About the Lab
The Sanger Research Lab was launched to accelerate the creation and dissemination of cutting-edge leadership research. To support the development of leadership scholarship, the lab provides an inclusive community for scholars from across the university (representing fields from medicine, psychology, marketing, management, and more) to share and receive feedback on early-stage research. The lab also offers research support, such as research assistantship and research fellowships, to faculty and PhD students.
To support the dissemination of leadership research, our faculty work closely with the Sanger team to ensure all of our programs, communities, and events are building on the best and most recent evidence-basis within scholarly communities. Sanger also works with our faculty to disseminate research ideas on social media, in blogs, and within speaker events (such as the Leadership Dialogues series).
Members of our lab love to connect with others and do so in many ways, including welcoming in new PhD students, postdocs, and faculty from across campus, sponsoring speaker events and conferences, and connecting our faculty with students, alumni, and companies (for research, workshops, coaching, etc). If you’d like to get involved, please don’t hesitate to reach out!
Interested in getting involved?
Email Lindy Greer at greerll@umich.edu.
Popular Press
Harvard Business Review: You Need Two Leadership Gears
Lindred L. Greer
Harvard Business Review: Are You Afraid to Identify as a Leader?
Julia Lee Cunningham, Laura Sonday, and Susan Ashford
MIT Sloan: How Leaders Can Optimize Teams’ Emotional Landscapes
Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, Christina Bradley, and Lindred Greer
Harvard Business Review: 5 Ways a Crisis Can Help You Cultivate a Growth Mindset
Susan Ashford, Maxim Sytch, and Lindred L. Greer
Michigan News: When Do Words Speak Louder Than Actions?
Shirli Kopelman
Our Latest Research Articles
Image Risks Can Hold People Back from Stepping into Leadership Positions:
Although many organizations value leadership across levels, individuals are reluctant to step up and lead. We explore across four studies how anticipated image risk (i.e., an individual’s belief that the act of leading might harm their image with others) and lay beliefs about leadership ability (i.e., that this ability is fixed versus malleable) may diminish an individual’s endorsement of a leader identity and thus their leadership emergence.
Lee Cunningham, J., Sonday, L., & Ashford, S. J. (2022). Do I Dare? The Psychodynamics of Anticipated Image Risk, Leader Identity Endorsement, and Leader Emergence. Academy of Management Journal, in press.
Meetings and Individual Work During the Workday: Examining Their Interdependent Impact on Knowledge Workers’ Energy
Leaders must learn to manage their energy and that of their people. Meetings often take up a big chunk of one’s workday. In this research, we demonstrate how meetings (esp. high pressure meetings) crowd out energy management activities which keep us from feeling depleted. By alternating meetings with individual work time, individuals can feel more energized at the end of the workday.
Zhang, C., Spreitzer, G. M., & Qiu, Z. (A.). (2023). Meetings and individual work during the workday: Examining their interdependent impact on knowledge workers’ energy. Journal of Applied Psychology. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/apl0001091
Examples of Current Research Collaborations
Paths to Leadership.
Many in our laboratory are interested in who steps into, and who is granted, leadership positions. Ongoing research projects exist about who identifies as a leader, and how companies can encourage more people (including from diverse backgrounds) to self-identify as leaders and step into leadership positions. Research is also ongoing about who is granted leadership roles in organizations and how best to identify leaders in ways that are least biased.
Faculty and PhD students: Susan Ashford, Charlie Case, Julia Lee-Cunningham
Leader Communication.
There are also ongoing projects about how a leader’s communication can optimize their team’s organizational performance. This ranges from the words leaders use in mass communications to the dynamics of information flow within team meetings. Being able to inspire hearts and minds in order to steer a team and organization to goal achievement is a key skill!
Faculty and PhD students: Derek Harmon, Julia Lee-Cunningham, Elizabeth Trinh
How Leaders Navigate Emotions at Work.
Many lab members are also interested in how leaders navigate emotions at work, including how leaders recognize and respond to the emotions of others. Seeing the full human being of others is critical in order to help support and mobilize groups toward goal achievement.
Faculty and PhD students: Christina Bradley, Lindy Greer, Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks, Derek Harmon, Elizabeth Trinh
Leading Diverse and Inclusive Teams and Organizations.
Leading diverse and inclusive teams and organizations is a critical skill set. Our lab has several active projects on this topic, including one on the well-meaning steps leaders can take toward inclusion—which at times can backfire, as well as one on the criticality of diversity in powerful teams like boards.
Faculty and PhD students: Lindy Greer, Cindy Schipani, Morela Hernandez, Zoe Schwingel-Sauer, Laurel Detert
Our People
Faculty
Susan Ashford
Michael & Susan Jandernoa Professor of Management and Organizations
Recent Publications:
- Cropanzano, R., Keplinger, K., Lambert, B., Caza, B., & Ashford, S. J. (2022). The organizational psychology of gig work: An integrative and conceptual review. Forthcoming in Journal of Applied Psychology.
- Lee Cunningham, J., Sonday, L., & Ashford S. J. (2022). Do I dare? The psychodynamics of anticipated image risk, leader identity endorsement, and leader emergence. Forthcoming in Academy of Management Journal.
- Lambert, B., Caza, B., Trinh, E., & Ashford, S. J., (2022). Individual-centered interventions: Identifying what, how, and why interventions work in organizational contexts. Forthcoming in Academy of Management Annals.
Wayne Baker
Robert P. Thome Professor of Management and Organizations
Professor of Sociology
Professor of Organizational Studies, LSA
Faculty Associate, Institute for Social Research
Faculty Director, Center for Positive Organizations
Recent Publications:
- Baker, W. & Quinn, R. (January 2021). Positive emotions, instrumental resources, and organizational network evolution: Theorizing via simulation research. Social Networks 64:212-224.
- Baker, W. & Chambers, C (March–April 2020). Robust systems of cooperation in the presence of rankings: How displaying prosocial contributions can offset the disruptive effects of performance rankings. Organization Science 31:245-534, C2.
- Baker, W. (2020). All you have to do is ask: How to master the most important skill for success. Penguin Random House.
Charleen Case
Assistant Professor for Management and Organizations
Recent Publications:
- Ketterman, A., Makhanova, A., Reynolds, T., Case, C., Mcnulty, J., Eckel, L., Nikonova, L., Flynn, H., & Maner, J. (2022). Prevalence and predictors of “nesting”: Solutions to adaptive challenges faced during pregnancy. Evolution and Human Behavior. 10.1016/j.evolhumbehav.2022.01.002.
- Dobersek, U., Stallings, B., Gabrielle, W., Case, C., & Maner, J. (2021). Does exercise make me more attractive? Exploring the relations between exercise and mate value. Evolutionary Psychological Science. 10.1007/s40806-020-00270-w.
- Case, C., Bae, K., Larsen, K., & Maner, J. (2021). Precautious nature of prestige: When leaders are hypervigilant to subtle signs of social disapproval. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 120. 694-715. 10.1037/pspi0000284.
Julia Lee Cunningham
Associate Professor of Management and Organizations
Recent Publications:
- Gainsburg, I., Lee Cunningham, J., Larrick, R., & Klotz, L. (2021). Harnessing behavioral science to understand and address human impact on the environment: Editors’ note. Behavioral Science & Policy, 7(2).
- Cislo, C., Clingan, C., Gilley, K., Rozwadowski, M., Gainsburg, I., Bradley, C., Lee Cunningham, J., Tewari, M., & Choi, S. W. (2021). Monitoring beliefs and physiological measures using wearable sensors and smartphone technology among students at risk of COVID-19: Protocol for a mHealth study. JMIR Research Protocols, 10(6), e29561.
- Lee Cunningham, J. (2020). A tale of a fashion e-tailor: Scaling dilemmas in entrepreneurship, Ross School of Business Case & Teaching Note, Case 9-416-726, Ann Arbor, MI: WDI Publishing.
Cheng Gao
NBD Bancorp Assistant Professor of Business Administration,
Assistant Professor of Strategy
Recent Publications:
- Gao, C., Zuzul, T., Jones, G., & Khanna, T. (2017). Overcoming institutional voids: A reputation-based view of long run survival. Strategic Management Journal 38(11): 2143-2329, November 2017 (Lead Article)
- McDonald, R. & Gao, Cheng. (2019). Pivoting isn’t enough: Managing strategic reorientation in new ventures. Organization Science 30(6): 1289-1318, November-December 2019
- Shi, W., Gao, C., & Aguilera, R. (2021). The Liabilities of foreign institutional ownership: Managing political dependence through corporate political spending. Strategic Management Journal 42(1): 84-113, January 2021
Amir A. Ghaferi
President and CEO, Physician Enterprise
Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs
Professor of Surgery
Froedtert & Medical College of Wisconsin
Recent Publications:
- Peden, C.J., Ghaferi, A.A., Vetter, T.R., & Kain, Z.N. (2021). Perioperative health services research: Far better played as a team sport. Anesthesia & Analgesia.
- Fischer, C.P., Bilimoria, K.Y., & Ghaferi, A.A. (2021). Rapid response teams as a patient safety practice for failure to rescue.
Lindy Greer
Professor of Management and Organizations
Michael R. and Mary Kay Hallman Fellow
Recent Publications:
- Yu, S., & Greer, L.L. (2022). The role of resources in the success or failure of diverse teams: Resource scarcity activates negative performance-detracting resource dynamics in social category diverse teams. Organization Science, in press.
- Umphress, E.E., Greer, L.L., Muir (Zapata), C.P., & Knight, A. (2021). Publishing impactful research in AMJ: Winners of the 2020 and 2021 impact awards. Academy of Management Journal, 64, 1-6.
- Knight, A. P., Greer, L. L., & De Jong, B. (2020). Start-up teams: A multidimensional conceptualization, integrative review of past research, and future research agenda. Academy of Management Annals, 14(1), 231-266.
Derek Harmon
Assistant Professor of Strategy
Recent Publications
- Newman, D., Fast, N., & Harmon, D. (2020) When eliminating bias isn’t fair: Algorithmic reductionism and procedural justice in human resource decisions. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 160, 149-167
- Harmon, D. (2019). When the fed speaks: Arguments, emotions, and the microfoundations of institutions. Administrative Science Quarterly, 64(3), 542-575.
- Harmon, D., Haack, P., & Roulet, T. (2019) Microfoundations of institutions: A matter of structure vs. agency or level of analysis? Academy of Management Review, 44(2), 464-467, dialogue.
Morela Hernandez
Ligia Ramirez de Reynolds Collegiate Professor of Public Policy
Faculty Director, Leadership Initiative
Recent Publications:
- Amis, J., Brickson, S., Haack, P., & Hernandez, M. (2021). Taking inequality seriously. Academy of Management Review, 46(3), 431-439.
- Hernandez, M., Johnson, H., & Wicks, A. (2021). Responses to religious identity threat in thick and thin cultures. In C. Caldwell, & V. Anderson (Eds.), Business Ethics: Perspectives, Management, and Issues. Hauppage, NY: NOVA Publishing.
- Hernandez, M. (2021). The problem with certainty. MIT Sloan Management Review. Online article.
Shirli Kopelman
Clinical Professor of Management and Organizations
Recent Publications:
- Quinn*, R.W., Myers*, C.G., Kopelman, S., & Simmons, S.A. (2021). How did you do that? Exploring the motivation to learn from others’ exceptional success. Academy of Management Discoveries (AMD), 7(1), 15-39. https://doi.org/10.5465/amd.2018.0217 [*Authors contributed equally]
- Kopelman, S. (2020). Tit for tat and beyond: The legendary work of Anatol Rapoport. Negotiation and Conflict Management Research (NCMR), 13(1), 60-84. https://doi.org/10.1111/ncmr.12172
- McCarter, M.W., Kopelman, S., Turk, T.A., & Ybarra, C.E. (In Press; Online First December 2019). Too many cooks spoil the broth: Toward a theory for how the tragedy of the anticommons emerges in organizations. Negotiation and Conflict Management Research (NCMR). https://doi.org/0.1111/ncmr.12174
Ethan Kross
Professor of Psychology and Management/Organizations
Recent Publications:
- Kross, E. (2021). Chatter: The voice in our head, why it matters, and how to harness it. Crown Publishing Group, Penguin Random House.
- Gainsburg, I., Sowden, W.J., Drake, B., Harrold, W., & Kross, E. (2022). Distanced self-talk increases rational self-interest. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 511.
- Verduyn, P. & Kross, E. (2022). Do social network sites influence well-being? The extended active-passive model. Current Directions in Psychological Science, (31)1, 62-68
Milisa Manojlovich
Professor
Department of Systems, Populations and Leadership
Recent Publications:
- Crist, K., Lafferty, M., Umberfield, E., Manojlovich, M. (in press). What factors contribute to shared understanding between physicians and nurses in inpatient oncology care? A qualitative exploration. Cancer Nursing.
- Friese, C.R., Fauer, A.J., Mendelsohn-Victor, K., Wright, N., Griggs, J., Manojlovich, M. (2020). Patient-reported toxicity outcomes collected from a diverse sample of ambulatory oncology practices: Feasibility, patterns, and correlates. Health Services Research, published ahead of print, DOI: 10.1111/1475-6773.13574. Best of ARM 2020.
- O’Leary, K.J., Manojlovich, M., Johnson, J.K., Estrella, R., Hanrahan, K., Leykum, L.K., Smith, G.R., Goldstein, J.D., & Williams, M.V. (2020). A multisite study of interprofessional teamwork and collaboration on general medical services. Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, 46, 667-672.
Dave Mayer
John H. Mitchell Professor in Business Ethics
Professor of Management and Organizations
Chair of Management & Organizations
Recent Publications:
- Hardin, A.E., Bauman, C.W., & Mayer, D.M. (2020). Show me the … family: How photos of meaningful relationships reduce unethical behavior at work. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 161: 93-108.
- Kuenzi, M., Mayer, D.M., & Greenbaum, R.L. (2020). Creating an ethical organizational environment: The relationship between ethical leadership, ethical organizational climate, and unethical behavior. Personnel Psychology, 73: 43-71.
- Kuenzi, M., Brown, M., Mayer, D.M., & Priesemuth, M. (2019). Supervisor-subordinate (dis)agreement on ethical leadership: An investigation of its antecedents and relationship to organizational deviance. Business Ethics Quarterly, 29: 25-53.
A. Yesim Orhun
Associate Professor of Marketing
Michael R. and Mary Kay Hallman Fellow
Recent Publications:
- Krishna, A. & Orhun, Y. (2021). Gender (still) matters in business school. Journal of Marketing Research, February, doi:10.1177/0022243720972368.
- Orhun, Y. & Palazzolo, M. (2019). Frugality is hard to afford. Journal of Marketing Research, vol. 56 (1), 1-17 (lead article).
- Cui, Y., Orhun, Y., & Duenyas, I. (2019). How price dispersion changes when upgrades are introduced: Theory and empirical evidence from the airline industry. Management Science, 65 (8), 3835-3852.
Vitaliy Popov
Assistant Professor in the Department of Learning Health Sciences
Director of Learning Sciences and Technology for the Clinical Simulation Center
Recent Publications:
- Popov V, Ruis AR, Cooke JM. Taking Stock and Looking Ahead: Evolution of Accreditation Feedback for Simulation Centers Over 8 Years Using Epistemic Network Analysis. Simulation in Healthcare: Journal of the Society for Simulation in Healthcare. 2022 doi: 10.1097/sih.0000000000000638
- Salavitabar A, Popov V, Nelson J, Benedict MD, Inniss DA, Mahajan AP, Cohen MS, Owens ST: Extended Reality International Grand Rounds: An Innovative Approach to Medical Education in the Pandemic Era. Academic Medicine, 97(7), 1017-1020, 2022. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0000000000004636
- Gabelica C, Popov V: “One Size Does not Fit All”: Revisiting Team Feedback Theories from a Cultural Dimensions Perspective. Group & Organization Management, 2020. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059601120910859
Venkatram Ramaswamy
Professor of Marketing
Recent Publications:
- Ramaswamy, V. & Ind, N. (2021). Company brands as purpose-driven lived experience ecosystems. The European Business Review, May-June.
- Ramaswamy, V. (2021). Foreword to interactional creation of health. Interactional Creation of Health: Experience Ecosystem Ontology, Task, and Method, Amazon Publishing.
- Ind, N. & Ramaswamy, V. (2021). How enterprises can create meaningful purpose together with their stakeholders. The European Business Review, January-February, 76-80.
Christopher Rider
Thomas C. Kinnear Professor and Associate Professor of Strategy
+Recent Publications:
Recent Publications:
- Tan, D. & Rider, C.I. (2022). How the basis for status perceptions varies with perceiver status. Organization Science. [url]
- Pierce, L. & Rider, C.I. (2022). Supporting mental health at work (Comment on ‘The epidemic of mental disorders in business.’). Administrative Science Quarterly, 67(1): 56–69. [url]
- Rider, C.I. & Tan, D. (2019). Retention is not a strategic imperative: On the pros and cons of employee turnover. Ch. 28 in A. J. Nyberg and T. P. Moliterno (eds.), Handbook of Research on Strategic Human Capital Resources. Edward Elgar Publishing. [url]
Jeffrey Sanchez-Burks
William Russell Kelly Professor of Business Administration
Professor of Management and Organizations
Recent Publications:
- Sanchez-Burks, J. & Sytch, M. (2021). Reimagining the office for immensely human interactions. MIT Sloan Management Review, Reprint #62428.
- Sanchez-Burks, J., Bradley, C., & Greer, L. (2021). How leaders can optimize teams’ emotional landscapes. MIT Sloan Management Review, 62(3), 17-19.
- Sanchez-Burks, J. & Mor Barak, M. (2021). Interpersonal relationships in a global work context. In M. Mor Barak (Ed.), Managing Diversity in the Age of Globalization: Toward a Worldwide Inclusive Workplace 5th Edition* (pp. 213–232).
Cindy Schipani
Merwin H. Waterman Collegiate Professor of Business Administration
Professor of Business Law
Recent Publications:
- Avci, S.B., Schipani, C., Seyhun, H.N., & Verstein, A. (2021). Insider giving. Duke University Law Journal 619-700 (featured in the Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance at https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2022/01/07/insider-giving/, selected for republication in the Securities Law Review 2022 (forthcoming), cited by the Securities Exchange and Commission in its proposed amend to Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and featured in the Wall Street Journal, July 12, 2021.
- Abney, D., Dworkin, T., & Schipani, C. (2021). Overcoming gender discrimination in business: Reconsidering mentoring in the post #MeToo and COVID-19 eras. University of Pennsylvania Journal of Business Law 1072-1108 (2021).
- Schipani, C. (2021). Improving board decisions: The promise of diversity. Minnesota Journal of Law & Inequality 295-315 (2021).
Gretchen Spreitzer
Associate Dean for Engaged Learning & Professional Development
Keith E. and Valerie J. Alessi Professor of Business Administration
Professor of Management and Organizations
Recent Publications
- Zen, G., Jack, G., Eva, N., Kaizid, K. & Spreitzer, G. (2022). An integrative multilevel review of thriving at work: Assessing progress and promise. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 43(2): 197-213.
- Pavez, I., Godwin, L., & Spreitzer, G. (2021) Generative scholarship through prospective theorizing: Appreciating the roots and legacy of organization development and change to build a bright future. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science.
- Spreitzer, G., Bacevice, P., Hendricks, H., & Garrett, L. (2021). Thriving in the new world of work: Implications for organizational community. Research in Organizational Change and Development. 28: 77-101. New York: Emerald Insight. An abbreviated version was published in the Organizational Development and Change Divisions of the Academy of Management newsletter.
Maxim Sytch
Professor of Management and Organizations
Recent Publications
- Sytch, M., Kim, Y.H., & Page, S. (2022). Supplier-selection practices for robust global supply chain networks: A simulation of the global auto industry. California Management Review, 64(2): 119-142.
- Sytch, M. & Kim, Y.H. (2021). Quo vadis? From the schoolyard to the courtroom. Administrative Science Quarterly, 66(1): 177-219.
- Uribe, J., Sytch, M., & Kim, Y.H. (2020). When friends become foes: Collaboration as a catalyst for conflict. Administrative Science Quarterly, 65(3): 751-794.
Jim Walsh
A.F. Thurnau Professor
Gerald and Esther Carey Professor of Business Administration
Professor of Management & Organizations
Professor of Strategy
Chair of Strategy
Recent Publications:
- Walsh, J.P. (2022). The road to love is never smooth: A look at PRME thirteen years on. In Mette Morsing (Ed.), Responsible Management Education: The PRME Global Movement, (pp. 47-75). Abingdon, United Kingdom: Routledge.
- Donaldson, T. & Walsh, J.P. (2021). A theory of business. In Thomas Maak, Nicola M. Pless, Marc Orlitzky and Sukbir Sandhu (Eds.), Routledge Companion to Corporate Social Responsibility. Abington, United Kingdom: Routledge.
- Gioia, G., March, J.G., Olsen, J.P., Levinthal, D., Argote, L., Walsh, J.P., Meyer, A.D., Lant, T., Mezias, S., Shapira, Z., & Greve, H.R. (2020). A special “Provocations and Provocateurs” section honoring Jim March. Journal of Management Inquiry, 29 (2): 119-127.
James Westphal
Harvey C. Fruehauf Professor of Business Administration
Professor of Strategy
Co-Director of ICOS
Recent Publications:
- Westphal, J.D., Zhu, D.H., & Kunapuli, R. (2022). Seeking input when the train has left the station: The decoupling of participative strategic decision-making processes and the role of new technology in symbolic management. Strategic Organization, forthcoming.
- Westphal, J.D., & Garg, S. (2021). Boards of directors and strategic management in public firms and new ventures. In I. Duhaime, M. Hitt, and M. Lyles (eds.), Strategic Management: State of the Field and its Future, pps. 397-412. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
- Keeves, G., & Westphal, J.D. (2021). From help to harm: Increases in status, perceived under-reciprocation, and the consequences for access to strategic help and social undermining among female, racial minority, and white male top managers. Organization Science, 32: 1120-1148.
Emeritus Faculty
Kim Cameron
Professor Emeritus of Management and Organizations
Recent Publications:
- Wolfe, R., Cameron, K., & Manuel, W. (2018). Big time college athletics. Cambridge: Harvard Business Press.
- Cameron, K., Dutton, J.E., Quinn, R.E., Spreitzer, G., & Kelly, J. (2017). Emphasizing the positive: Forming a strategic identity for the Ross School of Business. University of Michigan: WDI Publishing
- Cameron, K. (2017). Cross-cultural research and positive organizational scholarship. Cross-Cultural and Strategic Management Journal, 24: 13-32.
Kathleen Sutcliffe
Professor Emeritus of Business Administration,
Professor Emeritus of Management and Organizations
Recent Publications:
- Vogus, T.J., Rothman, N.B., Sutcliffe, K.M., & Weick, K.E. (2014). The affective foundations of high reliability organizing. Journal of Organizational Behavior. In press.
- Sutcliffe, K.M. Sensemaking. 2013. In D. Teece & M. Augier (Eds.), Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Goldenhar, L.M., Brady, P.W., Sutcliffe, K.M., & Muething, S.E. (2013). Huddling for high reliability and situation awareness. BMJ Quality and Safety, 22, 899-906.
Robert Quinn
Professor Emeritus of Management and Organizations
Recent Publications:
- Quinn, R.E. (2015). The positive organization: Breaking free from conventional cultures, constraints and beliefs. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
- Quinn, R.W. & Quinn, R.E. (2015). Lift: The fundamental state of leadership, 2nd edition. Berrett-Koehler Publishers.
- Quinn, R.E., St. Clair, L., Faerman, S.R., Thompson, M., McGrath, M., & Bright, D. (2015). Becoming a Master Manager: A Competency Framework, 6 Edition. Wiley.
