Dear Colleagues - It is my pleasure to announce the results of this year's INFORMS/Organization Science Dissertation Proposal Competition. The eight finalists were selected out of a group of over seventy submissions based on evaluations by reviewers. This weekend the eight finalists presented their dissertation proposals to a distinguished panel of judges at the INFORMS Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA. All of the finalists did an outstanding job of presenting their proposals and the judges faced the unenviable task of selecting a winner and runner-up based on the quality, potential contribution, and innovativeness of the proposal.
The winner of the 2014 INFORMS Dissertation Proposal Competition is:
Mabel Abraham
MIT, Sloan School of Management
A Preference for John over Jane? The Role of Evaluators for Gender Inequality in Networks, Markets, and Organizations
The runner-up of the 2014 INFORMS Dissertation Proposal Competition is:
Trevor Young-Hyman
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Sociology
How Formal Power Shapes Knowledge-Intensive Work: Worker Ownership in the U.S. Automation Industry
If you know Mabel, Trevor, or any of the other six finalists, please congratulate them for this significant accomplishment. The other six finalists for the 2014 competition, listed in alphabetical order, were:
Abhinav Gupta
Pennsylvania State University, Smeal College of Business
Organizational Ideology and Corporate Responses to Activism
Matthew Karlesky
University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business
Identifying Entrepreneurial Opportunities: Cognition and Categorization in Nascent Entrepreneurs
Jacqueline Kirtley
Boston University, School of Management
How Entrepreneurial Firms in Nascent Technology Industries Navigate Strategic Change
Douglas Lepisto
Boston College, Carroll School of Management
Reason for Being: Exploring the Formation and Consequences of Organizational Purpose in an Athletic Footwear and Apparel Company
McKenzie Rees
University of Utah, David Eccles School of Business
It's Not as Bad as Others Think: How The Differential Perspectives of Targets and Observers Affect the Perceived Negativity of the Situation and Subsequent Cooperative Responses
Eunhee Sohn
MIT, Sloan School of Management
"Reverse Spillovers" and Microfoundations of Endogenous Scientific Change: Evidence from the Agricultural Biotechnology Industry
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to the panel of judges who evaluated all of the proposals. Each judge generously volunteered his or her time and resources to attend the day-long competition in San Francisco and provided the finalists with feedback on their dissertations. This year's panel of judges was:
Jennifer Chatman, University of California, Berkeley
Greta Hsu, University of California, Davis
Brian Lowery, Stanford University
Mary-Hunter (Mae) McDonnell, Georgetown University
Tanya Menon, Ohio State University
Mary Tripsas, Boston College
Jared Harris, University of Virginia (Alternate)
Finally, I would like to thank Zur Shapira, Editor-in-Chief of Organization Science, Kathleen Luckey, Senior Managing Editor of Organization Science, and Tracy Cahall, Subdivisions Coordinator at INFORMS for the tremendous amount of help and support they provided in managing the proposal review and competition process.
Regards,
Y. Sekou Bermiss
INFORMS/Organization Science Dissertation Competition Chair, 2014
ysb@austin.utexas.edu