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Elevate your influence: EDBA research topics for industry architects

The Kelley Direct Online Executive Doctor of Business Administration (EDBA) is tailored for those who lead with intention and elevate every move they make. Our world-class faculty, renowned experts in fields from global strategy and corporate innovation to leadership, are ready to partner with you. These short videos offer a direct look into potential applied EDBA research proposal topics and the highly personalized EDBA mentorship you’ll receive. At Kelley, a new kind of doctorate is emerging, and it’s built for business leaders like you.

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Global strategy and sustainability

Investigate how global firms navigate techno-nationalism and develop competitive sustainability strategies.

Description of the video:

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.280 2 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:04.360 My research interest lies in the intersection 3 00:00:04.360 --> 00:00:06.960 of international business and sustainability. 4 00:00:06.960 --> 00:00:10.960 So basically, I study how firm tackle the complexity 5 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:14.880 of operating globally while simultaneously pursuing 6 00:00:14.880 --> 00:00:19.400 making a positive impact on social and environmental space. 7 00:00:19.400 --> 00:00:23.240 So this challenge really comes from the heterogeneity 8 00:00:23.240 --> 00:00:26.600 of institutional environments across different countries 9 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:31.620 and also the conflicting stakeholder demands worldwide. 10 00:00:31.620 --> 00:00:36.000 For instance, global investors looking for shareholder returns 11 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:39.920 and ESG compliance, while local communities looking 12 00:00:39.920 --> 00:00:43.040 for social and environmental justice, 13 00:00:43.040 --> 00:00:47.240 and governments looking for the national industry security, 14 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:50.920 so that firms really need to tackle this complexity. 15 00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:54.120 And meanwhile, this provides opportunity for them 16 00:00:54.120 --> 00:00:57.080 to develop competitive advantage by developing 17 00:00:57.080 --> 00:00:59.340 innovative sustainability strategies. 18 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:03.640 So it's really fun that essentially every strategy 19 00:01:03.640 --> 00:01:07.880 or management issues has an international business lens. 20 00:01:07.880 --> 00:01:11.240 So this is why it's really exciting and great opportunity 21 00:01:11.240 --> 00:01:14.320 for our EDBA students because there 22 00:01:14.320 --> 00:01:16.460 are so many applied research questions. 23 00:01:16.460 --> 00:01:20.300 For instance, if you work for multinational companies, 24 00:01:20.300 --> 00:01:25.370 you might suddenly wake up to a raised tariff or a supply chain 25 00:01:25.370 --> 00:01:26.530 disruption. 26 00:01:26.530 --> 00:01:32.410 And/or you will have to face the challenge between globalization 27 00:01:32.410 --> 00:01:34.550 and techno-nationalism. 28 00:01:34.550 --> 00:01:38.190 So on the one hand, firms want to expand everywhere. 29 00:01:38.190 --> 00:01:41.990 However, we also face rising nationalism sentiment, 30 00:01:41.990 --> 00:01:45.170 particularly dual political nationalism. 31 00:01:45.170 --> 00:01:49.790 So how do firms and managers navigate this challenge, 32 00:01:49.790 --> 00:01:54.350 the dual forces, but meanwhile make global competitiveness? 33 00:01:54.350 --> 00:01:56.850 So I think this is a real puzzle and really 34 00:01:56.850 --> 00:02:00.090 exciting opportunities for our EDBA students. 35 00:02:00.090 --> 00:02:02.530 And if you like sustainability, here 36 00:02:02.530 --> 00:02:04.930 comes another layer of complexity. 37 00:02:04.930 --> 00:02:08.449 For instance, how do global coffee chains 38 00:02:08.449 --> 00:02:12.810 respond to climate shock that hit farmers 39 00:02:12.810 --> 00:02:15.370 in Colombia or Ethiopia? 40 00:02:15.370 --> 00:02:22.290 How do fashion retailers respond to the ever-evolving customer 41 00:02:22.290 --> 00:02:24.610 taste, but meanwhile, we need to manage 42 00:02:24.610 --> 00:02:27.310 expectations to reduce waste. 43 00:02:27.310 --> 00:02:30.810 So all those are true puzzles there that our managers 44 00:02:30.810 --> 00:02:32.510 face every day. 45 00:02:32.510 --> 00:02:36.730 And then that makes really exciting research opportunities 46 00:02:36.730 --> 00:02:39.740 for our EDBA students. 47 00:02:39.740 --> 00:02:44.000

Team effectiveness and employee health

Conduct applied, organizational behavior research on effective team design, work-from-home policies, and managing employee stress.

Description of the video:

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.880 2 00:00:00.880 --> 00:00:03.520 My research is mainly interested in how 3 00:00:03.520 --> 00:00:05.220 to design effective teams. 4 00:00:05.220 --> 00:00:07.360 So I've done research on the role of autonomy 5 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:09.140 in predicting team effectiveness. 6 00:00:09.140 --> 00:00:11.000 I've done research on how to compose 7 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:13.080 a team of individual members, with varying 8 00:00:13.080 --> 00:00:15.480 levels of personality, to make those teams more 9 00:00:15.480 --> 00:00:19.560 likely to help one another and also perform better in the end. 10 00:00:19.560 --> 00:00:21.240 And another stream of research that I 11 00:00:21.240 --> 00:00:25.900 have is concerned with workplace health and employee stress. 12 00:00:25.900 --> 00:00:28.400 So I'm interested in how it is at different work design 13 00:00:28.400 --> 00:00:32.680 factors, whether it's the amount of job demands in someone's 14 00:00:32.680 --> 00:00:36.040 role, the level of social support, job control, 15 00:00:36.040 --> 00:00:38.600 and even some of the characteristics of employees 16 00:00:38.600 --> 00:00:42.160 that might impact the extent to which those stressors at work 17 00:00:42.160 --> 00:00:44.960 impact their health outside of work. 18 00:00:44.960 --> 00:00:46.780 So when I think about EDBA research, 19 00:00:46.780 --> 00:00:50.480 I think of research that has direct practical application. 20 00:00:50.480 --> 00:00:53.960 So think research that you can do in your current organization, 21 00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:56.400 or that you can do on another organization in a given 22 00:00:56.400 --> 00:00:59.400 industry, or research that really addresses questions 23 00:00:59.400 --> 00:01:01.642 that you're struggling with in your day-to-day work. 24 00:01:01.642 --> 00:01:03.600 So a couple of ideas that relate to my research 25 00:01:03.600 --> 00:01:05.805 streams that could potentially apply here. 26 00:01:05.805 --> 00:01:08.180 If a student were interested in studying employee health, 27 00:01:08.180 --> 00:01:10.360 for example, we could try an intervention, 28 00:01:10.360 --> 00:01:13.480 where part of the individuals in the organization 29 00:01:13.480 --> 00:01:15.700 might get more control over their work. 30 00:01:15.700 --> 00:01:17.760 Maybe we do a supervisor support intervention, 31 00:01:17.760 --> 00:01:20.060 where we train supervisors to be more supportive. 32 00:01:20.060 --> 00:01:21.880 And then we have another group of supervisors that doesn't 33 00:01:21.880 --> 00:01:23.380 receive training right away. 34 00:01:23.380 --> 00:01:25.800 And we compare the effectiveness of those teams 35 00:01:25.800 --> 00:01:27.800 and the well-being outcomes of those individuals 36 00:01:27.800 --> 00:01:29.920 that are under those supervisors. 37 00:01:29.920 --> 00:01:32.480 That could be one way of applying some of the stress 38 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:34.760 research to an organizational context 39 00:01:34.760 --> 00:01:38.640 in a very focused and applied EDBA type of way. 40 00:01:38.640 --> 00:01:40.360 Something we could do on the team side 41 00:01:40.360 --> 00:01:43.020 is we might be interested in understanding, for example, 42 00:01:43.020 --> 00:01:46.120 how it is that different work from home policies impact team 43 00:01:46.120 --> 00:01:46.932 performance? 44 00:01:46.932 --> 00:01:49.640 If they work in an organization, where some people work from home 45 00:01:49.640 --> 00:01:52.520 and some people don't, we could use different methods 46 00:01:52.520 --> 00:01:54.460 to tease out those effects and see, OK, 47 00:01:54.460 --> 00:01:57.680 to what extent is working from home associated with higher team 48 00:01:57.680 --> 00:01:59.800 performance, or higher team cohesion, 49 00:01:59.800 --> 00:02:01.880 or other types of team outcomes that we're 50 00:02:01.880 --> 00:02:04.600 interested in the organizational sciences. 51 00:02:04.600 --> 00:02:06.480 So those are just two ideas of ways 52 00:02:06.480 --> 00:02:08.840 that EDBA students can leverage some of the research 53 00:02:08.840 --> 00:02:11.039 that I've done before in either teams 54 00:02:11.039 --> 00:02:12.620 or in the employee health domain. 55 00:02:12.620 --> 00:02:14.840 But there's many, many different questions 56 00:02:14.840 --> 00:02:17.000 that we could ask and explore together 57 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:19.640 that will help us answer some very applied, interesting 58 00:02:19.640 --> 00:02:21.920 questions that are of relevance to organizations 59 00:02:21.920 --> 00:02:22.720 and policymakers. 60 00:02:22.720 --> 00:02:26.070 [WHIRRING] 61 00:02:26.070 --> 00:02:28.000

Leadership and generational differences

Research the influence of individual differences and leader behaviors on team success, particularly in remote work settings.

Description of the video:

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.360 2 00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:04.400 I'm really interested in researching leadership 3 00:00:04.400 --> 00:00:05.780 and individual differences. 4 00:00:05.780 --> 00:00:07.280 So individual differences are things 5 00:00:07.280 --> 00:00:10.120 like personality or intelligence or gender 6 00:00:10.120 --> 00:00:11.760 or those types of things. 7 00:00:11.760 --> 00:00:15.460 I've also been interested lately in generational differences. 8 00:00:15.460 --> 00:00:17.840 We're hearing a lot about, oh, the workers 9 00:00:17.840 --> 00:00:20.320 these days compared to the old days. 10 00:00:20.320 --> 00:00:23.520 So I'm interested in finding out how much of that is real 11 00:00:23.520 --> 00:00:25.780 and how much of it is stereotypes. 12 00:00:25.780 --> 00:00:29.600 One of the things that I'm excited about looking into more 13 00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:31.020 is remote work. 14 00:00:31.020 --> 00:00:33.800 Again, that's something that's been more and more popular 15 00:00:33.800 --> 00:00:34.420 these days. 16 00:00:34.420 --> 00:00:37.560 One of the challenges with that, though, is how do you still 17 00:00:37.560 --> 00:00:41.240 have that connection and keep people motivated when they're 18 00:00:41.240 --> 00:00:42.660 not around their team as much? 19 00:00:42.660 --> 00:00:45.280 What leader behaviors are going to make 20 00:00:45.280 --> 00:00:48.360 that transition more successful and the team more 21 00:00:48.360 --> 00:00:49.800 successful as a whole? 22 00:00:49.800 --> 00:00:52.800 So something that the EDBA students could work on 23 00:00:52.800 --> 00:00:56.120 are generational differences across the workplace. 24 00:00:56.120 --> 00:00:58.060 One question they could address, again, 25 00:00:58.060 --> 00:01:00.180 is looking at these generational differences. 26 00:01:00.180 --> 00:01:03.680 For example, are they real or are they 27 00:01:03.680 --> 00:01:06.400 self-fulfilling prophecies that people are seeing? 28 00:01:06.400 --> 00:01:09.420 And if they are real, what can we do about them? 29 00:01:09.420 --> 00:01:11.360 Are there specific leader behaviors 30 00:01:11.360 --> 00:01:15.520 that are going to influence whether or not people are 31 00:01:15.520 --> 00:01:17.540 motivated across generations? 32 00:01:17.540 --> 00:01:19.160 So that's one example. 33 00:01:19.160 --> 00:01:22.720 So another question an Executive DBA student might be asking 34 00:01:22.720 --> 00:01:25.985 is perhaps you self-promote a lot of people. 35 00:01:25.985 --> 00:01:27.360 So you have people that are going 36 00:01:27.360 --> 00:01:31.340 from individual contributors to now managers. 37 00:01:31.340 --> 00:01:32.820 A lot of organizations do that. 38 00:01:32.820 --> 00:01:35.120 And if you do that, you know that not everyone 39 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:38.300 makes that transition as smoothly as everyone. 40 00:01:38.300 --> 00:01:40.980 So a question you might ask is, in your industry, 41 00:01:40.980 --> 00:01:43.420 are there certain personality characteristics, 42 00:01:43.420 --> 00:01:48.280 certain behaviors that help individual contributors become 43 00:01:48.280 --> 00:01:51.710 leaders of others more quickly? 44 00:01:51.710 --> 00:01:56.000

Organizational strategy and governance

Explore the governance mechanisms and resource allocation decisions that explain why one organization outperforms another.

Description of the video:

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.440 2 00:00:01.440 --> 00:00:02.558 I'm a strategy professor. 3 00:00:02.558 --> 00:00:04.100 So ultimately, at the end of the day, 4 00:00:04.100 --> 00:00:05.475 my goal is to understand anything 5 00:00:05.475 --> 00:00:08.000 that would be a reason or an explanation for why 6 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:10.560 one organization outperforms another. 7 00:00:10.560 --> 00:00:12.382 So specifically within that realm, 8 00:00:12.382 --> 00:00:13.840 I'm looking at firm governance, I'm 9 00:00:13.840 --> 00:00:17.040 looking at firm resources, especially human capital. 10 00:00:17.040 --> 00:00:18.520 In thinking about the opportunity 11 00:00:18.520 --> 00:00:20.760 to bring more individuals from practice 12 00:00:20.760 --> 00:00:23.720 into this specific program, I think 13 00:00:23.720 --> 00:00:26.280 there's several opportunities for the types of research 14 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:27.553 we can conduct. 15 00:00:27.553 --> 00:00:29.720 One consideration is that a lot of strategy research 16 00:00:29.720 --> 00:00:31.120 is across organizations. 17 00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:32.720 And we're trying to compare why is it 18 00:00:32.720 --> 00:00:35.180 that one organization outperformed another? 19 00:00:35.180 --> 00:00:38.200 So in terms of framing and positioning potential research 20 00:00:38.200 --> 00:00:41.300 questions that are a bit more applied in nature, 21 00:00:41.300 --> 00:00:44.102 we can still anchor off the initial themes 22 00:00:44.102 --> 00:00:45.560 but then think about how this might 23 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:47.880 be true in your own organization, where 24 00:00:47.880 --> 00:00:50.320 you might have some privileged data access. 25 00:00:50.320 --> 00:00:52.400 So as an example of some of the streams that I'm 26 00:00:52.400 --> 00:00:54.840 part of that students in this program 27 00:00:54.840 --> 00:00:57.000 might be able to conduct further research, 28 00:00:57.000 --> 00:00:59.560 first I'd start with the idea that a CEO can't 29 00:00:59.560 --> 00:01:01.820 take on every task themselves. 30 00:01:01.820 --> 00:01:03.800 And so they're constantly having to evaluate 31 00:01:03.800 --> 00:01:07.160 which tasks do I assign or leverage and delegate 32 00:01:07.160 --> 00:01:09.740 responsibility to other individuals. 33 00:01:09.740 --> 00:01:11.620 So in our work, we're specifically 34 00:01:11.620 --> 00:01:13.820 in the mergers and acquisitions context, 35 00:01:13.820 --> 00:01:17.060 saying, which M&A deals did the CEO personally 36 00:01:17.060 --> 00:01:19.220 retain responsibility for versus when 37 00:01:19.220 --> 00:01:21.940 did they lean on other members of their executive team 38 00:01:21.940 --> 00:01:22.940 more heavily. 39 00:01:22.940 --> 00:01:25.420 So a student in this program might consider, 40 00:01:25.420 --> 00:01:27.980 are there other tasks within your organization 41 00:01:27.980 --> 00:01:30.240 where there'd be varying levels of delegation? 42 00:01:30.240 --> 00:01:34.340 And can we build out a data set to explore that more deeply? 43 00:01:34.340 --> 00:01:37.080 A second interface would be on the governance dimensions. 44 00:01:37.080 --> 00:01:38.740 So obviously, in your organization, 45 00:01:38.740 --> 00:01:40.900 there's probably multiple different areas 46 00:01:40.900 --> 00:01:43.760 where you have committees that need to make decisions, 47 00:01:43.760 --> 00:01:46.340 or you have governance oversight boards 48 00:01:46.340 --> 00:01:50.220 that are choosing when to engage on certain key strategic 49 00:01:50.220 --> 00:01:51.460 decisions. 50 00:01:51.460 --> 00:01:55.060 So it's really important in the research 51 00:01:55.060 --> 00:01:58.380 that I do that we understand what checks and balances are 52 00:01:58.380 --> 00:02:03.460 in place that would overlay on top of the decisions 53 00:02:03.460 --> 00:02:05.360 that somebody is trying to execute. 54 00:02:05.360 --> 00:02:07.700 So to the extent that you can identify key decisions 55 00:02:07.700 --> 00:02:11.060 within your organization, and identify the governance 56 00:02:11.060 --> 00:02:13.740 mechanisms, then that would be a potential interest 57 00:02:13.740 --> 00:02:14.940 to governance scholars. 58 00:02:14.940 --> 00:02:18.290 [WHIRRING] 59 00:02:18.290 --> 00:02:20.000

Entrepreneurial strategy and resourcefulness

Study the competitive strategies and methods of resource acquisition, like entrepreneurial hustle.

Description of the video:

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.640 2 00:00:01.640 --> 00:00:04.780 So my broad research interest is entrepreneurship. 3 00:00:04.780 --> 00:00:06.240 But underneath that umbrella, I'm 4 00:00:06.240 --> 00:00:09.140 really interested in entrepreneurial strategy. 5 00:00:09.140 --> 00:00:12.260 So what makes newer ventures competitive, 6 00:00:12.260 --> 00:00:14.960 allowing them to compete and often outcompete 7 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:16.239 larger ventures. 8 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:17.640 And then in addition to that, I'm 9 00:00:17.640 --> 00:00:20.120 interested in how they get resources, 10 00:00:20.120 --> 00:00:23.320 what they do to be very resourceful in resource 11 00:00:23.320 --> 00:00:25.240 constrained environments, and what 12 00:00:25.240 --> 00:00:29.840 they do to convince others to give them resources as they 13 00:00:29.840 --> 00:00:32.119 grow, develop, and scale. 14 00:00:32.119 --> 00:00:35.620 So one of my most intriguing projects, at least to me, 15 00:00:35.620 --> 00:00:37.880 is about entrepreneurial hustle. 16 00:00:37.880 --> 00:00:42.240 We started off, myself and some of my PhD students, 17 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:46.640 examining and carefully scrutinizing transcripts 18 00:00:46.640 --> 00:00:48.700 from how I built this podcast. 19 00:00:48.700 --> 00:00:51.640 So podcasting had emerged as a phenomenon. 20 00:00:51.640 --> 00:00:53.280 All these interesting entrepreneurs 21 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:55.760 were being interviewed about what they had 22 00:00:55.760 --> 00:00:57.420 done to build their businesses. 23 00:00:57.420 --> 00:01:01.300 And we started analyzing what they said about what they did. 24 00:01:01.300 --> 00:01:04.440 And from that induced this concept 25 00:01:04.440 --> 00:01:06.640 of entrepreneurial hustle, which is 26 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:11.360 acting with a sense of urgency and unorthodoxy 27 00:01:11.360 --> 00:01:13.920 to solve pressing problems. 28 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:19.420 And we deduced this concept, defined it very strategically, 29 00:01:19.420 --> 00:01:23.880 then began to unpack how it's impacted venture development. 30 00:01:23.880 --> 00:01:27.680 And from that, translated it into another research paper, 31 00:01:27.680 --> 00:01:31.920 in which we came up with a very robust measure for how 32 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:33.440 you might account for it. 33 00:01:33.440 --> 00:01:35.920 And connected that, or correlated 34 00:01:35.920 --> 00:01:37.960 that with venture success. 35 00:01:37.960 --> 00:01:42.000 So it was a project that started in podcasts, 36 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:45.140 translated into an instrument to measure that, 37 00:01:45.140 --> 00:01:47.480 and then used in the field to test 38 00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:49.800 whether entrepreneurial hustle actually 39 00:01:49.800 --> 00:01:51.740 impacted venture success. 40 00:01:51.740 --> 00:01:55.090 [WHIRRING] 41 00:01:55.090 --> 00:01:57.000

Corporate innovation and mentorship

Examine the future of corporate innovation in the age of AI and the value of effective mentorship for entrepreneurs.

Description of the video:

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.440 2 00:00:02.440 --> 00:00:04.080 My research interest for years has 3 00:00:04.080 --> 00:00:05.997 been in the area of corporate entrepreneurship 4 00:00:05.997 --> 00:00:07.080 and corporate innovation. 5 00:00:07.080 --> 00:00:09.560 Actually, I built my career based on that. 6 00:00:09.560 --> 00:00:11.720 It was the consulting that I did in major Fortune 7 00:00:11.720 --> 00:00:13.680 500 companies, which transitioned 8 00:00:13.680 --> 00:00:16.940 to a whole line of research that I was able to accomplish, 9 00:00:16.940 --> 00:00:19.020 having access to those companies. 10 00:00:19.020 --> 00:00:23.560 If you're pursuing the EDBA program, which I think is great, 11 00:00:23.560 --> 00:00:26.560 there's a number of things from a practitioner and research 12 00:00:26.560 --> 00:00:29.120 standpoint that you could be asking yourself. 13 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:32.573 In my world of entrepreneurship and corporate innovation, 14 00:00:32.573 --> 00:00:34.240 obviously, there's a number of questions 15 00:00:34.240 --> 00:00:35.460 that still reside out there. 16 00:00:35.460 --> 00:00:39.320 For example, how will AI change the way corporations 17 00:00:39.320 --> 00:00:41.960 are going to look at innovation inside their companies? 18 00:00:41.960 --> 00:00:44.460 How will it actually maybe drive and enhance it, 19 00:00:44.460 --> 00:00:47.240 or how will it maybe in some ways, 20 00:00:47.240 --> 00:00:49.560 be a hindrance in many ways to the individuals 21 00:00:49.560 --> 00:00:50.938 that want to step forward? 22 00:00:50.938 --> 00:00:52.480 So there's some interesting questions 23 00:00:52.480 --> 00:00:55.422 around the whole AI movement, I think, that is there. 24 00:00:55.422 --> 00:00:56.880 And then when you look at the stuff 25 00:00:56.880 --> 00:00:58.920 that I've been doing in coachability, 26 00:00:58.920 --> 00:01:02.080 and mentors, and accelerators, a lot of questions 27 00:01:02.080 --> 00:01:04.923 arise as to what really is going to be the value? 28 00:01:04.923 --> 00:01:06.840 What is the most important thing that a mentor 29 00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:08.742 can do with an entrepreneur? 30 00:01:08.742 --> 00:01:10.200 And what's the most important thing 31 00:01:10.200 --> 00:01:13.900 entrepreneurs can do to find the proper mentor, the proper match, 32 00:01:13.900 --> 00:01:14.760 if you will? 33 00:01:14.760 --> 00:01:16.960 So a number of questions that I think, 34 00:01:16.960 --> 00:01:20.760 from a practitioner standpoint, can be looked at and applied, 35 00:01:20.760 --> 00:01:23.663 and eventually, through a study, published. 36 00:01:23.663 --> 00:01:25.080 So for all of you, I encourage you 37 00:01:25.080 --> 00:01:26.880 to think about our doctoral programs 38 00:01:26.880 --> 00:01:28.620 here at the Kelley School of Business. 39 00:01:28.620 --> 00:01:31.160 Because as you can see from the research that I'm doing 40 00:01:31.160 --> 00:01:33.180 and research that my colleagues are doing, 41 00:01:33.180 --> 00:01:37.320 we are entering some pretty significant areas of study. 42 00:01:37.320 --> 00:01:38.900 And I think as a doctoral student, 43 00:01:38.900 --> 00:01:41.440 you will find it most interesting, exciting, 44 00:01:41.440 --> 00:01:44.420 and challenging to work with some of our professors. 45 00:01:44.420 --> 00:01:47.580 And I hope in some cases, if you're interested in my world, 46 00:01:47.580 --> 00:01:48.628 you'll work with me. 47 00:01:48.628 --> 00:01:50.420 But it would be great to have you on board. 48 00:01:50.420 --> 00:01:51.360 Thanks so much. 49 00:01:51.360 --> 00:01:54.710 [WHIRRING] 50 00:01:54.710 --> 00:01:57.000

Leadership ambivalence and decision-making

Analyze how leader cognitions, such as holding cognitive tensions or ambivalence, influence leadership processes in complex settings.

Description of the video:

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.360 2 00:00:01.360 --> 00:00:05.360 My research falls within the broad field 3 00:00:05.360 --> 00:00:08.080 of organizational behavior, and I'm 4 00:00:08.080 --> 00:00:11.600 very interested in leadership and leadership processes. 5 00:00:11.600 --> 00:00:14.780 And under that umbrella of leadership, 6 00:00:14.780 --> 00:00:19.760 I tended to look at ambivalence or cognitive tensions. 7 00:00:19.760 --> 00:00:23.240 Individuals can hold positive and negative evaluations 8 00:00:23.240 --> 00:00:27.920 about a situation, and that creates this cognitive tension. 9 00:00:27.920 --> 00:00:32.080 So I tended to look at how ambivalence influence 10 00:00:32.080 --> 00:00:38.060 leadership processes and how the leader interacts with followers. 11 00:00:38.060 --> 00:00:43.200 When looking at the practical implications of my research, 12 00:00:43.200 --> 00:00:45.460 I tended to focus on behaviors. 13 00:00:45.460 --> 00:00:50.200 So what are the functional and dysfunctional behaviors 14 00:00:50.200 --> 00:00:53.320 that leaders engage in your organization 15 00:00:53.320 --> 00:00:55.120 or in your industry? 16 00:00:55.120 --> 00:00:59.800 And in particular, I'm very interested in those contexts 17 00:00:59.800 --> 00:01:03.280 that are very complex, interdependent, and dynamic 18 00:01:03.280 --> 00:01:04.920 because guess what? 19 00:01:04.920 --> 00:01:08.310 Leaders are important in those situations. 20 00:01:08.310 --> 00:01:11.370 So if we can understand how leaders behave 21 00:01:11.370 --> 00:01:13.050 in those complex, interdependent, 22 00:01:13.050 --> 00:01:18.010 and dynamic situations, we can understand their cognitions 23 00:01:18.010 --> 00:01:18.990 as well. 24 00:01:18.990 --> 00:01:21.470 And the cognitions, in particular ambivalence, 25 00:01:21.470 --> 00:01:25.170 this is one of the cognitions that I'm particularly interested 26 00:01:25.170 --> 00:01:26.250 in. 27 00:01:26.250 --> 00:01:29.250 Ambivalence can predict how leaders 28 00:01:29.250 --> 00:01:34.070 interact, how leaders behave, how they make decisions. 29 00:01:34.070 --> 00:01:38.450 And not only that, in recent projects that I have, 30 00:01:38.450 --> 00:01:42.050 we are looking into followers and how followers 31 00:01:42.050 --> 00:01:46.010 experiencing ambivalence, what happens with them. 32 00:01:46.010 --> 00:01:48.690 Are they promoted? 33 00:01:48.690 --> 00:01:50.830 Are they given new opportunities? 34 00:01:50.830 --> 00:01:55.090 People like working with those ambivalent followers as well? 35 00:01:55.090 --> 00:02:00.370 So to summarize, I look at behaviors of leaders and perhaps 36 00:02:00.370 --> 00:02:04.690 followers as well and how those are functional and dysfunctional 37 00:02:04.690 --> 00:02:07.380 in leadership processes. 38 00:02:07.380 --> 00:02:12.000

Negotiation training impact research

Research the tangible outcome of negotiation training on organizational behavior, informal workplace exchanges, and leadership skills.

Description of the video:

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.640 2 00:00:01.640 --> 00:00:04.360 I am someone who studies organizational behavior 3 00:00:04.360 --> 00:00:07.040 and human resources within organizations. 4 00:00:07.040 --> 00:00:09.280 What that means is that I'm interested in the way 5 00:00:09.280 --> 00:00:11.440 that organizational systems, and more 6 00:00:11.440 --> 00:00:13.920 particularly, organizational leaders, 7 00:00:13.920 --> 00:00:17.180 influence folks who are working for those organizations. 8 00:00:17.180 --> 00:00:20.000 One of the questions that I think EDBA students 9 00:00:20.000 --> 00:00:23.360 might be interested in centers around my beliefs 10 00:00:23.360 --> 00:00:25.080 that negotiation is something that we 11 00:00:25.080 --> 00:00:28.320 do every day in organizations, and that by training 12 00:00:28.320 --> 00:00:32.040 people in negotiations formally, we actually make them 13 00:00:32.040 --> 00:00:34.760 better at informal exchanges. 14 00:00:34.760 --> 00:00:38.360 So as I teach negotiation in the MBA program 15 00:00:38.360 --> 00:00:40.560 and actually have been on negotiation faculty 16 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:42.760 for more than 30 years, I've watched 17 00:00:42.760 --> 00:00:45.240 the way in which my students change 18 00:00:45.240 --> 00:00:48.180 after they take the class, not just from confidence, 19 00:00:48.180 --> 00:00:50.080 but in the way that they will figure out 20 00:00:50.080 --> 00:00:53.280 what they want to ask for, be more strategic in the things 21 00:00:53.280 --> 00:00:55.280 that they bring to a conversation. 22 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:57.080 So I really would like to study some 23 00:00:57.080 --> 00:01:00.600 of the impacts of that on someone's day-to-day work life. 24 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:04.660 Does negotiation training make them more likely to make an ask? 25 00:01:04.660 --> 00:01:09.160 Does it make them more likely to have more prepared commentary 26 00:01:09.160 --> 00:01:11.200 when they go into that situation? 27 00:01:11.200 --> 00:01:13.920 We know that training in negotiation 28 00:01:13.920 --> 00:01:16.520 really eliminates the gender gap. 29 00:01:16.520 --> 00:01:18.840 Women and men trained in negotiation 30 00:01:18.840 --> 00:01:21.780 will ask for salary raises, for example, at equal rates. 31 00:01:21.780 --> 00:01:24.400 I'm intrigued to find out if that training has 32 00:01:24.400 --> 00:01:26.990 other great outcomes as well. 33 00:01:26.990 --> 00:01:31.000

Mental health in the gig economy

Address applied, people-focused problems like authenticity at work and developing tools to support the well-being of the gig economy workforce.

Description of the video:

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.240 2 00:00:01.240 --> 00:00:03.760 My research, really, stems from my background 3 00:00:03.760 --> 00:00:05.840 in industry, which I think is relevant 4 00:00:05.840 --> 00:00:10.000 when we're talking about working with applied, more applied DBA 5 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:10.880 students. 6 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:13.560 I worked at Deloitte Consulting for several years 7 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:15.640 doing strategy consulting, and then 8 00:00:15.640 --> 00:00:19.560 moved into working for our CEO and chief transformation 9 00:00:19.560 --> 00:00:22.480 officer, chief strategy officer. 10 00:00:22.480 --> 00:00:24.840 And while I was there, what I noticed 11 00:00:24.840 --> 00:00:28.240 most was so many of the challenges that arise in running 12 00:00:28.240 --> 00:00:31.520 these huge businesses, like Deloitte or Fortune 500 13 00:00:31.520 --> 00:00:33.680 companies, has to do with people. 14 00:00:33.680 --> 00:00:35.700 And that was what I was most fascinated with. 15 00:00:35.700 --> 00:00:38.240 And so my value for learning and discovery 16 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:39.660 led me back to academia. 17 00:00:39.660 --> 00:00:42.240 And so it's a joy now to be a professor where 18 00:00:42.240 --> 00:00:45.480 I can teach about topics and research 19 00:00:45.480 --> 00:00:48.080 about topics related to people. 20 00:00:48.080 --> 00:00:53.720 And so when I'm not teaching or running programs and helping out 21 00:00:53.720 --> 00:00:56.280 around the department, around our school, 22 00:00:56.280 --> 00:01:00.520 my research is related to mental health at work, 23 00:01:00.520 --> 00:01:03.730 workers who are more vulnerable maybe 24 00:01:03.730 --> 00:01:07.690 have stigmatized identities like women in business 25 00:01:07.690 --> 00:01:10.570 or for example, a new population of the workforce 26 00:01:10.570 --> 00:01:14.130 called the gig economy, so workers who work off the grid. 27 00:01:14.130 --> 00:01:17.090 I'm sure we can all relate to having to work 28 00:01:17.090 --> 00:01:19.310 in socially remote conditions. 29 00:01:19.310 --> 00:01:23.650 And so those are just a snapshot of the type of research topics 30 00:01:23.650 --> 00:01:26.090 that I work on right now. 31 00:01:26.090 --> 00:01:28.330 Yeah, I think one of the projects that's 32 00:01:28.330 --> 00:01:33.770 most relevant to this group, so I do academic-related projects 33 00:01:33.770 --> 00:01:36.010 that would be published in journals that I 34 00:01:36.010 --> 00:01:39.010 would help you learn to read, if you're interested. 35 00:01:39.010 --> 00:01:41.090 But this particular project that I'm working on 36 00:01:41.090 --> 00:01:45.110 happens to be a student project that is incredibly applied, 37 00:01:45.110 --> 00:01:48.930 and it's actually under revision at a very applied journal, which 38 00:01:48.930 --> 00:01:50.670 means that it's going to get published. 39 00:01:50.670 --> 00:01:55.010 It started as a thesis project, where I had a student come to me 40 00:01:55.010 --> 00:01:58.370 and say that she was incredibly interested in authenticity 41 00:01:58.370 --> 00:02:00.650 at work because what she was finding 42 00:02:00.650 --> 00:02:03.550 is as a woman who veils diligently 43 00:02:03.550 --> 00:02:05.510 for her religious practice, and also 44 00:02:05.510 --> 00:02:09.550 a woman who is highly empowered and working in one 45 00:02:09.550 --> 00:02:12.990 of the biggest, most respected banks in the US, 46 00:02:12.990 --> 00:02:15.370 it was really difficult to balance the two. 47 00:02:15.370 --> 00:02:16.690 And she had a lot of questions. 48 00:02:16.690 --> 00:02:19.230 And so what we did over the course of the year 49 00:02:19.230 --> 00:02:22.430 was conducted interviews in a reasonable way 50 00:02:22.430 --> 00:02:25.470 that she could combine with her extracurriculars and her studies 51 00:02:25.470 --> 00:02:29.530 that helped us arrive at new insights about this question. 52 00:02:29.530 --> 00:02:33.450 And so when I work on highly applied problems, 53 00:02:33.450 --> 00:02:35.150 my goal for working with these students 54 00:02:35.150 --> 00:02:38.870 is to help clarify what the question is, help you understand 55 00:02:38.870 --> 00:02:41.670 what's out there that has already answered 56 00:02:41.670 --> 00:02:44.910 this question so that we can come up with something new 57 00:02:44.910 --> 00:02:45.530 together. 58 00:02:45.530 --> 00:02:48.550 So that is one example. 59 00:02:48.550 --> 00:02:52.290 I'll give you one more example that I'm working on right now. 60 00:02:52.290 --> 00:02:54.010 We actually just put it under review. 61 00:02:54.010 --> 00:02:55.950 It's a project I'm really proud of. 62 00:02:55.950 --> 00:03:00.650 What we did was we looked at workers in the gig economy, 63 00:03:00.650 --> 00:03:04.060 and these happened to be a bunch of freelance journalists. 64 00:03:04.060 --> 00:03:06.800 And one of the things that we noticed from interviews 65 00:03:06.800 --> 00:03:09.960 that we did with these workers, that is a major struggle when 66 00:03:09.960 --> 00:03:14.480 you're alone, sitting in your room trying to be productive 67 00:03:14.480 --> 00:03:16.360 and also feeling well. 68 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:20.520 And so as professors, I worked with a team of professors 69 00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:21.260 on this. 70 00:03:21.260 --> 00:03:23.680 We said, what if we give this group a tool? 71 00:03:23.680 --> 00:03:26.560 And let's set it up with an experimental paradigm 72 00:03:26.560 --> 00:03:30.640 so that we can start to test a tool that we could go out 73 00:03:30.640 --> 00:03:33.720 to other people in practice, other people in the gig economy 74 00:03:33.720 --> 00:03:35.180 and say, this tool works. 75 00:03:35.180 --> 00:03:40.000 And so what we actually found is that if you as gig workers 76 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:43.040 or perhaps if you're working socially remote, if you use 77 00:03:43.040 --> 00:03:46.280 something called a Pomodoro technique in a Zoom room 78 00:03:46.280 --> 00:03:49.360 with other people for an hour, you'll actually 79 00:03:49.360 --> 00:03:52.980 get more work done and feel better as a result. 80 00:03:52.980 --> 00:03:57.560 And so these are two examples of projects that are highly applied 81 00:03:57.560 --> 00:04:01.060 and have real novel insights that can really help people. 82 00:04:01.060 --> 00:04:04.410 [DRAMATIC SOUND] 83 00:04:04.410 --> 00:04:06.000

Entrepreneurship and organizational growth

Study the challenges of organizational growth, focusing on the tension between frictionless operations and relational customer interactions.

Description of the video:

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.120 2 00:00:02.120 --> 00:00:05.220 So I tend to study what I call funky contacts. 3 00:00:05.220 --> 00:00:08.039 I'm a phenomenologist, so I study 4 00:00:08.039 --> 00:00:09.580 things that just interest me. 5 00:00:09.580 --> 00:00:12.840 And often that comes from just interviewing and interacting 6 00:00:12.840 --> 00:00:14.080 with people. 7 00:00:14.080 --> 00:00:16.560 I've interviewed people as diverse 8 00:00:16.560 --> 00:00:18.620 as street performers in New Orleans. 9 00:00:18.620 --> 00:00:21.840 I have a stream of research on craft breweries. 10 00:00:21.840 --> 00:00:25.200 I've interviewed millionaire and billionaire founders who 11 00:00:25.200 --> 00:00:27.060 have exited their businesses. 12 00:00:27.060 --> 00:00:30.340 And I also have a research project on Amish entrepreneurs. 13 00:00:30.340 --> 00:00:33.700 And so I tend to engage in qualitative methods. 14 00:00:33.700 --> 00:00:36.560 I enjoy getting out and being in communities 15 00:00:36.560 --> 00:00:40.080 and interviewing entrepreneurs. 16 00:00:40.080 --> 00:00:43.600 So studying entrepreneurship, I think a lot of the questions 17 00:00:43.600 --> 00:00:47.600 that I ask are naturally pretty applied. 18 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:49.760 And a lot of times my research questions that I do 19 00:00:49.760 --> 00:00:52.040 ask come from something that I see out 20 00:00:52.040 --> 00:00:54.320 in the world among entrepreneurs. 21 00:00:54.320 --> 00:00:56.480 But one of the central themes of my research 22 00:00:56.480 --> 00:00:59.520 is often how growth of organizations 23 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:03.360 changes or challenges organizations. 24 00:01:03.360 --> 00:01:05.400 And one of the things that I see now 25 00:01:05.400 --> 00:01:08.720 is there's always a move when people start new businesses 26 00:01:08.720 --> 00:01:10.840 to reduce friction. 27 00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:13.320 And what I mean by that is, often we think of maybe 28 00:01:13.320 --> 00:01:17.280 you have the Starbucks app, and it's very easy to order online 29 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:21.520 and to pick up your coffee with very little human interaction. 30 00:01:21.520 --> 00:01:23.800 And so one of the questions I'm interested in 31 00:01:23.800 --> 00:01:27.840 is oftentimes as we move and we encourage entrepreneurs 32 00:01:27.840 --> 00:01:31.520 to engage in frictionless payments, 33 00:01:31.520 --> 00:01:34.440 or frictionless operations, their operations 34 00:01:34.440 --> 00:01:36.420 become a bit more transactional. 35 00:01:36.420 --> 00:01:40.080 And so my question, I would say from an applied nature 36 00:01:40.080 --> 00:01:42.980 is, even though we want to encourage this, 37 00:01:42.980 --> 00:01:45.160 how do we make this a bit more relational 38 00:01:45.160 --> 00:01:48.400 and encourage relationships and building 39 00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:50.220 relationships with your customers, 40 00:01:50.220 --> 00:01:53.400 while at the same time reducing the frictions that 41 00:01:53.400 --> 00:01:56.320 often occur when you're interacting with customers? 42 00:01:56.320 --> 00:01:59.670 [WHIRRING] 43 00:01:59.670 --> 00:02:02.000

Justice, compliance, and decision biases

Investigate the dynamics of malicious compliance and other organizational justice and decision-making biases in different industries.

Description of the video:

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.560 2 00:00:01.560 --> 00:00:04.820 My research interests focus in three primary areas, 3 00:00:04.820 --> 00:00:07.960 so I look at emotions and affect in the workplace, things 4 00:00:07.960 --> 00:00:10.580 like emotional regulation and emotional labor. 5 00:00:10.580 --> 00:00:12.600 So when we'd have to fake or modify 6 00:00:12.600 --> 00:00:15.900 our emotions to meet display demands in our environment. 7 00:00:15.900 --> 00:00:18.860 I also look at justice in the workplace. 8 00:00:18.860 --> 00:00:22.000 So how we feel about our boss, perceptions, and behaviors, 9 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:25.140 and how that might affect how we actually engage and work. 10 00:00:25.140 --> 00:00:27.740 And then I also look at decision making biases. 11 00:00:27.740 --> 00:00:29.680 So biases like escalation of commitment 12 00:00:29.680 --> 00:00:32.123 when we might continue with a failing course of action 13 00:00:32.123 --> 00:00:34.040 because it's really tied to our identity or we 14 00:00:34.040 --> 00:00:36.240 spend a lot of time working on it already. 15 00:00:36.240 --> 00:00:39.080 So talking about malicious compliance or situations 16 00:00:39.080 --> 00:00:42.980 where someone might follow the letter of the law, 17 00:00:42.980 --> 00:00:45.880 but not the spirit of the law or situations 18 00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:48.840 where someone might see a sign, driving by and says, 19 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:52.240 my boss told me to change this sign and so I did. 20 00:00:52.240 --> 00:00:55.200 Where you're violating the spirit of what someone 21 00:00:55.200 --> 00:00:57.740 wanted, but you're kind of trying to prove a point. 22 00:00:57.740 --> 00:01:00.280 Something an EDBA student could look at here 23 00:01:00.280 --> 00:01:04.060 was how malicious compliance plays out in different contexts. 24 00:01:04.060 --> 00:01:06.080 So what would this look like in healthcare 25 00:01:06.080 --> 00:01:07.680 when nurses are doing what they're 26 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:11.900 told but it's not really the right way of doing things. 27 00:01:11.900 --> 00:01:14.380 And they know it's going to have an unintended bad outcome 28 00:01:14.380 --> 00:01:16.620 but they do it anyway to prove a point, 29 00:01:16.620 --> 00:01:18.720 or how would that look different in manufacturing 30 00:01:18.720 --> 00:01:20.360 or in a different industry. 31 00:01:20.360 --> 00:01:23.440 Or there could be contacts where an individual has 32 00:01:23.440 --> 00:01:27.300 a lot more flexibility of how they can even bend the rules. 33 00:01:27.300 --> 00:01:30.280 And so this is an example of how we could look at this further 34 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:32.100 with an EDBA student. 35 00:01:32.100 --> 00:01:35.150 [AUDIO LOGO] 36 00:01:35.150 --> 00:01:38.000

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