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Intro
Welcome!
I am an Assistant Professor of Strategy at the Strategy & Entrepreneurship Department at Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University (NL). Before joining RSM, I was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Münster (DE) and a visiting scholar at HEC Montreal (CA) and Copenhagen Business School (DK). Even before that, I used to be a Strategy Consultant at Monitor Deloitte in Zurich (CH), but that is another story.
My page summarizes some info about me, gives insights into my current work, and (hopefully) highlights ample opportunities for collaboration and ways to contact me.
Feel free to reach out!
Research
I am interested in understanding people and politics (generously broad I know!)
More concretely, I focus on quantitative empirical strategy research regarding human capital allocation and responses to geopolitical tensions in the settings of startups and multi-business firms. Conducting research in the field of strategy means that I generally focus on firm performance and firm behaviors that are directly linked to firms' competitive advantage. Below you will find some examples of published work and work in progress.
Contact
If you wish to contact me for potential collaboration in terms of (corporate) research, as well as speaking and teaching engagements, please feel free to reach out at sabel@rsm.nl
Awards & Recognitions
2024 BCERC Babson College Bertarelli Institute for Family Entrepreneurship (BIFE) Best Paper Award
2024 BCERC Top 40 Papers and Publication in Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research
2023 FGF Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe Entrepreneurship Research Newcomer Award
2023 UNCTAD-AIB Award for Research on Investment and Development
2023 AOM Best Paper Proceedings (top 10%)
2022 AOM STR Annual Conference Best Paper Award (Industry, Competition, & Entrepreneurship Track)
2022 AOM STR Wiley Blackwell Outstanding Dissertation Award (Finalist - Top 5)
2022 AOM Best Paper Proceedings (top 10%)
2020 DRUID Academy Bent Dalum PhD Award for the most promising & innovative paper
Career
I have had many different positions throughout my career, if you really want to know more, feel free to check out my CV (short corporate and long academic version) or connect with me through LinkedIn or X to get more details.
CV_corporate_Sabel_May25.pdfCV_Sabel_Jun 2025.pdfPublished research
This section highlights some of my published research together with great co-authors. For more detail, you can visit my Google Scholar page.
Exec summary: Geopolitics & firm investment
Geopolitical volatility is now a critical variable in foreign investment decisions. This study shows that sudden, unpredictable shifts in political alignment between a firm's home and host countries significantly reduce subsidiary investments. Based on data from 1,054 U.S. multinationals across 106 countries, the evidence is clear: volatility—not just low affinity—raises exposure and deters investment.
The strategic implication: we must factor political volatility metrics into capital allocation models and prioritize stability alongside market potential. Traditional assessments of political risk are insufficient. Even high-affinity markets become risky when alignment fluctuates.
However, the study highlights two key mitigators: High baseline political affinity softens the impact of volatility and strong domestic political connections give firms informational advantages and lobbying capacity, reducing risk in volatile environments.
As we expand globally, this research underscores the need to:
Monitor bilateral political volatility, not just current relations.
Strengthen our home-country political networks to maintain leverage abroad.
Build resilience into global portfolios by de-risking exposure to politically unstable dyads.
Bottom line: Volatility is the new variable. Ignoring it could mean misallocated investments and missed early-warning signals.
Exec summary: Employee allocation & performance
Coming soon ...
Research in progress
This section highlights some of my unpublished work that I am currently revising. If you want to know more or just want to connect based on a common field on interest, please reach out!
Teaching
This section highlights some of my recent teaching engagements. If you want to book me for seminars or executive courses, feel free to send a message to sabel@rsm.nl
I teach in various programs at RSM and for the Erasmus Centre for Entrepreneurship. Participants vary from 20-50.
Current
EXC course on scaling for pre-IPO firms with Euronext Elite
EMBA course on corporate venturing
MBA course on advanced strategy
(E)MBA consulting projects with multiple partners
Past
EXC course on strategy development in practice
MBA course on strategy development in practice
I teach in various programs at RSM and am an examiner at BI Norwegian Business School. Participants vary from 60-600.
Future
BSc course on international business
Current
MSC course on applied leadership
BSc course on entrepreneurship
Past
MSc course on strategy development in practice
Volunteering
This section highlights my main engagement as volunteer in academic associations. If you want to know more about how to volunteer as an academic or corporate participant, feel free to send a message to sabel@rsm.nl
The AOM is the flagship organization for management scholars in the world to interact and to exchange ideas. I previously served in the communications team of the AOM STR (Strategy) division and am starting a new position to be announced at AOM25.
You can meet me at our next conference in Copenhagen July 2025!
The SMS is the flagship organization for strategic management scholars in the world to interact and to exchange ideas. I currently serve as Representative-at-Large for the Entrepreneurship Special Interest Group.
You can meet me at our next conference in San Francisco 2025!
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