Donald C. Hambrick

Color portrait of Donald C. Hambrick

Professor

Department Management and Organization
Office Address 414 Business Building
Phone Number 814-863-0917
Email Address dch14@psu.edu

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Don Hambrick is Evan Pugh University Professor and the Smeal Chaired Professor of Management, Smeal College of Business. He is also Bronfman Professor Emeritus, Graduate School of Business, Columbia University. An internationally recognized management scholar, Don is the author of numerous articles and books on strategy formulation, strategy implementation, executive psychology, executive staffing and incentives, the composition and processes of top management teams, and corporate governance. His book, Navigating Change: How CEOs, Top Teams, and Boards Steer Transformation, presents leading-edge thinking for executives who are embarking on corporate change initiatives. Another book, Strategic Leadership: Theory and Research on Executives, Top Management Teams, and Boards, is extensively used by scholars of executive leadership. Don is an acknowledged leader in his field, having served as President of the prestigious Academy of Management, on the board of directors of the Strategic Management Society, and on the editorial boards of almost all the major scholarly journals in his field.

Expertise

Current research focuses on executive psychology, top management team dynamics, and history and evolution of the field of strategic management.

Education

Ph D, Organizational Strategy and Policy, The Pennsylvania State University, 1979

MBA, Marketing and Planning/Control, Harvard University, 1972

BS, Finance, The University of Colorado Boulder, 1968

Courses Taught

MGMT 535 – Upper Echelons (3)
To learn to evaluate and conduct research on top executives and their influence on organizational strategy, structure and performance.

MGMT 831 – Strat Impl and Chg (2)
This course addresses the managerial challenge of strategy implementation, particularly by examining the organizational elements that must be drawn into line to support a strategy, as well as the immense difficulties of changing an organization. As such, the course relies on two overarching frameworks. The first is a model of organizational alignment; the second is a model for managing the change process. The course will emphasize application and practice, primarily by the use of cases. Students will be asked, class after class, to take the position of a senior manager or an adviser to a manager, and develop answers to questions like these: What's the real problem here? How are the elements of the problem interconnected? What should be done? How, specifically, should we go about it? Strategy Implementation and Organizational Change will be relevant for a broad array of students, including those hoping to be managers, consultants, investors, and entrepreneurs. Because the course focuses on changing entire organizations (rather than small parts of organizations), we will be primarily taking the point of view of senior managers. However, our frameworks and tools, and the skills students will develop, will be useful early in their careers, as they face the need to manage change in their own subunits, as well as the need to comprehend and contribute to firm-wide changes.

MGMT 601 – Ph.D Dis Full-Time
NO DESCRIPTION.

MGMT 596 – Individual Studies (Variable)
Creative projects, including nonthesis research, which are supervised on an individual basis and which fall outside the scope of formal courses.

MGMT 600 – Thesis Research (Variable)

MGMT 531 – Strat Impl and Chg (2)
This course addresses the managerial challenge of strategy implementation, particularly by examining the organizational elements that must be drawn into line to support a strategy, as well as the immense difficulties of changing an organization. As such, the course relies on two overarching frameworks. The first is a model of organizational alignment; the second is a model for managing the change process. The course will emphasize application and practice, primarily by the use of cases. Students will be asked, class after class, to take the position of a senior manager or an adviser to a manager, and develop answers to questions like these: WhatÀs the real problem here? How are the elements of the problem interconnected? What should be done? How, specifically, should we go about it? Strategy Implementation and Organizational Change will be relevant for a broad array of students, including those hoping to be managers, consultants, investors, and entrepreneurs. Because the course focuses on changing entire organizations (rather than small parts of organizations), we will be primarily taking the point of view of senior managers. However, our frameworks and tools, and the skills students will develop, will be useful early in their careers, as they face the need to manage change in their own subunits, as well as the need to comprehend and contribute to firm-wide changes.

MGMT 578 – Sem Corp Stratgy (3)
Current theoretical and research issues applicable to the study of corporate strategy formulation and implementation.

Selected Publications

Hambrick D. C., Lee E., "A Model of CEO Succession Planning as a Risky Investment: Anticipated Costs, Uncertain Results, and Contingency Conditions." Organization Science, 2024
Minor revision requested on February 1, 2024.
Hambrick D. C., Fischer T., Sajons G. B., Van Quaquebeke N., "Leadership Science Beyond Questionnaires." The Leadership Quarterly, vol. 34, no. 6, 2023
Lovelace J. B., Bundy J., Pollock T. G., Hambrick D. C., "The Push and Pull of Attaining CEO Celebrity: A Media Routines Perspective." Academy of Management Journal, vol. 65, no. 4, 2022, pp. 1169-1191
Wowak A. J., Busenbark J. R., Hambrick D. C., "How Do Employees React When Their CEO Speaks Out? Intra- and Extra-Firm Implications of CEO Sociopolitical Activism." Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 67, no. 2, 2022, pp. 553-593
Lee M., Gupta A., Hambrick D. C., "The Distinct Effect of Wealth- and CSR-oriented Shareholder Unrest on CEO Career Outcomes: A New Lens on Settling Up and Executive Job Demands." Academy of Management Journal, vol. 65, no. 1, 2022, pp. 186-217
Joshi A., Hambrick D. C., Kang J., "The Generativity Mindset of Chief Executive Officers: A New Perspective on Succession Outcomes." Academy of Management Review, vol. 46, no. 2, 2021, pp. 385-405
Hambrick D. C., Wowak A. J., "Strategic Leadership, in Duhaime, I.M., Hitt, M., and Lyles, M. (eds.) Strategic Management: State of the Field and Its Future." (Oxford University Press), 2021
Hambrick D. C., Wowak A. J., "CEO Sociopolitical Activism: A Shareholder Alignment Model." Academy of Management Review, vol. 46, no. 1, 2021, pp. 33-59
Graf-Vlachy L., Bundy J., Hambrick D. C., "Effects of an Advancing Tenure on CEO Cognitive Complexity." Organization Science, vol. 31, no. 4, 2020, pp. 936-959
Quigley T. J., Hambrick D. C., Misangyi V. F., Rizzi G. A., "CEO Selection as Risk-taking: A New Vantage on the Debate About the Consequences of Insiders Versus Outsiders." Strategic Management Journal, vol. 40, no. 9, 2019, pp. 1453-1470
Gupta A., Briscoe F. S., Hambrick D. C., "Evenhandedness in Resource Allocation: Its Relationship with CEO Ideology, Organizational Discretion, and Firm Performance." Academy of Management Journal, vol. 61, no. 5, 2018, pp. 1848-1868
Hambrick D. C., Crossland C., "A Strategy for Behavioral Strategy: Appraisal of Small, Midsize, and Large Tent Conceptions of This Embryonic Community." Advances in Strategic Management, vol. 39, 2018, pp. 23-39
Lovelace J., Bundy J., Hambrick D. C., Pollock T. G., "The Shackles of CEO Celebrity: Sociocognitive and Behavioral Role Constraints on "Star" Leaders." Academy of Management Review, vol. 43, no. 3, 2018, pp. 419-444
Hambrick D. C., "The Fattest of the Fat Cats: Observations on Aguinis and Colleagues' Findings on CEO Pay." Management Research: The Journal of the Iberoamrerican Academy of Management, no. 16, 2018, pp. 31-37
Hambrick D. C., Lovelace J. B., "The Role of Executive Symbolism in Advancing New Strategic Themes in Organizations: A Social Influence Perspective." Academy of Management Review, vol. 43, no. 1, 2018, pp. 110-131, amr.aom.org/content/early/2017/02/09/amr.2015.0190.abstract?sid=0bad7c1e-8045-45ae-b956-2fd3c0d6bb84
Gupta A., Briscoe F. S., Hambrick D. C., "Red, Blue, and Purple Firms: Organizational Political Ideology and Corporate Social Responsibility." Strategic Management Journal, vol. 38, no. 5, 2017, pp. 1018-1040
Hambrick D. C., Misangyi V. F., Park C., "The Quad Model for Identifying a Corporate Director's Potential for Effective Monitoring: Toward a New Theory of Board Sufficiency." Academy of Management Review, vol. 40, no. 3, 2015, pp. 323-344
Quigley T. J., Hambrick D. C., "Has the "CEO Effect" Increased in Recent Decades? A New Explanation for the Great Rise in America's Attention to Corporate Leaders." Strategic Management Journal, vol. 36, no. 6, 2015, pp. 821-830
Hambrick D. C., Humphrey S. E., Gupta A., "Structural Interdependence Within Top Management Teams: A Key Moderator of Upper Echelons Predictions." Strategic Management Journal, vol. 36, no. 4, 2015, pp. 449-461
Hambrick D. C., "CEO, Wiley Encyclopedia of Management." Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, no. 3, Wiley, 2015
Hambrick D. C., "Top Management Teams, Wiley Encyclopedia of Management." Wiley Encyclopedia of Management, no. 3, Wiley, 2015
Briscoe F. S., Chin M. K., Hambrick D. C., "CEO Ideology as an Element of the Corporatae Opportunity Structure for Social Activists." Academy of Management Journal, vol. 57, no. 6, 2014, pp. 1786-1809
Crossland C., Zyung J., Hiller N. J., Hambrick D. C., "CEO Career Variety: Effects on Firm-level Strategic and Social Novelty." Academy of Management Journal, vol. 57, no. 3, 2014, pp. 652-674
Hambrick D. C., Quigley T. J., "Toward More Accurate Contextualization of the CEO Effect on Firm Performance." Strategic Management Journal, vol. 35, no. 4, 2014, pp. 473-491
Hambrick D. C., "Upper Echelons Theory, The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management." The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management, Palgrave Macmillian, 2013
Chin M. K., Hambrick D. C., Trevino L. K., "Political Ideologies of CEOs: The Influence of Executive Values on Corporate Social Responsibility." Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 58, no. 2, 2013, pp. 197-232
Gerstner W. C., Konig A., Enders A., Hambrick D. C., "CEO Narcissism, Audience Engagement, and Organizational Adoption of Technological Discontinuities (Recipient of 2014 Best Paper Award, German Academic Association for Business Research, Verba." Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 58, no. 2, 2013, pp. 257-291
Quigley T. J., Hambrick D. C., "When the Former CEO Stays on as Board Chair: Effects on Successor Discretion, Strategic Change, and Performance." Strategic Management Journal, vol. 33, no. 7, 2012, pp. 834-859
Hambrick D. C., Wowak A., "Whom Do We Want as Our Business Leaders? How Changes in the Corporate Milieu Have Brought About a New Breed of CEO, in .E. Ricart and J.M. Rosanas (eds.), Towards a New Theory of the Firm." 2012, pp. 29-60
Chen G., Hambrick D. C., "CEO Replacement in Turnaround Situations: Executive (Mis)fit and Its Performance Implications." Organization Science, vol. 23, no. 1, 2012, pp. 225-243
Crossland C., Hambrick D. C., "Differences in Managerial Discretion Across Countries: How National-level Institutions Affect the Degree to Which CEOs Matter." Strategic Management Journal, vol. 32, no. 8, 2011, pp. 797-819
Wowak A. J., Hambrick D. C., Henderson A. D., "Do CEOs Encounter Within-Tenure ‘Settling Up’? A Multiperiod Perspective on Executive Pay and Dismissal." Academy of Management Journal, vol. 54, no. 4, 2011, pp. 719-739
Chatterjee A., Hambrick D. C., "Executive Personality, Capability Cues, and Risk-Taking: How Narcissistic CEOs React to Their Successes and Stumbles." Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 56, no. 2, 2011, pp. 202-237
Wowak A. J., Hambrick D. C., "A Model of Person-Pay Interaction: How Executives Vary in Their Responses to Compensation Arrangements." Strategic Management Journal, vol. 31, no. 8, 2010, pp. 803-821
Pollock T. G., Chen G., Jackson E. M., Hambrick D. C., "How Much Prestige Is Enough? Assessing the Value of Multiple Types of High-Status Affiliates for Young Firms." Journal of Business Venturing, vol. 25, no. 1, 2010, pp. 6-23
Chen G., Trevino L. K., Hambrick D. C., "CEO Elitist Association: Toward a New Understanding of an Executive Behavioral Pattern." Leadership Quarterly, vol. 20, no. 3, 2009, pp. 316-328
Hambrick D. C., "Top Management Teams." Encyclopedia of Executive Governance, Economica, 2009
Finkelstein S., Hambrick D. C., Cannella A., (New York: Oxford University Press), 2009
Chen G., Hambrick D. C., Pollock T. G., "Puttin' on the Ritz: Pre-IPO Enlistment of Prestigious Affiliates as Deadline-Induced Remediation." Academy of Management Journal, vol. 51, no. 5, 2008, pp. 954-975
Hambrick D. C., v. Werder A., Zajac E., "New Directions in Corporate Governance Research." Organization Science, vol. 19, no. 3, 2008, pp. 381-385
Hambrick D. C., Chen M., "New Academic Fields as Admittance-Seeking Social Movements: The Case of Strategic Management." Academy of Management Review, vol. 33, no. 1, 2008, pp. 32-54
Wiesenfeld B. M., Wurthmann K., Hambrick D. C., "The Stigmatization and Devaluation of Elites Associated With Corporate Failures: A Process Model." Academy of Management Review, vol. 33, no. 1, 2008, pp. 231-251
Crossland C., Hambrick D. C., "How National Systems Differ in Their Constraints on Corporate Executives: A Study of CEO Effects in Three Countries." Strategic Management Journal, vol. 28, no. 8, 2007, pp. 767-789
Chatterjee A., Hambrick D. C., "It’s All About Me: Narcissistic CEOs and Their Effects on Company Strategy and Performance." Administrative Science Quarterly, vol. 52, no. 3, 2007, pp. 351-386
Sanders W. G., Hambrick D. C., "Swinging For the Fences: The Effects of CEO Stock Options on Company Risk-Taking and Performance." Academy of Management Journal, vol. 50, no. 5, 2007, pp. 1055-1078
Hambrick D. C., "The Field of Management's Devotion to Theory: Too Much of a Good Thing?." Academy of Management Journal, vol. 50, no. 6, 2007, pp. 1346-1352
Hambrick D. C., "Upper Echelons Theory - An Update." Academy of Management Review, vol. 32, no. 2, 2007, pp. 334-343
Nag R., Hambrick D. C., Chen M., "What Is Strategic Management, Really? Inductive Derivation of a Consensus Definition of the Field." Strategic Management Journal, vol. 28, no. 9, 2007, pp. 935-955

Editorships

The Leadership Quarterly, Editorial Board, January 2016 - July 2024
Administrative Science Quarterly, Editorial Board, January 2015 - Present
Academy of Management Journal, Editorial Board, January 2007 - Present
Organization Science Special Issue on Corporate Governance, Co-Editor, January 2006 - May 2008
Journal of World Business, Editorial Board, January 2003 - July 2014
Organizational Dynamics, Editorial Board, January 1988 - January 2015
Strategic Management Journal, Editorial Board, January 1980 - Present

Honors and Awards