Robert Sutton
Professor of Management Science & Engineering, Emeritus
Management Science and Engineering
Bio
Robert I. Sutton is an organizational psychologist and best-selling author. He studies leadership, innovation, organizational change, and workplace dynamics. Sutton has published over 200 articles, chapters, and case studies. His focus recently is scaling and leading at scale—how to grow organizations, spread good things (and remove bad things) in teams and organizations, and enhance performance, innovation, and well-being in big organizations.
Sutton received his PhD in Organizational Psychology from The University of Michigan and has served on the Stanford faculty since 1983. He served as Professor of Management Science & Engineering until 2023 and is now Professor Emeritus at Stanford. Sutton is co-founder and former co-director of the Center for Work, Technology and Organization, co-founder of the Stanford Technology Ventures Program, and co-founder of the “Stanford d.school.” Sutton was a resident Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences during multiple years. He has served on the editorial boards of numerous scholarly publications and as an editor for Administrative Science Quarterly and Research in Organizational Behavior.
Sutton has served as an advisor to McKinsey & Company, Bain & Company, and Microsoft, a Fellow at IDEO, a board member of the Institute for the Future, a Senior Scientist at Gallup, and on faculty at the World Economic Forum in Davos. He is currently an advisor to Teamraderie and Asana’s Work Innovation Lab. Sutton is the academic co-director of Stanford executive education programs including Customer Focused Innovation and Innovation and Entrepreneurship. He has given more than 200 keynote speeches in more than 20 countries.
Sutton’s academic honors include the award for the best paper published in the Academy of Management Journal, induction into the Academy of Management Journals Hall of Fame, the Eugene L. Grant Award for Excellence in Teaching, the McGraw-Hill Innovation in Entrepreneurship Pedagogy Award, and the award for the best article published in the Academy of Management Review. The London Business School selected Sutton for the 2014 Sumantra Ghoshal Award “for rigour and relevance in the study of management.” The American Management Association selected Sutton as one of the top 30 leaders who most influenced business in 2014 (ranking him 10th).
Sutton’s eight books and two edited volumes include (with Jeffrey Pfeffer) The Knowing-Doing Gap, selected by Jack Covert and Todd Sattersten as one of the best 100 business books of all time, and Weird Ideas That Work, selected by the Harvard Business Review as one of the best ten business books of the year. Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense was selected by Toronto’s Globe and Mail as the top management book of 2006 and by Strategy+Business as one of the best 10 books in the last decade.
The No Asshole Rule—a New York Times (NYT), Wall Street Journal (WSJ), and Businessweek bestseller—was translated into over 20 languages and sold over 900,000 copies. Good Boss, Bad Boss is a NYT and WSJ bestseller. Scaling-Up Excellence (with Huggy Rao) is a WSJ bestseller that was selected as one of the best business books of the year by Amazon, Financial Times, Inc., and others. The Asshole Survival Guide was selected as book of the month by the Financial Times.
Sutton’s latest book (with Rao), The Friction Project, unpacks insights from their seven-year learning adventure using academic research, case studies, classes and workshops, and ongoing dialog with scholars, executives, and innovators to learn how smart organizations make the right things easier and the wrong things harder.
Sutton’s research and opinions have appeared in the press, including NYT, The Times (of London), Financial Times, Fortune, WSJ, Wired, Vanity Fair, Washington Post, and more. Sutton has been a guest on numerous radio and television shows and podcasts. Learn more at bobsutton.net
Professional Education
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PhD, Michigan (1984)
2023-24 Courses
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Independent Studies (1)
- Directed Reading and Research
MS&E 408 (Aut)
- Directed Reading and Research
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Prior Year Courses
2022-23 Courses
- Leading Organizational Change
MS&E 182A (Win) - Organizational Behavior: Evidence in Action
MS&E 280 (Spr) - d.Leadership: Leading Disruptive Innovation
ME 368, MS&E 489 (Spr)
2021-22 Courses
- LaunchPad:Design and Launch your Product or Service
ME 301 (Spr) - Leading Organizational Change
MS&E 182A (Spr) - Organizational Behavior: Evidence in Action
MS&E 280 (Win)
- Leading Organizational Change
Stanford Advisees
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Doctoral Dissertation Reader (AC)
Ryan Stice-Lusvardi -
Master's Program Advisor
Belinda Mo
All Publications
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Rid Your X Organization of Obstacles That Infuriate Everyone
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
2024; 102 (1-2): 98-107
View details for Web of Science ID 001128247800026
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You Need Two Leadership Gears Know when to take charge and when to get out of the way.
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
2023; 101 (3-4): 76-85
View details for Web of Science ID 000932295600019
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Can a Volunteer-Staffed Company Scale?
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
2014; 92 (5): 125-129
View details for Web of Science ID 000334555700038
- Scaling Up Excellence Crown Business. 2014
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On Stepping Down Gracefully
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
2011; 89 (6): 40-40
View details for Web of Science ID 000290694700031
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The Boss as Human Shield
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
2010; 88 (9): 106-109
Abstract
As employees strive to do their jobs, they face threats to productivity from all quarters-disruptive technology, meddlesome superiors, senseless organizational practices, and abusive clients and customers. Sutton, of Stanford University, reminds us that the best bosses identify and slay those dragons, thereby protecting the time and the dignity of their people and enabling them to focus on real work. Self-awareness is the key to defending employees effectively. Good leaders resist their own tendency to exercise power: They keep meetings short, listen to their followers, and make it safe to disagree with the boss. They also work to reduce outside distractions by, for example, championing mornings free of e-mail or streamlining performance-review processes. When their own bosses are the problem, they occasionally defy orders. Once in a while, they encourage their people to overtly comply with misguided demands from on high without actually buying in to them. Good bosses fight enemies. They take the heat for their teams. They have their employees' backs. Stepping on to this battlefield requires humility, intelligence, and bravery. In leading the charge to make the workplace safe and productive, however, you may risk martyrdom. Don't lose sight of the need to retain your own political power as you defend against the institutional forces that threaten your employees. And remember that preserving your own well-being will ensure that you have the energy to fight the good fight.
View details for Web of Science ID 000281093900025
View details for PubMedID 20821970
- Good Boss, Bad Boss: How to Be the Best... and Learn from the Worst 2010
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How to Be a Good Boss in a Bad Economy
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
2009; 87 (6): 42-50
View details for Web of Science ID 000266153200015
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Moon Shots for Management
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
2009; 87 (6): 107-107
View details for Web of Science ID 000266153200028
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How and Why Theories Matter: A Comment on Felin and Foss (2009)
ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
2009; 20 (3): 669-675
View details for DOI 10.1287/orsc.1090.0432
View details for Web of Science ID 000266171000013
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What's the Best Strategy for Astrigo?
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
2009; 87 (3): 38-40
View details for Web of Science ID 000263445100015
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Suppose we took evidence-based management seriously: Implications for reading and writing management
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT LEARNING & EDUCATION
2007; 6 (1): 153-155
View details for Web of Science ID 000245578900021
- The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't 2007
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Demanding proof
INDUSTRIAL ENGINEER
2006; 38 (6): 43-47
View details for Web of Science ID 000238004100020
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Management, half-truths and nonsense: How to practice evidence-based management
CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW
2006; 48 (3): 77-?
View details for Web of Science ID 000237651800006
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Evidence-based management
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
2006; 84 (1): 62-?
Abstract
For the most part, managers looking to cure their organizational ills rely on obsolete knowledge they picked up in school, long-standing but never proven traditions, patterns gleaned from experience, methods they happen to be skilled in applying, and information from vendors. They could learn a thing or two from practitioners of evidence-based medicine, a movement that has taken the medical establishment by storm over the past decade. A growing number of physicians are eschewing the usual, flawed resources and are instead identifying, disseminating, and applying research that is soundly conducted and clinically relevant. It's time for managers to do the same. The challenge is, quite simply, to ground decisions in the latest and best knowledge of what actually works. In some ways, that's more difficult to do in business than in medicine. The evidence is weaker in business; almost anyone can (and many people do) claim to be a management expert; and a motley crew of sources--Shakespeare, Billy Graham,Jack Welch, Attila the Hunare used to generate management advice. Still, it makes sense that when managers act on better logic and strong evidence, their companies will beat the competition. Like medicine, management is learned through practice and experience. Yet managers (like doctors) can practice their craft more effectively if they relentlessly seek new knowledge and insight, from both inside and outside their companies, so they can keep updating their assumptions, skills, and knowledge.
View details for Web of Science ID 000234246500006
View details for PubMedID 16447370
- Hard Facts, Dangerous Half-Truths, and Total Nonsense: Profiting from Evidence-based Management 2006
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Prescriptions are not enough
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW
2005; 30 (1): 32-35
View details for Web of Science ID 000225846000004
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Economics language and assumptions: How theories can become self-fulfilling
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW
2005; 30 (1): 8-24
View details for Web of Science ID 000225846000002
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Breakthrough ideas for 2004
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
2004; 82 (2): 13-?
View details for Web of Science ID 000188506900002
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Weird ideas - That spark innovation
MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW
2002; 43 (2): 83-?
View details for Web of Science ID 000173375300018
- Weird Ideas That Work: 11 1/2 Practices for Promoting, Managing, and Sustaining Innovation 2002
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The weird rules of creativity
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
2001; 79 (8): 94-?
Abstract
For at least the past decade, the holy grail for companies has been innovation. Managers have gone after it with all the zeal their training has instilled in them, using a full complement of tried and true management techniques. The problem is that none of these practices, well suited for cashing in on old, proven products and business models, works very well when it comes to innovation. Instead, managers should take most of what they know about management and stand it on its head. In this article, Robert Sutton outlines several ideas for managing creativity that are clearly odd but clearly effective: Place bets on ideas without much heed to their projected returns. Ignore what has worked before. Goad perfectly happy people into fights among themselves. Good creativity management means hiring the candidate you have a gut feeling against. And as for the people who stick their fingers in their ears and chant, "I'm not listening, I'm not listening," when customers make suggestions? Praise and promote them. Using vivid examples from more than a decade of academic research to illustrate his points, the author discusses new approaches to hiring, managing creative people, and dealing with risk and randomness in innovation. His conclusions? The practices in this article succeed because they increase the range of a company's knowledge, allow people to see old problems in new ways, and help companies break from the past.
View details for PubMedID 11550634
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Building an innovation factory
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
2000; 78 (3): 157-?
Abstract
New ideas are the precious currency of the new economy, but generating them doesn't have to be a mysterious process. The image of the lone genius inventing from scratch is a romantic fiction. Businesses that constantly innovate have systematized the production and testing of new ideas, and the system can be replicated by practically any organization. The best innovators use old ideas as the raw materials for new ideas, a strategy the authors call knowledge brokering. The system for sustaining innovation is the knowledge brokering cycle, and the authors discuss its four parts. The first is capturing good ideas from a wide variety of sources. The second is keeping those ideas alive by playing with them, discussing them, and using them. Imagining new uses for old ideas is the third part--some knowledge brokers encourage cross-pollination by creating physical layouts that allow, or even force, people to interact with one another. The fourth is turning promising concepts into real services, products, processes, or business models. Companies can use all or part of the cycle. Large companies in particular desperately need to move ideas from one place to another. Some will want to build full-fledged consulting groups dedicated to internal knowledge brokering. Others can hire people who have faced problems similar to the companies' current problems. The most important lesson is that business leaders must change how they think about innovation, and they must change how their company cultures reflect that thinking.
View details for Web of Science ID 000088059100017
View details for PubMedID 11183977
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Knowing "what" to do is not enough: Turning knowledge into action (Reprinted from The knowing-doing gap: How smart companies turn knowledge into action)
CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW
1999; 42 (1): 83-?
View details for Web of Science ID 000083779900005
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Perspectives on developing management theory, circa 1999: Moving from shrill monologues to (relatively) tame dialogues
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW
1999; 24 (4): 627-633
View details for Web of Science ID 000083245700006
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The smart-talk trap
HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW
1999; 77 (3): 134-?
Abstract
In today's business world, there's no shortage of know-how. When companies get into trouble, their executives have vast resources at their disposal: their own experiences, colleagues' ideas, reams of computer-generated data, thousands of publications, and consultants armed with the latest managerial concepts and tools. But all too often, even with all that knowledge floating around, companies are plagued with an inertia that comes from knowing too much and doing too little--a phenomenon the authors call the knowing-doing gap. The gap often can be traced to a basic human propensity: the willingness to let talk substitute for action. When confronted with a problem, people act as though discussing it, formulating decisions, and hashing out plans for action are the same as actually fixing it. And after researching organizations of all shapes and sizes, the authors concluded that a particular kind of talk is an especially insidious inhibitor of action: "smart talk." People who can engage in such talk generally sound confident and articulate; they can spout facts and may even have interesting ideas. But such people often exhibit the less benign aspects of smart talk as well: They focus on the negative, and they favor unnecessarily complex or abstract language. The former lapses into criticism for criticism's sake; the latter confuses people. Both tendencies can stop action in its tracks. How can you shut the smart-talk trap and close the knowing-doing gap? The authors lay out five methods that successful companies employ in order to translate the right kind of talk into intelligent action.
View details for Web of Science ID 000079984100015
View details for PubMedID 10387575
- The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge into Action 1999
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Averting expected challenges through anticipatory impression management: A study of hospital billing
ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
1998; 9 (1): 68-86
View details for Web of Science ID 000072725800006
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Technology brokering and innovation in a product development firm
ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE QUARTERLY
1997; 42 (4): 716-749
View details for Web of Science ID 000071211500004
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Organizational performance as a dependent variable
ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
1997; 8 (6): 698-706
View details for Web of Science ID 000071625600009
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The virtues of closet qualitative research
ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
1997; 8 (1): 97-106
View details for Web of Science ID A1997WN05500008
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Brainstorming groups in context: Effectiveness in a product design firm
ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE QUARTERLY
1996; 41 (4): 685-718
View details for Web of Science ID A1996WC64400007
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Consequences of public scrutiny for leaders and their organizations
RESEARCH IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR, VOL 18, 1996
1996; 18: 201-250
View details for Web of Science ID A1996BE88M00005
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WHAT THEORY IS NOT
ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE QUARTERLY
1995; 40 (3): 371-384
View details for Web of Science ID A1995TF81600002
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EMPLOYEE POSITIVE EMOTION AND FAVORABLE OUTCOMES AT THE WORKPLACE
ORGANIZATION SCIENCE
1994; 5 (1): 51-71
View details for Web of Science ID A1994NU04600004
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ORGANIZATIONAL-BEHAVIOR - LINKING INDIVIDUALS AND GROUPS TO ORGANIZATIONAL CONTEXTS
ANNUAL REVIEW OF PSYCHOLOGY
1993; 44: 195-229
View details for Web of Science ID A1993KL13500007
View details for PubMedID 19090760
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ACQUIRING ORGANIZATIONAL LEGITIMACY THROUGH ILLEGITIMATE ACTIONS - A MARRIAGE OF INSTITUTIONAL AND IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT THEORIES
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
1992; 35 (4): 699-738
View details for Web of Science ID A1992JR18200001
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APPLIED IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT - HOW IMAGE-MAKING AFFECTS MANAGERIAL DECISIONS - GIACALONE,RA, ROSENFELD,P (Book Review)
CONTEMPORARY SOCIOLOGY-A JOURNAL OF REVIEWS
1992; 21 (4): 520-521
View details for Web of Science ID A1992JH37500078
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THE RESPONSES OF DRUG-ABUSE TREATMENT ORGANIZATIONS TO FINANCIAL ADVERSITY - A PARTIAL TEST OF THE THREAT-RIGIDITY THESIS
JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT
1992; 18 (1): 117-131
View details for Web of Science ID A1992HG18300008
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CHARISMA - LINDHOLM,C (Book Review)
ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE QUARTERLY
1992; 37 (1): 174-178
View details for Web of Science ID A1992HN86700011
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ORGANIZATIONAL IMPRESSION MANAGEMENT AS A RECIPROCAL INFLUENCE PROCESS - THE NEGLECTED ROLE OF THE ORGANIZATIONAL AUDIENCE
RESEARCH IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
1992; 15: 227-266
View details for Web of Science ID A1992KR02500005
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BUILDING A MODEL OF WORK FORCE REDUCTION THAT IS GROUNDED IN PERTINENT THEORY AND DATA - REPLY
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW
1992; 17 (1): 124-137
View details for Web of Science ID A1992HD01900006
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EMOTIONAL CONTRAST STRATEGIES AS MEANS OF SOCIAL-INFLUENCE - LESSONS FROM CRIMINAL INTERROGATORS AND BILL COLLECTORS
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
1991; 34 (4): 749-775
View details for Web of Science ID A1991GN95300001
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ISOMORPHISM AND EXTERNAL SUPPORT IN CONFLICTING INSTITUTIONAL ENVIRONMENTS - A STUDY OF DRUG-ABUSE TREATMENT UNITS
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
1991; 34 (3): 636-661
Abstract
Using institutional theory, we developed predictions about organizational units that moved from an environment making consistent demands to one making conflicting demands. Many community mental health centers have diversified into drug abuse treatment. The units providing those services face conflicting demands from the traditional mental health sector and the new drug abuse treatment sector about which clients to serve, how to assess their problems, and who should provide treatment. We propose that in response to such demands these units will adopt apparently conflicting practices. Also, isomorphism with the traditional sector will be positively associated with external support from parent mental health centers and other actors in the mental health sector. Results generally support those predictions.
View details for Web of Science ID A1991GD13300006
View details for PubMedID 10128668
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MAINTAINING NORMS ABOUT EXPRESSED EMOTIONS - THE CASE OF BILL COLLECTORS
ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE QUARTERLY
1991; 36 (2): 245-268
View details for Web of Science ID A1991FT16600004
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THE SOCIOLOGY OF EMOTIONS - ORIGINAL ESSAYS AND RESEARCH PAPERS - FRANKS,DD, MCCARTHY,ED (Book Review)
ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE QUARTERLY
1991; 36 (1): 134-137
View details for Web of Science ID A1991FE77100008
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SWITCHING COGNITIVE GEARS - FROM HABITS OF MIND TO ACTIVE THINKING
HUMAN RELATIONS
1991; 44 (1): 55-76
View details for Web of Science ID A1991EU64100004
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BUSY STORES AND DEMANDING CUSTOMERS - HOW DO THEY AFFECT THE DISPLAY OF POSITIVE EMOTION
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
1990; 33 (3): 623-637
View details for Web of Science ID A1990DW27000009
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ORGANIZATIONAL DECLINE PROCESSES - A SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
RESEARCH IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
1990; 12: 205-253
View details for Web of Science ID A1990CV95500006
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REACTIONS OF NONPARTICIPANTS AS ADDITIONAL RATHER THAN MISSING DATA - OPPORTUNITIES FOR ORGANIZATIONAL RESEARCH
HUMAN RELATIONS
1989; 42 (5): 423-439
View details for Web of Science ID A1989AB13100004
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DECREASING ORGANIZATIONAL SIZE - UNTANGLING THE EFFECTS OF MONEY AND PEOPLE
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW
1989; 14 (2): 194-212
View details for Web of Science ID A1989U136900003
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THE EXPRESSION OF EMOTION IN ORGANIZATIONAL LIFE
RESEARCH IN ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR
1989; 11: 1-42
View details for Web of Science ID A1989T732100001
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UNTANGLING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DISPLAYED EMOTIONS AND ORGANIZATIONAL SALES - THE CASE OF CONVENIENCE STORES
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
1988; 31 (3): 461-487
View details for Web of Science ID A1988P906600001
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DETERMINANTS OF WORK FORCE REDUCTION STRATEGIES IN DECLINING ORGANIZATIONS
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW
1988; 13 (2): 241-254
View details for Web of Science ID A1988M826000005
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THE PROCESS OF ORGANIZATIONAL DEATH - DISBANDING AND RECONNECTING
ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE QUARTERLY
1987; 32 (4): 542-569
View details for Web of Science ID A1987N352800004
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HOW SELECTING AND SOCIALIZING NEWCOMERS INFLUENCES INSIDERS
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
1987; 26 (3): 347-361
View details for Web of Science ID A1987K624200003
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THE STIGMA OF BANKRUPTCY - SPOILED ORGANIZATIONAL IMAGE AND ITS MANAGEMENT
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
1987; 30 (3): 405-436
View details for Web of Science ID A1987J676000001
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CHARACTERISTICS OF WORK STATIONS AS POTENTIAL OCCUPATIONAL STRESSORS
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
1987; 30 (2): 260-276
View details for Web of Science ID A1987H560600004
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EXPRESSION OF EMOTION AS PART OF THE WORK ROLE
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW
1987; 12 (1): 23-37
View details for Web of Science ID A1987F539200002
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MANAGING ORGANIZATIONAL DECLINE - LESSONS FROM ATARI
ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMICS
1986; 14 (4): 17-29
View details for Web of Science ID A1986D670100002
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FUNCTIONS OF PARTING CEREMONIES IN DYING ORGANIZATIONS
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
1986; 29 (1): 5-30
View details for Web of Science ID A1986A215200001
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WORD-PROCESSING TECHNOLOGY AND PERCEPTIONS OF CONTROL AMONG CLERICAL WORKERS
BEHAVIOUR & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
1986; 5 (1): 31-37
View details for Web of Science ID A1986A126600003