• Davis, G. F. (2016). The vanishing American corporation: Navigating the hazards of a new economy. New York: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Davis explains how technology is shifting the landscape of the American corporation in ways that result in a large-scale decline. The research draws on large-scale data and historical analyses to make sense of recent history and speculate on what comes next. This book describes how the fundamental question of what constitutes a firm will continue to change as technology alters the business environment.

• Harris, K. L. (2017). Re-situating organizational knowledge: Violence, intersectionality and the privilege of partial perspective. Human Relations, 70(3), 263-285.

“This study uses standpoint theory and intersectionality to display that whiteness, masculinity, and heteronormativity are embedded in organizational knowledge. The author conducted a case study of a U.S. university known for having some of the best systems for building organizational knowledge about sexual violence on campus. The study shows that these practices mask heterogeneity in knowledge across the university. Further, these practices give the university’s knowledge of the appearance of neutrality and, subsequently, can defer important organizational actions. In the future, organizations should analyze not only what they know, but how their knowledge-building practices may re-center and reinforce dominant ways of knowing, thereby obscuring the knowledge of minoritized populations. Organizations should account for the partiality of their knowledge, rather than maintaining the appearance that knowledge is neutral and uniform.”

• Lee, M., Pitesa, M., Pillutla, M. M., & Thau, S. (2018). Perceived entitlement causes discrimination against attractive job candidates in the domain of relatively less desirable jobs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 114(3), 422-442.

This study proposes that attractive candidates are discriminated against in the selection of jobs that are relatively less desirable. Four experiments were conducted using an experimental paradigm, a hiring simulation, real selection decisions, and questioning of HR managers. These experiments showed that attractive people are discriminated against in the selection for less desirable jobs, which can motivate future fairness and efficiency of decision making in relation to less desirable jobs, impacting people who lack better options and opportunities. This research offers insight into the various discriminatory processes that seem to operate in selection for relatively less desirable jobs.

• Liu, D., Gong, Y., Zhou, J., & Huang, J. C. (2017). Human resource systems, employee creativity, and firm innovation: The moderating role of firm ownership. Academy of Management Journal, 60(3), 1164-1188.

This multi-level research speaks to a critical international strategic HR management topic especially in emerging economies – designing and implementing human ressource systems that can cultivate employee creativity, which determines a firm’s sustainable development. Specifically, the researchers investigate how different types of employee-experienced HR systems can synergize to facilitate employee domain relevant skills and ultimately, employee creativity. The findings indicate that the synergy of different types of HR systems is more likely to be activated in privately owned firms than in state-owned firms. Also, employee creativity is more likely to be translated into firm innovation in privately owned firms. Following the suggestions from this research, managers can develop effective HR systems to improve employee creativity and firm innovation in different organizational contexts.

• Luo, J., Kaul, A., & Seo, H. (2018). Winning us with trifles: Adverse selection in the use of philanthropy as insurance. Strategic Management Journal, 39(10), 2591-2617.

Problems of moral hazard and adverse selection are endemic to insurance markets, and this study examines how these problems apply to the use of philanthropy as a form of reputation insurance, whereby firms that donate to social causes are given the benefit of the doubt in light of negative information being revealed about the company. Building off a formal model of corporate philanthropy, researchers show that philanthropy weakened the negative correlation between oil spills and stock market reactions in the U.S. petroleum industry, but that increases in philanthropy were also associated with greater subsequent spills. This study calls for a more nuanced understanding of the use of philanthropy as insurance and the associated cost-benefit trade-offs, with supplementary analyses highlighting the critical role that social activism plays in ensuring social welfare by subjecting CSR activities to stronger scrutiny.

• Marquis, C., & Bird, Y. (2018). The paradox of responsive authoritarianism: How civic activism spurs environmental penalties in China. Organization Science, 29(5), 948-968.

This study examines institutional change processes in authoritarian states, specifically the efficacy of civic activism regarding Chinese firms’ environmental performance. Research on environmental penalties issued to firms from 2007 to 2011 highlights the paradox of “responsive authoritarianism” on display in China: the government seeks citizens’ feedback but resists associated legitimacy threats regarding its capacity to rule. Results suggest that while the government and media are responsive to pressures from publicly-visible civic activism such as mass protests, when civic activism is through private channels, such as citizen complaint letters, the government uses that information to dissolve the pressure behind the scenes to avoid damage to its public image. This research contributes to understanding social movements and institutional change in authoritarian states.

• Williams, T. A., & Shepherd, D. A. (2016). Building resilience or providing sustenance: Different paths of emergent ventures in the aftermath of the Haiti earthquake. Academy of Management Journal, 59(6), 2069-2102.

Knowing how to respond to disasters effectively requires an understanding of the role of organizations as responders to rebuilding and suffering following disaster events. Six ventures by locals in response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake were explored to find that two key groups emerged in terms of taking advantage of opportunities, using resources, taking action, and acting effectively. This study offers insight into a model that provides information regarding resilience adversity and overcoming the challenge of disaster relief.

• Zeng, M. (2018). Smart Business: What Alibaba’s success reveals about the future of strategy. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

“Written by an ex-Chief Strategy Officer at Alibaba, this book examines the tremendous growth of Alibaba through reflection, theoretical analyses, and storytelling. Zeng proposes the idea of Smart Business, a combination of Data Intelligence and Network Coordination, and how this can impact the future of businesses. Through empirical data and applied logic, Zeng proposes how  scholars can develop theoretical frameworks to promote organizational design and strategic management of future businesses to drive them to success.”