Member Spotlight: Michael Frese

Name
Michael Frese

Position/Employer
Asia School of Business in Malaysia and Leuphana in Germany

How long have you been a SIOP member?
40 years

What roles have you had within SIOP?
Various committees, helped start a SIOP journal, am a Fellow, connected SIOP to IAAP and EWOP

Interest area(s)
Psychology of entrepreneurship, motivation

What sparked your interest in I-O psychology?
Work is the most basic expression of humans. Fortunately in Germany it is called work and organizational psychology, so it is the basic part of any psychology of humans to study work, and it is usually expressed in social context, ergo organizations psychology.

What role do you see I-O psychology playing in the future of work?
Any interaction with the environment that affects the environment and adds value to society or to parts of the society is work and that will stay constant over time. Obviously both the environment as well as human capability is changed due to work outcomes (e.g., AI, motors, etc.); so how are these basic tenants changing over time?

What advice would you give to students or those early in their career?
Study the basics of work psychology, but also study how technological development changes the interaction of humans with their environment.

What is one of your favorite SIOP Annual Conference memories/highlights?
Many good friendships, good feedback after talks.

Is there anything you would like to add?
My work with many others on encouraging and improving entrepreneurship in Africa has been widely accepted (World Bank, UN, UNESCO), so I am delighted that this work recently led to receiving the most prestigious award given to entrepreneurship researchers: The Global Award for Entrepreneurship Research in Sweden.

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