Melanie Richards is Associate Professor at the TUM School of Management since March 2022. She holds the Chair for Family Business Culture and Ownership, endowed by the EQUA foundation and located at the Munich Campus.
Her research focuses on how family firms’ unique culture affects organisational decision-making and outcomes. Moreover, Melanie Richards’ work seeks to better understand the entrepreneurial and social activities of business families. Thereby her research investigates the families’ financial and non-financial goals, their values and socio-emotional wealth. Her research also analyses family philanthropy and impact investing, which constitute important practical phenomena, yet remain under-theorized in academia.
Prior to joining the TUM School of Management, Melanie Richards was Associate Professor in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Bath. She also worked for the University of Bristol as Assistant Professor in Management and for the University of St. Gallen as Postdoctoral Researcher at the Center for Family Business after receiving her PhD in Management from the University of St. Gallen in September 2015. As part of her PhD education she spent 12 months as Visiting Scholar at Bayes Business School in London. Prior to her academic career, Melanie Richards gained experience as a consultant working for PwC Management-Consulting in London.