Areas of Expertise

Resource Acquisition, Strategic Leadership (Board/TMTs), Organizational Survival, Firm Size, Strategic Entrepreneurship, Natural Language Processing, Anti-Human Trafficking.

Academic Degrees

• Ph.D., Strategic Management, Texas A&M University, Mays Business School
• M.S., Financial Management, Texas A&M University, Mays Business School
• B.B.A., Accounting, Summa Cum Laude & Brown-Rudder Outstanding Graduate, Texas A&M University, Mays Business School

Professional Experience

• Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship
• Texas A&M University, Mays Business School, Lecturer of Accounting
• HSBC
• Bank of America
• PricewaterhouseCoopers

Awards, Honors & Certificates

• Certified Public Accountant
• Chartered Financial Analyst ®
• Strategic Research Foundation Dissertation Grant, 2016
• Outstanding Reviewer, Business Policy and Strategy Division, Academy of Management Conference, 2015
• 12 Under 12, Association of Former Students, Texas A&M

Selected Publications

• Josefy, M. A., Harrison, J. S., and Howard, M. D. (2023). Elite Pipelines: How Elite School Ties Are Reflected in Interfirm Employee Migration. Journal of Management, 49(5), 1570-1600. View Full Text

  Abstract

  Abstract

  Recent research has pointed to pipelines, or sequenced hiring of individuals from the same source organizations over time, as a common practice employed by firms to reduce labor market imperfections and create human capital resource advantages. We extend this literature by considering how pipelines may emerge not just out of strategic intent but also out of informal social processes reflecting network transitivity and homophily. Using bipartite social network analysis techniques in a sample of 110 public U.S. electronics component manufacturers, we argue and find evidence for transitive effects between firms’ employee-based ties to elite educational institutions and the formation of interfirm employee pipelines. We demonstrate that pipelines are more likely to form between firms that both hire educational elites, especially when those firms share ties to the same elite schools and when those shared elite schools are executives’ alma mater(s). We also find that these effects tend to be more pronounced when the focal firm has higher growth potential, encouraging mobility by attracting potential elite candidates and facilitating the two-way matching process in labor markets. Our theory and findings contribute to a better understanding of informal processes underlying pipeline formation and specifically demonstrate how hiring tendencies may lead to closed recruiting networks characterized by elite replication.

• Harrison, J. S., Josefy, M. A., Kalm, M. and Krause, R. (2023). Using supervised machine learning to scale human-coded data: A method and dataset in the board leadership context. Strategic Management Journal, 44(7), 1780-1802. View Full Text

  Abstract

  Abstract

  Human coding of unstructured text can enable scholars to measure complex latent constructs for use in empirical analysis, but also requires substantial time and resources that limit the number and sample sizes of studies using this approach. We demonstrate how supervised machine learning (ML) can overcome these constraints by allowing scholars to scale human‐coded data. Using board leadership as an illustrative context, we apply this method to create a large‐scale dataset (N = 22,388) from smaller scale human codings of CEO duality and board chair orientations from company proxy statements. We further demonstrate the potential value of this approach by using the resulting dataset to examine the relationships among board leadership, firm performance, and CEO dismissal. The ML code and dataset are available at 10.5281/zenodo.7304697.

• Astvansh, V., Ball, G., and Josefy, M. (2022). The Recall Decision Exposed: Auto Recall Timing and Process Dataset. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 24(3), 1457-1473.

  Abstract

  Abstract

  Problem Definition. There is a concerted effort across multiple academic disciplines to understand the recall decision-making process. Specifically, what steps does a manufacturer take following a product defect discovery and resulting in the product recall decision? This effort has often been limited to case studies within a particular manufacturer largely due to the absence of consistent and comparable data across firms.   Methodology/Results. This data paper provides a foundation for future research on recall decisions by processing and coding textual disclosures on 2,120 recalls initiated in the United States by 27 automobile manufacturers from 2009-2018. For each recall, the data set provides the time the firm took to make the recall decision by comparing the defect awareness date to the recall decision date, whether the recall is associated with a supplier, the number of events in the recall decision-making process, and the date and description of each event.   Managerial Implications. Not only can this data enhance product recall research by providing key recall decision-making variables unavailable in related research, an additional indication of the value of our data set also comes from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the automobile regulator in the United States. We held discussions with a senior leader at the NHTSA’s Recall Management Division related to this data set. This discussion revealed that the NHTSA does not have these data in an analyzable form and that they would be interested in using our data set for its reports, such as the NHTSA’s biennial reports to the U.S. Congress. This signal suggests that regulators, as well as researchers, practitioners, and other safety advocates may find our data set useful.

• Bolinger, M., Josefy, M., Stevenson, R., and Hitt, M. (2022). Experiments in Strategy Research: A Critical Review and Future Research Opportunities. Journal of Management, 48(1), 77–113. View Full Text

  Abstract

  Abstract

  We review extant experimental work in strategic management and argue that experiments constitute an underused methodology that has significant potential. We examine and categorize 179 experiments from 119 published articles over a 20-year period, delineating the contributions of these experiments to the strategic management literature. In doing so, we identify topic areas in which experiments have been effectively deployed, as well as several literature streams that have a limited amount of prior experimental research. We discuss specific challenges of using experiments in strategy research, especially given its strong focus on the firm-level of analysis. We also emphasize approaches for how experiments can be instrumental in extending management theories and accelerating behavioral microfoundations of strategy research. In light of past contributions and gaps, we discuss specific opportunities and means of designing innovative experiments, propose novel potential research questions, and provide a best practices methodological guide which scholars can use when considering experimental designs. Overall, our work documents experimental research and provides a methodological practicum, thereby offering a platform for future experiment-based research in strategic management. Supplemental best practice guide for conducting strategy experiments can be found here - https://sites.google.com/view/researchguides

• Titus Jr, V., Pieper, J. R., Josefy, M., and Welbourne, T. M. (2022). How Does Your Garden Grow? The Interface of Employee and Sales Growth Post IPO. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 16(4), 671-698. View Full Text

  Abstract

  Abstract

  Firms often succumb to a growth imperative, yet little is known about how congruence between various forms of growth affects firm value. We argue that the (in)congruence between net hiring rates (e.g., growth in the number of employees) and sales growth has significant implications for firm value, assessed via Tobin’s Q. We further contend that R&D expenditures and industry dynamism—factors that influence a firm’s ability to realize value creation—moderate the relationship between growth pattern and firm value. We use a sample of 1,181 firms that conducted their initial public offerings from 1996-2006 to test our conceptual model. Findings indicate that employee-dominant growth is most strongly associated with firm value, and that high levels of R&D expenditures and industry dynamism intensify these relationships.

• Murray, A., Kuban, S., Josefy, M., and Anderson, J. (2021). Contracting in the Smart Era: The Implications of Blockchain and Decentralized Autonomous Organizations for Contracting and Corporate Governance. Academy of Management Perspectives, 35(4), 622-641 (equal authorship). View Full Text
• Stevenson, R. M., Josefy, M., McMullen, J., and Shepherd, D. (2020). Organizational and management theorizing using experiment-based entrepreneurship research: Covered terrain and the next frontiers. Academy of Management Annals, 14(2), 759–796. View Full Text

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  Abstract

  The entrepreneurship setting—an extreme organizational context—provides fertile ground for organizationally relevant theory testing and development. In this paper, we propose that randomized entrepreneurship experiments have considerable potential to advance theory in entrepreneurship as well as other areas of organization science using a full-cycle approach. We ground this proposition in a multipronged review of randomized experiments in entrepreneurship (REE). Based on this review of prior work and emerging trends, respectively, we provide illustrative examples of innovative theory-driven experiments and motivate future research to consider randomized experiments in the entrepreneurial context both for testing boundary conditions and enhancing organizational theorizing broadly.

• Bacq, S., Geoghegan, W., Josefy, M., Stevenson, R., and Williams, T.A. (2020). The COVID-19 Virtual Idea Blitz: Marshaling Social Entrepreneurship to Rapidly Respond to Urgent Grand Challenges. Business Horizons, 63(8), 705-723. View Full Text
• Stevenson, R M.., & Josefy, M. (2019). Knocking at the gate: The path to publication for entrepreneurship experiments through the lens of gatekeeping theory. Journal of Business Venturing, 34(2), 242-260. View Full Text

  Abstract

  Abstract

  We draw on gatekeeping theory to explore the individual and routine-level criticisms that entrepreneurship experimentalists receive during the review process. Using a multi-study approach, we categorize common gatekeeping themes and present illustrative critiques derived from a unique sample of decision letters and a supplemental survey of entrepreneurship editors. In combination, we extend gatekeeping theory by considering how it applies to the scholarly domain, contribute to the literature by exploring an alternative theoretical explanation as to why entrepreneurship experiments might fail to survive the review process, and finally, provide contextualized recommendations for authors and reviewers of experimental research.

• Bakker, R.M. & Josefy, M. (2018). More than just a Number? The Conceptualization and Measurement of Firm Age in an Era of Temporary Organizations. Academy of Management Annals, 12(2), 510-536. View Full Text
• Josefy, M., Dean, T. J., Albert, L. S., & Fitza, M. A. (2017). The Role of Community in Crowdfunding Success: Evidence on Cultural Attributes in Funding Campaigns to 'Save the Local Theater.' Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 41(2), 161-182.  View Full Text
• Josefy, M., Harrison, J., Sirmon, D. & Carnes, C. (2017). Living and dying: Synthesizing the literature on firm survival and failure across stages of development. Academy of Management Annals, 11(2), 770-799. View Full Text
• Li, D., Eden, L. & Josefy, M. (2017). Agent and task complexity in multilateral alliance: The safeguarding role of equity governance. Journal of International Management, 23(3), 227-241.
• Zardkoohi, A., Harrison, J,. S., and Josefy, M. (2017). Conflict and Confluence: The Multidimensionality of Opportunism in Principal–Agent Relationships. Journal of Business Ethics, 146(2), 405-417. View Full Text
• Nalick, M., Josefy, M., Zardkoohi, A., & Bierman, L. (2016). Corporate Sociopolitical Involvement: A Reflection of Whose Preferences? Academy of Management Perspectives, 30(4), 384-403.  Available at: https://doi.org/10.5465/amp.2015.0033. For a discussion, see http://tx.ag/CSPIvideo
• Josefy, M., Kuban, S., Ireland, R. D., & Hitt, M. A. (2015). All Things Great and Small: Organizational size, boundaries of the firm, and a changing environment. Academy of Management Annals, 9(1), 715-802.  View Full Text
• Haynes, K.T., Josefy, M., & Hitt, M. A. (2015). Tipping point: Managers’ self-interest, greed and altruism. Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 22(3), 265-279. View Full Text

Edited on February 1, 2023