Professors

Ivija Bernatović holds a PhD from the Faculty of Economics, University of Ljubljana, with a research focus on family business, after completing her undergraduate and graduate studies at Zagreb School of Economics and Management. She is Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship, Project Management, and Design Thinking, and serves as Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at ZSEM. Her academic and professional work focuses on family business, innovation, and impact entrepreneurship, and she has presented her research at leading international conferences, including Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference, EURAM, and IFERA. She is also a certified Design Thinking practitioner and Co-creator under the IBM Enterprise Design Thinking methodology, and leads EU-funded projects such as EMMIE and Succession in Family Business.

Dubravka Kovačević, PhD, is Vice Dean for Project Initiatives and Development at Zagreb School of Economics and Management, where she teaches courses in business communication and European Union studies. She holds a PhD in International Trade from the University of Economics in Bratislava, with a focus on international business and the European Union, and has also completed graduate studies in international management and marketing. Alongside her academic career, she has professional experience in the banking sector, particularly in retail banking and payment systems. At ZSEM, she has led and contributed to numerous international projects, including MLEA, 4InnoPipe, 4InnoPipe2, EMMIE, and the European university alliance EUonAIR. Her research interests focus on the European Union, especially international business, EU institutions, and related policies.

Mato Njavro, PhD, is Dean of the Zagreb School of Economics and Management, where he teaches finance courses. He is also a professor at Luxembourg School of Business and a lecturer at the University of St. Gallen and Singapore Management University. His academic career includes appointments at Harvard University, the University of St. Gallen in Asia, and Singapore Management University. His research focuses on financial markets, public policy, and economic development, and he is the author and co-author of several academic papers and case studies, including the Harvard Business School case “Atlantic Group.” Before entering academia, he worked in investment banking in London at Lehman Brothers and Nomura. He holds degrees in economics and finance from Bocconi University and a PhD in Finance from the University of St. Gallen.

Andrej Bajic is Manager within Deloitte’s FSI Audit Garage in Frankfurt. He has more than 5 years of professional experience in financial modelling and valuation. His prior experiences include valuation specialist at Frankfurt based valuation company and financial econometrics in a central bank. He studied at Frankfurt School of Finance and Management where he obtained his master’s degree. Currently he is a PhD student in Finance at University Duisburg-Essen with dissertation title: “Identifying, Measuring and Managing Carbon Risk Exposures”.

Professor Maja Martinović, PhD, is Vice Dean of the MBA graduate program and Head of the Department of Marketing and Tourism at Zagreb School of Economics and Management, where she teaches courses in strategic marketing. She holds a doctorate from the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb and completed the International Faculty Development Program at IESE Business School in Spain. She has taught in international MBA and DBA programs and collaborates with institutions including Luxembourg School of Business and Sheffield Hallam University. Her professional experience includes executive training, market research, business planning, and brand development for numerous companies and institutions in Croatia and abroad. She is the author and co-author of numerous books, book chapters, business cases, and scientific and professional publications in marketing and higher education quality, and currently serves on the Supervisory Boards of the Končar Group and PBZ Intesa Sanpaolo Group.

Goran Oblaković, PhD, is Associate Dean of Undergraduate Programs, Academic Director for the Undergraduate Program in Economics and Management, and Program Director of the Executive MBA at Zagreb School of Economics and Management. He holds a PhD in Management from the University of St. Gallen, as well as master’s degrees in strategic finance and business administration from Indiana University Southeast. Since joining ZSEM in 2013, he has taught and led within the Department of Management, Entrepreneurship and Digital Transformation, where he has served as Head of Department since 2016. His academic and research interests focus on risk management, banking, and entrepreneurship, and his professional experience includes roles in logistics, consulting, higher education, international organizations, and startups.

Martina Čaić Chiucita, PhD, is Assistant Professor at the Department of Design, School of Arts, Design and Architecture, at Aalto University in Finland. She earned her PhD from Maastricht University as a Marie Curie Fellow within the Service Design for Innovation Network, after completing her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees at Zagreb School of Economics and Management. Her research lies at the intersection of service management and marketing, service design, and emerging technologies, with a particular focus on AI-enabled agents and human interactions in service contexts. Her work has been published in leading international journals, and she teaches courses in service design, services marketing, and marketing and design research.

Sunčica Žnidar, MA, is a lecturer at Zagreb School of Economics and Management, where she teaches Market Research at the undergraduate level and Managerial Techniques in the MBA program. She holds a degree in Journalism from the University of Zagreb and completed postgraduate specialist studies in Marketing. With more than 20 years of professional experience in market research and marketing, she has held senior roles at leading research agencies including GfK, Valicon, and Karika, with a particular focus on FMCG and retail. Her expertise includes qualitative and quantitative research, international project coordination, team leadership, and client management across B2B and B2C sectors.

Ieva is on a mission to celebrate human creativity and make it accessible to all. As an internationally recognized expert in workplace creativity and innovation, she has published her research in leading academic journals, including the Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Management, and Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. Ieva began her academic career as an assistant professor at the University of East Anglia, where she continues to serve as a visiting faculty member. She has also taught at University College London and the University of Cambridge.

After years of research and testing, Ieva developed the evidence-based D!P method (Daily Ignite Practice)—a research backed and practical approach designed to help busy professionals and leaders ignite creativity daily, enabling them to solve problems more effectively and make better decisions.

Ieva is the founder and director of CreativityLab, where she designs and leads workshops on collaborative creativity for teams, productivity strategies for creatives, creative problem-solving, and fostering creative cultures for business leaders and professionals.

Associate Professor Dr. Eigirdas Žemaitis is the director of Entrepreneurship and Innovation bachelor’s programme at ISM University of Management and Economics. He gained his PhD at Vilnius Gediminas Technical University. In 2016-2017 Eigirdas completed an internship in China at the „University of Geosciences”.Dr. Eigirdas Žemaitis has over 15 years of teaching experience.

Prof. Vilte Auruskeviciene, Ph.D. is a Professor of Social Sciences at ISM University of Management and Economics (ISM). She is a marketing scholar with extensive experience in academic leadership and international higher education development.

She holds a doctoral degree in Social Sciences (Management and Business Administration) and a Master’s degree in Economics from Kaunas University of Technology and completed her habilitation procedure at Vytautas Magnus University.

Dr. Dominyka Venciūtė is the Dean of Graduate Studies, Professor, and Director of the International Marketing and Management program at ISM University of Management and Economics. Her research interests include influencer marketing, personal branding, employer branding, and brand activism. In addition to her academic work, she is the founder of the personal branding consulting and training company Persona Cognita and co-founder of the employer branding consulting company The Promise. She has spoken on marketing, personal branding, and employee advocacy at more than 100 conferences and events across Europe and in the USA in recent years.

Tomas Šiurna is Chief Innovation Officer at BBright, an adaptive math platform ranked among the world's top 5 social innovations by the World Summit Awards and a Google.org Grow AI grantee. Alongside his work at BBright, he lectures in web design and entrepreneurship at ISM University. He holds an MPS in Information Science from Cornell University and mentors entrepreneurship and product teams at ISM.

Senior Lecturer Kristina Maiksteniene (MSc in IT Engineering, MA in Financial Economics, MBA in Strategy & Marketing) has more than 25 years of experience in Executive Education, teaching strategy, marketing, and sustainability-related topics. She has held programme leadership roles across various executive programmes and has been actively engaged in instructional design and pedagogical innovation. Prior to academia, she worked at Procter & Gamble. Alongside her teaching, she provides strategy consultancy to large organizations in the private and public sectors.

Sybille Mertens first obtained a Master's degree in Economics from the Université Catholique de Louvain in 1991, then completed a PhD in Economics at the University of Liège in 2002. She is the recipient of the ARCO Prize for scientific research in social and non-market economics (2002).

Sybille Mertens serves as Director at the Centre for Social Economy. She is also a recognised specialist in social enterprise management.

Wilfried Niessen has over twenty-five years of experience in education and business management. A certified accountant and tax specialist, he founded several companies in management IT (ERP), consulting, and accounting. He combines practical experience with teaching, publications, and executive training for major organizations such as Fortis and Belgacom. His expertise includes accounting, business simulations, finance for non-financial managers, management information systems, and entrepreneurship.

He has taught at institutions including ESCA School of Management, Shenzhen University, and Würzburg-Schweinfurt University of Applied Sciences. Since 2017, he has been Dean and Director General of HEC Liège, and since 2023 he has served as Honorary Consul of Estonia.

Bernard Surlemont (MBA and PhD in Strategic Management from INSEAD) is a Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Liège. He is the co-founder of SEED (now CIDE-SOCRAN), the HEC-ULg Entrepreneurs Master's programme, the entrepreneurial fund E-Capital I, the Business Growth Academy, the creativity platform ID-Campus, the student incubator VentureLab, and the EMMIE programme. A specialist in entrepreneurial finance and university spin-offs, he is regularly consulted on fundraising and business growth strategy.

Charles Cuny brings extensive practical expertise as a coach and consultant specialising in sustainable strategic innovation. He works closely with SME leaders, facilitating both individual and group support programmes designed to help organisations navigate change and drive meaningful transformation. His professional practice also extends to training and facilitation in circular economy and social entrepreneurship, bridging the gap between business strategy and sustainable impact.

Frédéric Ooms holds a double PhD — one in Chemistry from the University of Namur, and another in Management & Economics from HEC Liège — and serves as a Lecturer in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at HEC Liège. His research sits at the crossroads of entrepreneurship and neuroscience, exploring the cognitive and behavioural mechanisms that drive entrepreneurs.

Before entering academia, he gained hands-on experience as an investment manager in venture capital for high-tech companies, supporting entrepreneurs in building their ventures.

Laure holds a Master's degree in Conference Interpreting. Before joining the University of Liège, she built a 10-year experience in communication and marketing, gaining international experience across Spain, Germany and Austria. This combination of linguistic expertise, cross-cultural insight and hands-on industry experience brings a uniquely international and practical dimension to her work.