Rate My Professor Johann Fortwengel

Johann Fortwengel is Professor of International Management and Head of the Department of Strategy, International Management and Entrepreneurship at King's Business School, King's College London. He obtained his doctorate (Dr. rer. pol.) in Management from Freie Universität Berlin in 2014, a Master of Arts in Global Studies in 2011, and a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology in 2009, all from the same institution. Prior to his appointment at King's College London as Lecturer in International Management in 2016, Fortwengel held postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Michigan and the University of South Carolina. His career progression at King's includes Senior Lecturer from 2019 to 2021, Reader from 2021 to 2025, and promotion to Professor. He maintains a secondary appointment as Research Associate at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, and served as Visiting Professor at the D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University, in 2023.

Fortwengel's research centers on how multinational enterprises navigate institutional and cross-country differences, with particular emphasis on organizational identity formation. His academic interests encompass strategy, international management, and entrepreneurship. He has secured research funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the British Academy/Leverhulme, and received awards for his research, peer reviewing, and teaching excellence. Key publications include 'Three decades of research on practice transfer in multinational firms: Past contributions and future opportunities' (Journal of World Business, 2023), 'The formation of an MNE identity over the course of internationalization' (Journal of International Business Studies, 2021), 'Practice transfer in organizations: The role of governance mode for internal and external fit' (Organization Science, 2017), 'Agency in the face of path dependence: How organizations can regain scope for maneuver' (Business Research, 2020), and 'Studying organizational creativity as process: Fluidity or duality?' (Creativity and Innovation Management, 2017). Recent contributions feature 'Institutional Distance and the Lived Experience of Actors in the Contemporary MNC: The Role of Positionality' (Human Resource Management Journal, 2026) and 'Multiple Goals in Organizations: The Role of Temporal Dimensions' (Strategic Management Review, 2025). Fortwengel serves as General Editor of the Journal of Management Studies since 2026, enhancing his impact in the field through editorial leadership and publications in premier outlets.