/mnsc.2017.2988
A. Chandrasekaran, K. Linderman & F.J. Sting (2018). Avoiding epistemological silos and empirical elephants in OM: How to combine empirical and simulation methods? Journal of Operations Management, 63 (November), 1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jom.2018.11.003
A. Chandrasekaran, K. Linderman, F.J. Sting & M. Benner (2016). Managing R&D Project Shifts in High-Tech Organizations: A Multi-Method Study. Production and Operations Management, 25 (3), 390-416. doi: 10.1111/poms.12410
F.J. Sting & C.H. Loch (2016). Implementing Operations Strategy: How Vertical and Horizontal Coordination Interact. Production and Operations Management, 25 (7), 1177-1193. doi: 10.1111/poms.12537
J. Mihm, F.J. Sting & T. Wang (2015). On the Effectiveness of Patenting Strategies in Innovation Races. Management Science, 61 (11), 2662-2684. doi: 10.1287/mnsc.2014.2128
F.J. Sting, C.H. Loch & D. Stempfhuber (2015). Accelerating Projects by Encouraging Help. MIT Sloan Management Review, 56 (3), 1-9.
F.J. Sting & A. Huchzermeier (2014). Operational Hedging and Diversification under Correlated Supply and Demand Uncertainty. Production and Operations Management, 23 (7), 1212-1226. doi: 10.1111/poms.12196
Y. Kim, F.J. Sting & C.H. Loch (2014). Top-Down, Bottom-Up, or Both? Toward an Integrative Perspective on Operations Strategy Formation. Journal of Operations Management, 32 (7-8), 462-474. doi: 10.1016/j.jom.2014.09.005
C.H. Loch, F.J. Sting, A. Huchzermeier & C. Decker (2012). Finding the Profit in Fairness. Harvard Business Review, 90 (10), 111-115. [go to publisher's site]
F.J. Sting & A. Huchzermeier (2012). Dual Sourcing – Responsive Hedging Against Correlated Supply and Demand Uncertainty. Naval Research Logistics, 59 (1), 69-89. doi: 10.1002/nav.21473
C.H. Loch, F.J. Sting, N. Bauer & H. Mauermann (2010). How BMW Is Defusing the Demographic Time Bomb. Harvard Business Review, 88 (3), 99-102. [go to publisher's site]
F.J. Sting & A. Huchzermeier (2010). Ensuring Responsive Capacity: How to Contract with Backup Suppliers. European Journal of Operational Research, 207 (2), 725-735. doi: 10.1016/j.ejor.2010.05.044

Professional Publications (7)

F.J. Sting, C. Fuchs, M. Schlickel & O. Alexy (2019). How to Overcome the Bias We Have Toward Our Own Ideas. Harvard Business Review, hbr.org (online). Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2019/05/how-to-overcome-the-bias-we-have-toward-our-own-ideas? [go to publisher's site]
P. Schneider & F.J. Sting (2019). Die Sicht der Mitarbeiter. Harvard Business Manager, 2019 (April). Retrieved from https://www.harvardbusinessmanager.de/heft/d-162831754.html [go to publisher's site]
F.J. Sting (2016). Shift happens: how to manage changing projects. RSM Discovery - Management Knowledge, 25 (1), 17-19.
F.J. Sting (2015). Encouraging help speeds up product development projects. RSM Discovery - Management Knowledge, 21 (1), 16-17.
F.J. Sting & A. Huchzermeier (2012). Hedge Risks Appropriately With Backup Suppliers. Inside Supply Management. Retrieved from https://www.instituteforsupplymanagement.org/pubs/ISMMag/ismarticle.cfm?ItemNumber=23210&SSO=1 [go to publisher's site]
F.J. Sting (2009). Flexible Sourcing—Operational Hedging, Diversification and Contracting under Supply and Demand Uncertainty. In BVL 26. Deutscher Logistik-Kongress Berlin. Berlin: DVV Media Group
C.H. Loch & F.J. Sting (2009, januari 1). A Seismic Shift in the Car Industry: The Management Challenge and Responsibility. Automotive Industries, pp. 70.

Scholarly Publications (23)

P.B. Cornelius, B. Gokpinar & F.J. Sting (2021). Sparking Manufacturing Innovation: How Temporary Interplant Assignments Increase Employee Idea Values. Management Science, 67 (4), 1993-2656. doi: 10.1287/mnsc.2020.3673 [go to publisher's site]
P.B. Cornelius, B. Gokpinar & F.J. Sting (2021). How Temporary Assignments Boost Innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 2021 (March). [go to publisher's site]
P. Schneider & F.J. Sting (2020). Employees’ Perspectives on Digitalization-Induced Change: Exploring Frames of Industry 4.0. Academy of Management Discoveries, 6 (3). doi: 10.5465/amd.2019.0012
C. Fuchs, F.J. Sting, M. Schlickel & O. Alexy (2019). The Ideator’s Bias: How Identity-induced Self-efficacy Drives Overestimation in Employee-driven Process Innovation. Academy of Management Journal, 62 (5). doi: 10.5465/amj.2017.0438 [go to publisher's site]
F.J. Sting, M. Stevens & M. Tarakci (2019). Temporary deembedding buyer-supplier relationships: A Complexity Perspective. Journal of Operations Management, 65 (2), 114-135. doi: 10.1002/joom.1008
P. Crama, F.J. Sting & Y. Wu (2019). Encouraging Help across Projects. Management Science, 65 (3), 955-1453. doi: 10.1287/mnsc.2017.2988
A. Chandrasekaran, K. Linderman & F.J. Sting (2018). Avoiding epistemological silos and empirical elephants in OM: How to combine empirical and simulation methods? Journal of Operations Management, 63 (November), 1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jom.2018.11.003
A. Chandrasekaran, K. Linderman, F.J. Sting & M. Benner (2016). Managing R&D Project Shifts in High-Tech Organizations: A Multi-Method Study. Production and Operations Management, 25 (3), 390-416. doi: 10.1111/poms.12410
F.J. Sting & C.H. Loch (2016). Implementing Operations Strategy: How Vertical and Horizontal Coordination Interact. Production and Operations Management, 25 (7), 1177-1193. doi: 10.1111/poms.12537
J. Mihm, F.J. Sting & T. Wang (2015). On the Effectiveness of Patenting Strategies in Innovation Races. Management Science, 61 (11), 2662-2684. doi: 10.1287/mnsc.2014.2128
F.J. Sting, C.H. Loch & D. Stempfhuber (2015). Accelerating Projects by Encouraging Help. MIT Sloan Management Review, 56 (3), 1-9.
F.J. Sting & A. Huchzermeier (2014). Operational Hedging and Diversification under Correlated Supply and Demand Uncertainty. Production and Operations Management, 23 (7), 1212-1226. doi: 10.1111/poms.12196
Y. Kim, F.J. Sting & C.H. Loch (2014). Top-Down, Bottom-Up, or Both? Toward an Integrative Perspective on Operations Strategy Formation. Journal of Operations Management, 32 (7-8), 462-474. doi: 10.1016/j.jom.2014.09.005
C.H. Loch, F.J. Sting, A. Huchzermeier & C. Decker (2012). Finding the Profit in Fairness. Harvard Business Review, 90 (10), 111-115. [go to publisher's site]
C.H. Loch, F.J. Sting, D. Stempfhuber & A. Huchzermeier (2012). Das Prinzip der Roten Karte. Harvard Business Manager, 2011 (January), 44-51.
F.J. Sting & A. Huchzermeier (2012). Dual Sourcing – Responsive Hedging Against Correlated Supply and Demand Uncertainty. Naval Research Logistics, 59 (1), 69-89. doi: 10.1002/nav.21473
C.H. Loch, F.J. Sting, A. Huchzermeier & C. Decker (2012). Fairness zahlt sich aus. Harvard Business Manager, October (Oktober), 1-8.
C.H. Loch, F.J. Sting, N. Bauer & H. Mauermann (2010). Keine Angst vor der alternden Belegschaft. Harvard Business Manager, 2010 (April), 68-74.
F.J. Sting, M. Braun & A. Huchzermeier (2010). Simulationsstudie: Exogene Risiken in der Beschaffung - Zusammenspiel von Diversifikation und Flexibilitat. In Supply Management Research: Aktuelle Forschungsergebnisse 2009 (pp. 147-171). Wiesbaden: Gabler doi: 10.1007/978-3-8349-8833-1_6
C.H. Loch, F.J. Sting, N. Bauer & H. Mauermann (2010). How BMW Is Defusing the Demographic Time Bomb. Harvard Business Review, 88 (3), 99-102. [go to publisher's site]
F.J. Sting & A. Huchzermeier (2010). Ensuring Responsive Capacity: How to Contract with Backup Suppliers. European Journal of Operational Research, 207 (2), 725-735. doi: 10.1016/j.ejor.2010.05.044
A. Huchzermeier, M. Hoehn & F.J. Sting (2007). Impact Study of RFID Adoption in Manufacturer-Retailer Supply Chains: Results from a European Industry Survey. (Extern rapport). Brussels: Excerpt of the EU-Project SMART
H. Kuhn & F.J. Sting (2005). Bestimmung von Losgrößen, Transportzyklen und Sicherheitsbeständen in mehrstufigen Wertschopfungsketten. In Operations Research Proceedings 2005. Berlin: Springer

Semi Scientific Publications

C.H. Loch & F.J. Sting (2010, februari 14). Think tank: just the job to help the older hands stay in work. The Sunday Times

Recognitions

Editorial positions (13)

Operations Research

Ad Hoc Reviewer
European Journal of Operational Research

Ad Hoc Reviewer
Production and Operations Management

Ad Hoc Reviewer
International Journal of Production Economics

Ad Hoc Reviewer
Decision Sciences

Ad Hoc Reviewer
International Journal of Production Research

Ad Hoc Reviewer
IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management

Ad Hoc Reviewer
Manufacturing and Service Operations Management

Ad Hoc Reviewer
Journal of Product Innovation Management

Ad Hoc Reviewer
Administrative Science Quarterly

Ad Hoc Reviewer
Management Science

Ad Hoc Reviewer
Organization Science

Ad Hoc Reviewer
Production and Operations Management

Associate Editor

Organization Memberships (5)

Institute for Operations Research and the Management Sciences (INFORMS)

http://www.informs.org/

Member
German Operations Research Society (GOR)

http://www.gor-ev.de/

Member
European Operations Management Association (EUROMA)

http://www.euroma-online.org/

Member
Production and Operations Management Society (POMS)

HTTP://WWW.POMS.ORG/

Member
Academy of Management (AM)

http://www.aomonline.org/

Track Chair

Side positions

European Industrial Excellence Award (www.industrial-excellence-award.eu)

Academic Director and Jury Member

Media

Media items

Moving Front-Line Staff Between Company Locations Might Be Key To Boost Innovation

Temporary moves boost creativity according to new research from Assistant Professor of Technology and Operations Management at the RSM, Philipp Cornelius, Bilal Gokpinar from UCL School of Management and Fabian Sting from…
Forbes Tuesday, 13 April 2021
Innovatie een boost geven? Wissel personeel uit

Not only research & development departments ensure innovation within a company. Good innovative ideas often also come from the rest of the staff. It is not without reason that all employees are now expected to do more than perform…
Sprout Tuesday, 16 March 2021
Eigen ideeën inbrengen: hoe beoordeel je dat zo objectief mogelijk?

An article that mentions research carried out by, amongst others, Fabian Sting, Associate Professor of Operations Management at the Department of Technology and Operations Management at RSM. The research is aimed at how one can…
MT.nl Monday, 27 May 2019
'Accelerating projects by encouraging help'

This article is a brief excerpt from the article co-authored at the beginning of March, by Fabian Sting, Christoph Loch and Dirk Stempfhuber for MIT Sloan Management Review.
Cambridge Network Friday, 27 March 2015
Accelerating Projects by Encouraging Help

This article is a brief excerpt from the article co-authored at the beginning of March, by Fabian Sting, Christoph Loch and Dirk Stempfhuber for MIT Sloan Management Review.
Bobmorris.biz Wednesday, 11 March 2015
Accelerating Projects by Encouraging Help

To keep product development projects on schedule, establishing psychological safety and promoting cooperative behavior can be just as important as good planning. In turbulent business landscapes several things are important to…
MITSloan Management Review Sunday, 1 March 2015
BMW Werk Leipzig ist die "Beste Europäische Fabrik" 10. WirtschaftsWoche Konferenz "Die Beste Fabrik 2013

The BMW Leipzig plant is the winner of the Best European Factory 2013. The prize is awarded at the "10th WirtschaftsWoche Conference". The jury consists of professors from various prestigious business schools, amongst who Fabian…
ID Medien Verlag-Kfz Monday, 25 November 2013
Stiplastics reçoit le Trophée de l’Excellence Industrielle 2013, « Meilleure Usine de l’année » remis par l’Insead et l’Usine Nouvelle

This French article announces Stiplastics as the winner of the Industrial Excellence Award 2013 "Best Factory of the Year". The award was presented by INSEAD and the magazine l’Usine Nouvelle (The New Factory). The jury was…
La Gazette Du Laboratoire Friday, 31 May 2013
Exzellentes Produktionsmanagement in Europa 9. WirtschaftsWoche Konferenz

This German article reports on the Best Factory 2012 and the Industrial Excellence Award 2012 award presentations, organized by INSEAD, WHU, IESE, Judge, Rotterdam School of Management and the Technical University of Eindhoven.
100 Themen.de Saturday, 29 September 2012
How BMW reinvents the factory for older workers

How BMW reinvents the factory for older workers; the German car maker has adapted sections of its factories so it's easier for older employees to do their work. Fabian Sting, Assistant Professor of Operations Management at RSM and…
Yahoo! News Sunday, 2 September 2012

Discovery items

Shift happens: how to manage changing projects

Encouraging help speeds up product development projects

Ensuring new product development projects stay on track is challenging at the best of times. Part of the problem can lie with how project team members behave and communicate.