FB07 - Dr. Annika Mies (Research associate)

Research associate

Telephone: +49 561 804-7690
Email: mies[at]uni-kassel[dot]de

Location: Henschelstraße 2
34127 Kassel

Room: K10, 2131

Consultation Hours: by prior arrangement

Sustainability Management
Operations und Supply Chain Management
Sustainability Tensions and Unintended Consequences
Circular Economy

Dr. Annika Mies is associate researcher at the Chair of Sustainability Management at the University of Kassel, Germany. She received her PhD at the University of Kassel on "Transforming towards a sustainable circular economy: exploring the social dimension, actor contribution and emerging paradoxes."

Her research interests lies at the intersection of operations and supply chain management and sustainability management, with a particular focus on the social dimension of sustainability, circular economy collaboration and paradoxes and unintended consequences.

Annika Mies has published in international peer-reviewed journals and active participant in the scientific community. She presented at the annual conferences of EurOMA (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), EURAM (2019, 2023) and ISDRS (2018, 2020). In November 2021, she presented her work on the social dimension of the circular economy concept at the invitation of the Department of Sustainable Futures and the Exeter Centre for Circular Economy at the University of Exeter Business School.

Annika Mies teaches on corporate sustainability management, paradoxes and unintended consequences in the context of operations and supply chain management and circular economy, and research methods, including causal-loop modelling, soft system heuristics and qualitative comparative analysis. With her colleagues, she developed a teaching case for tensions in the textile garment supply chain.

Annika Mies is involved in academic services, including reviewing for a number of academic journals (e.g. Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Supply Chain Management, British Journal of Management). She serves at the examination board of the ‘Sustainable Management MSc’, several appointment committees and has been a PhD representative at the Graduate Centre for Environmental Research and Teaching (GradZ), University of Kassel. She is a member of Scientists for Future - Kassel.

Annika Mies received her Master's degree in Sustainable Economics and Management from the University of Kassel. During her studies, she worked as a research assistant at the CliMA (Center for Climate Mitigation and Adaptation) at the University of Kassel.

Articles in peer-reviewed journals

Mies A, Gruchmann T, Gold S (2025), “Conceptualising the Socio-material Context: An Ethical Enquiry into the Contextual Materialisation of Paradoxes in Transport Logistics”, Journal of Business Ethics, doi: 10.1007/s10551-025-05994-y (in press)

Mies, A. and Gold, S. (2021), “Mapping the social dimension of the circular economy”, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 321, p. 128960, doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128960

Gruchmann, T., Mies, A., Neukirchen, T. and Gold, S. (2021), “Tensions in sustainable warehousing: including the blue-collar perspective on automation and ergonomic workplace design”, Journal of Business Economics, Vol. 91 No. 2, pp. 151–178, doi: 10.1007/s11573-020-00991-1

Books, contributions to edited books and teaching material

Mies, A. (2023), "Transforming towards a sustainable circular economy: exploring the social dimension, actor contribution and emerging paradoxes", doi: 10.17170/kobra-202308078583.

Mies, A., Bichler‐Riedl, W., Langer, T. and Gold, S. (2023), "You Are What You Wear: Sustainability and Profit in the Garment Industry", SAGE Publications: SAGE Business Cases Originals, doi: 10.4135/9781529617337

Bichler‐Riedl, W., Mies, A. and Gold, S. (2021), “Bottle collectors between societal exclusion and inclusion in affluent countries”, in Arnold, M.G., Muthuri, J.N., Rueda, X. and Gold, S. (Eds.), Base of the Pyramid Markets in Affluent Countries, Routledge, 1 Edition., New York Routledge, 2021, pp. 63–88, doi: 10.4324/9780429423512-3-6

Mies A. (2025), “Tensions in Multi-Stakeholder Collaboration for Institutionalising Circular Economy”. Academy of Management (AOM) Annual Meeting 2025, Copenhagen, Denmark

Mies A., Hendriksen, C. (2025), “From Silos to Synergy: Crafting Multiparadigm Theory in Sustainable Supply Chain Management”. 32th European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) Conference, Milano, Italy.

Mies A., Vaverka, L. L., Kunz, N., Gold, S. (2024), “Transition toward low-carbon mobility: modelling interorganizational tensions in the automotive downstream supply chain.“ 31th European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) Conference, Barcelona, Spain.

Mies A., Gruchmann, T., Gold, S. (2024), “Conceptualising the Socio-Material Context: An ethical inquiry into the materialisation of paradoxes in the transport logistics”. Winter conference of the German Academic Association of Business Research (VHB) Scientific Commission on Logistics, Kassel, Germany.

Mies A., Muthuri, J., Wachira, D., Gold S. (2023), “Empowering weak supply chain actors through marketplace literacy: The case of artisanal gemstone mining in Kenya”. 30th European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) Conference, Leuven, Belgium.

Mies A., (2023), “Creating a normative paradigm for Circular Economy – paradoxes of institutional work processes”. The European Academy of Management (EURAM) Conference 2023, Dublin, Ireland.

Mies, A., (2022), “Many roads lead to Rome: a configurational approach to circular economy practices in the manufacturing sector.“ Fall conference 2022 of the German Academic Association of Business Research (VHB) Scientific Commission on Sustainability Management, Nuremberg, Germany.

Mies A., Gruchmann, T., Gold, S. (2022), “Paradoxes in human-technology interaction in transport logistics: A socio-technical systems perspective.“ 29th European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) Conference, Berlin, Germany.

Mies, A. and Gold, S. (2022), “Transforming the manufacturing sector towards circular economy – a configurational approach.“ 29th European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) Conference, Berlin, Germany.

Mies, A.: “Mapping the social dimension of the circular economy”. Invitation by the Department of Sustainable Futures and Exeter Centre for Circular Economy at the University of Exeter Business School, 03 November 2021. (Co-Author: Gold S.)

Mies, A. and Gold, S. (2021), “Circular practices in the manufacturing sector – an analysis of maturity stages and contingency factors for enhanced circular production processes”. 28th European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) Conference, online.

Mies A., Gruchmann, T., Gold, S. (2021), “Paradoxes of human-technological-interaction in transport logistics.“ 28th European Operations Management Association (EurOMA) Conference, online.

Mies A., Bichler-Riedl W., Langer T., Gold S. (2021), “You are what you wear: Sustainability and profit in the textile industry. A teaching Case.” 8th International EurOMA Sustainable Operations and Supply Chain Forum, La Rochelle, France.

Mies A., Gruchmann, T., Gold, S. (2021), “An empirical investigation into salience, persistence, and permeability of work-related paradoxes: the case of truck driving assistants.” 8th International EurOMA Sustainable Operations and Supply Chain Forum, La Rochelle, France.

Mies, A. and Gold, S. (2020), “To be or not to be circular: what factors determine the (non-) implementation of circular economy practices.” The 26th International Sustainable Development Research Society (ISDRS) Conference 2020, online.

Gruchmann, T., Mies, A., Gold, S. (2019), “Tensions in sustainable warehousing: addressing the blue-collar’s perspective on automation and ergonomic workplace design“. Fall conference 2019 of the German Academic Association of Business Research (VHB) Scientific Commission on Sustainability Management, Aachen, Germany.

Mies, A. and Gold, S. (2019), “The social dimension of Circular Economy: a systematic literature review.” The European Academy of Management (EURAM) Conference 2019, Lisbon, Portugal.

Mies A.: “Unintended Consequences in Sustainability Management”. Invited speech at SEDE Conference 2019 | Sustainability, Economic Development, Entrepreneurship: 01-02 July 2019, Kassel, Germany.

Mies, A. and Gold, S. (2018), “Exploring the social dimension of Circular Economy.” The International Sustainable Development Research Society (ISDRS) Conference 2018, Messina, Italy.