LUMS Lecture: International Management in Practice
About
International Management in Practice – Leadership, Complexity, and Strategic Investment at SPARLancaster University Management School is delighted to welcome Dr Christof Rissbacher, Chairman of the Management Board of Aspiag Service S.r.l. (part of SPAR Austria Group), for a Practice & Leadership Lecture exploring international management in practice, leadership complexity, and strategic investment in a family-owned group.
Drawing on more than two decades within the SPAR Austria Group, Dr Rissbacher will share practitioner insights from leading an internationally active retail organisation with over 10,000 employees. The session will examine the realities of managing international teams, including navigating complexity, overcoming stereotypes, fostering meaningful face-to-face communication, and dealing constructively with mistakes and ambiguity.
Central to the lecture will be the human dimension of leadership — particularly leadership transitions and stepping into senior roles. Dr Rissbacher will reflect on the importance of cooperation, active listening, and continuous learning, even at the highest levels of responsibility.
The lecture will also explore the group’s integrated approach to expansion and investment. Attendees will gain insight into how transparent decision-making and clearly communicated “rules of the game” enable sustainable portfolio development within a non-listed, family-owned business.
About the speaker
Dr Christof Rissbacher is Chairman of the Management Board of Aspiag Service S.r.l., a food retail company based in Northern Italy with more than 10,000 employees and part of the SPAR Austria Group, which employs over 90,000 people internationally.
He joined the SPAR Austria Group in 2002 and has held a wide range of senior roles. Early in his career, he was responsible for the development of supermarkets, hypermarkets, and retail parks. He later led SPAR’s expansion strategy in Austria and served for more than nine years as Managing Director for the Tyrol and Salzburg region, overseeing 5,000 employees.
Since 2010, he has also been Managing Director of an internationally active real estate company owning supermarkets, hypermarkets, and shopping centres across Austria, Italy, and Slovenia. In 2021, he moved to Italy to join the management of Aspiag Service S.r.l., becoming Chairman of the Management Board in April 2024.
Academic host
This session is organised by Dr Bingbing Ge (Department of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, Lancaster University Management School) and moderated by Professor Alfredo De Massis.
Professor Alfredo De Massis is Professor of Entrepreneurship & Family Business at Lancaster University, IMD Business School, and the University of Chieti-Pescara. He is an internationally recognised scholar in family business and entrepreneurship, serving as Editor of Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice and Associate Editor of Family Business Review. He advises family enterprises and policymakers worldwide and chairs several leading family business institutes internationally.”
Registration: 16:00 – 16:30
Lecture with Q&A: 16:30 – 17:45
Date
Thursday 28 May 2026 4:30 PM - 5:45 PM (UTC+00)Location
Lecture theatre 18, Lancaster University Management School
Lancaster, LA1 4YX
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LUMS Lecture: International Management in Practice
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