High-impact research: Foster management scholars among the most influential of all time

A new Academy of Management report identifies seven current or former faculty of the Foster School’s Department of Management and Organization among the 100 most-influential scholars of all time in the fields of organizational behavior and strategic management.

Bruce Avolio, director of the Center for Leadership and Strategic Thinking, is one of seven current and former Foster School faculty among the 100 most influential management scholars in several categories.

The study, published in the journal Academy of Management Learning & Education, measures the impact of research by the number of times it is cited in modern management textbooks. In other words, how how often its insights are taught to managers-in-training.

To construct this influence ranking, the authors tabulated the work of nearly 33,000 researchers cited at least once in 38 widely-used undergraduate textbooks in the areas of organizational behavior, human resources management, strategic management and general management.

“Scholarly impact is typically conceptualized and measured as an internal exchange that occurs among researchers in the form of citations in journal articles,” writes lead author Herman Aguinis of George Washington University. “We offer an expanded conceptualization and measurement of scholarly impact by investigating knowledge transfer to a critical management education constituency: students.”

Here are Foster’s representatives on this elite list of all-time influencers in the field of management and organization:

Bruce Avolio
Mark Pigott Chair in Business Strategic Leadership, Professor of Management
#3 most-cited in organizational behavior textbooks
#30 most-cited in general management textbooks

Charles Hill
Hughes M. and Katherine G. Blake Endowed Professor in Business Administration, Professor of Management and Organization
#6 most-cited in strategic management textbooks

David Sirmon
Robert Herbold Professor in Entrepreneurship, Professor of Management
#18 most-cited in strategic management textbooks

Terry Mitchell
Professor Emeritus of Management
#23 most-cited in organizational behavior textbooks
#60 most-cited in human resources textbooks
#75 most-cited in general management textbooks

Fred Fiedler
Professor Emeritus of Management and Psychology (deceased)
#32 most-cited in general management textbooks
#77 most-cited in organizational behavior textbooks

Suresh Kotha
Olesen/Battelle Excellence Chair in Entrepreneurship, Professor of Management
#63 most-cited in strategic management textbooks

Kevin Steensma
Michael G. Foster Endowed Professor, Professor of Management
#63 most-cited in strategic management textbooks

In addition, Foster researchers have produced two of the most-influential studies in the field of management education. Terry Mitchell’s 1974 Journal of Contemporary Business paper, “Path-goal theory of leadership,” is the #6 most-cited article in general management textbooks. And Thomas Jones’ 1991 Academy of Management Review paper, “Ethical decision making by individuals in organizations: An issue-contingent model,” is the #11 most-cited article in general management textbooks.