This episode, I speak with Scott Sonenshein, the Henry Gardiner Symonds Professor of Management in the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University.  In our conversation today, we talk about a recent paper he published in AMJ, with co-author, Kristen Nault, about organizational resilience.  The paper explores the different ways that firms approach adversity and how these approaches can lead to distinctly different outcomes.  We discuss how resilience is best thought of as a verb and...

This episode, I speak with Gurneeta Vasudeva, an Associate Professor of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship in the Carlson School of Management at the University of Minnesota.  In our conversation, we talk about her AMJ paper about how public-private collaborations can contribute to the success of socially beneficial innovation. We discuss the findings from this paper and the implications for efforts around the world that are attempting to solve some of society’s most pressing problems.

This episode, I speak with David Lucas, the Edward Pettinella Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship in the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University and a Research Fellow with the Institute for an Entrepreneurial Society. In our conversation today, we talk about a recent paper he published in AMJ, with co-authors, Matthew Grimes and Joel Gehman, about Remaking Capitalism into a more just, sustainable, and inclusive system. The paper explores how legislation can shape how...

This episode, I speak with Jeff Bednar, Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources in the BYU Marriott School of Business at Brigham Young University. In our conversation, we talk about a recent paper he published in AMJ, with co-author, Jacob Brown, about ‘Organizational Ghosts’. The paper explores how leaders continue to influence behaviors and emotions within the organization long after they are gone. This leads to a larger conversation about heroes and heroic...

This episode, I speak with Ron Burt, the Charles M. Harper Leadership Professor of Sociology and Strategy at the University of Chicago and Distinguished Professor at Bocconi University in Milan.   In our conversation, we talk about a recent AMJ paper, with co-author, Song Wang, about 'bridge supervision' in organizations, which occurs when a manager and their boss do not share any strong similar social connections. The current rise of remote employment, is likely to bring a rise in bridge...

This episode, I speak with Matt Semadeni, Professor of Strategy and Dean’s Council Distinguished Scholar at the W. P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University.  In our conversation today, we talk about CEO political ideology.   We discuss how political activism has shaped corporate leadership, strategy, and investing - which pulls the conversation in all sorts of interesting directions.  Finally, Matt shares his views about how organizations can approach politics by recognizing...

This episode, I speak with Hatim Rahman, an Assistant Professor of Management and Organizations at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management.   In our conversation today, we talk about a recent paper he published in AMJ, with co-authors, about digital labor platforms and how experimentation by platform designers can impact worker autonomy. I also talk with Hatim about the current state of employer-labor relations and the future impact of digital platforms on employment including...

To kick off our 2nd season, I have two fantastic guests this episode: Angelica Leigh and Shimul Melwani, co-authors of the Best Paper published in AMJ in 2022, entitled, “Am I Next?” The Spillover Effects of Mega-Threats on Avoidant Behaviors at Work" In our conversation, we talk about the phenomenon of “Mega-threats” and how they impact behaviors at work.   I also talk with them about their experiences working on a topic with so much emotional and social heft, as well as their views on the...

The guest this episode is Tim Pollock, the Haslam Chair in Business, Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship, and Kinney Family Faculty Research Fellow at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville In our conversation today we talk about scandals.  In his most recent work Tim and his co-authors investigate the anatomy of the scandal - asking the simple question: when is a firm’s bad behavior most likely to turn into a scandal? The answer to that question is a fascinating combination of both...

The guest this episode is Laura Huang, Professor of Management and Organizational Dynamics, Distinguished Professor, and Faculty Director of the Women’s Entrepreneurship Initiative at Northeastern University. Getting funding is one of the most important goals for a new organization, but funding decisions are not always driven by objective measures. In this episode, we talk about how subtle individual differences can lead to inequities in new venture funding.  In a recent paper in AMJ, Laura...

The guest this episode is Modupe Akinola, the Barbara and David Zalaznick Professor of Business at Columbia Business School.  In this episode we talk about the decisions that firms make about diversity initiatives. While progress has been made in regard to diversity in organizations, the persistence of underrepresentation remains salient.  What explains this state of affairs? In a recent AMJ paper, Modupe and her co-authors propose a simple but profound premise: what if “lack of diversity” is...

The guest for this episode is Thomas Lawrence, a Professor of Business at The University of Oxford.  We talk about how organizations can impact the most important issues that we face in society today (read: Grand Challenges) We discuss one of Tom’s recently published papers in AMJ, which investigates how organizations import ”bad”  practices in attempts to solve an important social problem, drug addiction.  The results are intriguing and also speak to the broader theme of how controversial...

For our inaugural episode our guest is Kathy Eisenhardt, Professor of Strategy and Organization at Stanford University’s School of Engineering. We discuss a recent AMJ paper Kathy and her co-authors explored about entrepreneurship and decision making. The results are intriguing and also speak to the broader theme of how low power actors navigate relationships with high power actors Kathy also shares some of her “Simple Rules” to navigating the complex field of startegy research. Including...