Christian Neusser

Christian Neusser is a senior executive, consultant, and doctoral researcher with a career that bridges the worlds of practice and academia. With over 20 years of leadership experience in corporate restructuring, transformation, and succession management, he has worked across multiple industries including manufacturing, energy, consumer goods, and healthcare. His professional journey began in the German Mittelstand, where he held various C-level positions, including Chief Restructuring Officer (CRO) and Interim CEO roles for companies undergoing significant operational and strategic change.

Since 2004, Christian has led several complex M&A transactions, post-merger integrations, and business transformations, often in sensitive family business environments. His advisory focus includes succession processes, cross-border relocation strategies, and the cultural aspects of ownership transitions. He is the Managing Partner of Phalanx GmbH, a boutique consultancy specializing in corporate transformation, transaction advisory, and interim management.

Parallel to his executive career, Christian is pursuing a Doctorate in Business Administration (DBA) at Henley Business School, University of Reading. His research focuses on family business succession, specifically the transition from owner-managed firms to external leadership. His work integrates organizational ecology, succession theory, and family business governance into a multi-level framework for understanding succession dynamics in German family-owned manufacturing SMEs.

Christian regularly presents his research at international conferences, including EURAM, AOM, and FERC. He also contributes to academic and professional dialogues on governance, transformation, and entrepreneurship through publications, lectures, and workshops.

Christian actively engages in executive education and academic teaching. Since 2005 he give lectures at the DHWB Stuttgart in finance and accounting, leadership and entrepreneurship in bachelor and master degree. He delivers guest lectures and corporate workshops on topics such as leadership in transformation, M&A integration, corporate governance in family businesses, and succession management. In 2025, he lead seminars at the University of Siegen on succession and continuity planning in family firms, combining theoretical insights with practical case studies. He also coaches next-generation leaders and interim managers, fostering a practice-oriented learning environment that bridges academia and real-world application.