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  1. Directory
  2. Faculty
  3. Eric Abrahamson

Eric Abrahamson

Hughie E. Mills Professor of Business
Management Division
Bernstein Faculty Leader
Bernstein Center for Leadership and Ethics
Eric Abrahamson
Areas of Expertise
Leadership & Organizational Behavior
Contact
Office: 395 Kravis
Phone: (212) 8544432
E-mail: [email protected]
Links
Curriculum Vitae

Professor Abrahamson studies the creation, spread, use and rejection of innovative techniques for managing organizations and their employees. He is best known for his work on fads and fashions in management techniques. He is also an expert on the management of organizational change. He has explored the topic of change management in Change Without Pain: How Managers Can Overcome Initiative Overload, Organizational Chaos, and Employee Burnout (Harvard Business School Press, 2005), which won a Best Book of the Year award from Strategy and Business.

More recently, Abrahamson has been studying the dynamics of moderately messy system - offices, organizations and even industrial districts - that would function less well were they any less messy or any more orderly. A summary of his scholarly work was published in Research in Organizational Behavior under the title "Disorganizational Theory and Disorganizational Behavior: Towards and Etiology of Messes" (2002). Most recently, Abrahamson has coauthored, with David Freedman, a book that popularizes these ideas about the benefits of moderately messy system: A Perfect Mess: The Hidden Benefits of Disorder, How cluttered closets, jumbled offices, and on-the-fly planning make the world a better place (Little, Brown and Company, 2007).

He lectures and consults on these topics for companies around the world.

Education
BA, Haverford, 1982; MPhil, New York University, 1987; PhD, 1990
Joined CBS
1989

All Activities

  • Research
  • Teaching
  • Awards and Honors
  • Press
  • CaseWorks
  • Journal articles
  • Working papers
  • Articles
  • Books
  • Chapters
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric and Alessandro Piazza
. “A Review of the Fads and Fashion Literature for the Digital Age.”
International Journal of Management Research
vol.
22
, (April 08, 2020):
264
-
286
.
Explore Further about A Review of the Fads and Fashion Literature for the Digital Age
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric and Shriram Kumar
. “Sustainable Competitive Disadvantage: Toward a Socio-Economic View of Firm Performance.”
Academy of Management Proceedings
vol.
2017
, (January 01, 2017):
12797
.
Explore Further about Sustainable Competitive Disadvantage: Toward a Socio-Economic View of Firm Performance
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric, H. Berkowitz, and H. Dumez
. “A More Relevant Approach to Relevance in Management Studies: An Essay on Performativity.”
Academy of Management Review
vol.
41
, (January 01, 2016):
367
-
381
.
Explore Further about A More Relevant Approach to Relevance in Management Studies: An Essay on Performativity
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric, S. Chang, Y. Choi, and Ivana Katic
. “Clashing Fashions and Institutions: Mid-Life Uncertainty in Diffusing Organizational Techniques.”
Academy of Management Proceedings
vol.
2015
, (January 01, 2015):
15660
-
15660
.
Explore Further about Clashing Fashions and Institutions: Mid-Life Uncertainty in Diffusing Organizational Techniques
Download PDF on Clashing Fashions and Institutions: Mid-Life Uncertainty in Diffusing Organizational Techniques
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric, S. Holloway, Andreas Schwab, and William H. Starbuck
. “How to Improve on Statistical Significance: Effect Sizes, CIs, Graphs and Baseline Models.”
Academy of Management Proceedings
vol.
2015
, (January 01, 2015):
13604
.
Explore Further about How to Improve on Statistical Significance: Effect Sizes, CIs, Graphs and Baseline Models
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric
. “The Iron Cage: Ugly, Uncool, and Unfashionable.”
Organization Studies
vol.
32
, (May 01, 2011):
615
-
629
.
Explore Further about The Iron Cage: Ugly, Uncool, and Unfashionable
Download PDF on The Iron Cage: Ugly, Uncool, and Unfashionable
Journal Article
Schwab, Andreas, Eric Abrahamson , William Starbuck, and Fiona Fidler
. “Researchers Should Make Thoughtful Assessments Instead of Null-Hypothesis.”
Organization Science
vol.
22
, (January 01, 2011):
1105
-
1120
.
Explore Further about Researchers Should Make Thoughtful Assessments Instead of Null-Hypothesis
Download PDF on Researchers Should Make Thoughtful Assessments Instead of Null-Hypothesis
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric, P. Phan, and Julia Zhou
. “Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in China.”
Management and Organization Review
vol.
6
, (July 01, 2010):
175
-
194
.
Explore Further about Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship in China
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric
. “Necessary Conditions for the Study of Fads and Fashions in Science.”
Scandinavian Journal of Management
vol.
25
, (June 01, 2009):
235
-
239
.
Explore Further about Necessary Conditions for the Study of Fads and Fashions in Science
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric
. “22 Things I Hate: Mini Rants on Management Research.”
Journal of Management Inquiry
vol.
17
, (December 01, 2008):
422
-
425
.
Explore Further about 22 Things I Hate: Mini Rants on Management Research
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric and Micki Eisenman
. “Employee-Management Techniques: Transient Fads or Trending Fashions?”
Administrative Science Quarterly
vol.
53
, (December 01, 2008):
719
-
744
.
Explore Further about Employee-Management Techniques: Transient Fads or Trending Fashions?
Download PDF on Employee-Management Techniques: Transient Fads or Trending Fashions?
Journal Article
Tsui, A., S. Zhao, and Eric Abrahamson
. “What to Study in China? Choosing and Crafting Important Research Questions.”
Management and Organization Review
vol.
3
, (January 01, 2007):
171
-
181
.
Explore Further about What to Study in China? Choosing and Crafting Important Research Questions
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric
. “Avoiding Repetitive Change Syndrome.”
MIT Sloan Management Review
vol.
45
, (January 01, 2004):
93
-
95
.
Explore Further about Avoiding Repetitive Change Syndrome
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric
. “Using Creative Recombination to Manage Change.”
Employment Relations Today
vol.
30
, (January 01, 2004):
33
-
41
.
Explore Further about Using Creative Recombination to Manage Change
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric and Brian Keane
. “Recombining Resources.”
Optimize
vol.
March 2004
, (January 01, 2004):
44
-
52
.
Explore Further about Recombining Resources
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric
. “Disorganization Theory and Disorganizational Behavior: Towards an Etiology of Messes.”
Research in Organizational Behavior
vol.
24
, (January 01, 2002):
139
-
80
.
Explore Further about Disorganization Theory and Disorganizational Behavior: Towards an Etiology of Messes
Download PDF on Disorganization Theory and Disorganizational Behavior: Towards an Etiology of Messes
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric and K. Van Keen
. “Accounting, Themanummer: managementmodes.”
Jaargang
vol.
1248
, (December 01, 2001):
384
-
394
.
Explore Further about Accounting, Themanummer: managementmodes
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric and Micki Eisenman
. “Why management scholars must intervene strategically in the management knowledge market.”
Human Relations
vol.
54
, (January 01, 2001):
67
-
75
.
Explore Further about Why management scholars must intervene strategically in the management knowledge market
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric
. “Change Without Pain.”
Harvard Business Review
vol.
78
, (July 01, 2000):
75
-
79
.
Explore Further about Change Without Pain
Journal Article
Rosenkopf, Lori and Eric Abrahamson
. “Modeling Reputational and Informational Influences in Threshold Models of Bandwagon Innovation Diffusion.”
Computational and Mathematical Organization Theory
vol.
5
, (January 01, 1999):
361
-
384
.
Explore Further about Modeling Reputational and Informational Influences in Threshold Models of Bandwagon Innovation Diffusion
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric and Gregory Fairchild
. “Management Fashion: Life Cycle, Triggers, and Collective Learning Processes.”
Administrative Science Quarterly
vol.
44
, (January 01, 1999):
708
-
40
.
Explore Further about Management Fashion: Life Cycle, Triggers, and Collective Learning Processes
Download PDF on Management Fashion: Life Cycle, Triggers, and Collective Learning Processes
Journal Article
Low, Murray and Eric Abrahamson
. “Movements, Bandwagons, and Clones: Industry Evolution and the Entrepreneurial Process.”
Journal of Business Venturing
vol.
12
, (January 03, 1998):
435
-
57
.
Explore Further about Movements, Bandwagons, and Clones: Industry Evolution and the Entrepreneurial Process
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric
. “The Emergence and Prevalence of Employee Management Rhetorics: The Effect of Long Waves, Labor Unions, and Turnover, 1875 to 1992.”
Academy of Management Journal
vol.
40
, (June 03, 1997):
491
-
533
.
Explore Further about The Emergence and Prevalence of Employee Management Rhetorics: The Effect of Long Waves, Labor Unions, and Turnover, 1875 to 1992
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric and Donald Hambrick
. “Attentional Homogeneity in Industries: The Effect of Discretion.”
Journal of Organizational Behavior
vol.
18
, (January 01, 1997):
513
-
532
.
Explore Further about Attentional Homogeneity in Industries: The Effect of Discretion
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric
. “The Information Content of the President's Letter to Shareholders.”
Journal of Business Finance and Accounting
vol.
23
, (December 01, 1996):
1157
-
1182
.
Explore Further about The Information Content of the President's Letter to Shareholders
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric
. “Management fashion, academic fashion, and enduring truths.”
The Academy of Management Review
vol.
21
, (July 01, 1996):
616
-
618
.
Explore Further about Management fashion, academic fashion, and enduring truths
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric
. “Management Fashion.”
The Academy of Management Review
vol.
21
, (January 01, 1996):
254
-
85
.
Explore Further about Management Fashion
Journal Article
Hambrick, Donald and Eric Abrahamson
. “Assessing Managerial Discretion Across Industries: A Multimethod Approach.”
Academy of Management Journal
vol.
38
, (December 03, 1995):
1427
-
41
.
Explore Further about Assessing Managerial Discretion Across Industries: A Multimethod Approach
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric
. “Macro-cultures: Determinants and Consequences .”
Academy of Management Review
vol.
19
, no.
4
(October 01, 1994):
728
-
755
.
Explore Further about Macro-cultures: Determinants and Consequences
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric and Choelsoon Park
. “Concealment of Negative Organizational Outcomes: An Agency Theory Perspective.”
Academy of Management Journal
vol.
37
, (October 01, 1994):
1302
-
34
.
Explore Further about Concealment of Negative Organizational Outcomes: An Agency Theory Perspective
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric and Lori Rosenkopf
. “Institutional and Competitive Bandwagons: Using Mathematical Modeling as a Tool to Explore Innovation Diffusion.”
Academy of Management Review
vol.
18
, (January 01, 1993):
487
-
517
.
Explore Further about Institutional and Competitive Bandwagons: Using Mathematical Modeling as a Tool to Explore Innovation Diffusion
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric and Charles Fombrun
. “Forging the Iron Cage: Interorganizational Networks and the Production of Macro-Culture.”
Journal of Management Studies
vol.
29
, (January 01, 1992):
175
-
194
.
Explore Further about Forging the Iron Cage: Interorganizational Networks and the Production of Macro-Culture
Journal Article
Abrahamson, Eric
. “Managerial Fads and Fashions: The Diffusion and Rejection of Innovations.”
Academy of Management Review
vol.
16
, (September 03, 1991):
586
-
612
.
Explore Further about Managerial Fads and Fashions: The Diffusion and Rejection of Innovations
Newspaper/Magazine Article
Abrahamson, Eric and Ryan Michigan
. “The interrelation between supply and demand in the market for management fashions.”
Academy of Management Review
. Forthcoming.
Explore Further about The interrelation between supply and demand in the market for management fashions
Download PDF on The interrelation between supply and demand in the market for management fashions
Newspaper/Magazine Article
Abrahamson, Eric
. “Managing Change in a World of Excessive Change: Counterbalancing Creative Destruction and Creative Recombination.”
Ivey Business Journal
. January 01, 2004.
Explore Further about Managing Change in a World of Excessive Change: Counterbalancing Creative Destruction and Creative Recombination
Download PDF on Managing Change in a World of Excessive Change: Counterbalancing Creative Destruction and Creative Recombination
Book
Abrahamson, Eric
. Change Without Pain: How Managers Can Overcome Initiative Overload, Organizational Chaos, and Employee Burnout. 
Boston
:
Harvard Business School Press
, 2004.
Explore Further about Change Without Pain: How Managers Can Overcome Initiative Overload, Organizational Chaos, and Employee Burnout
Chapter
Abrahamson, Eric and Alessandro Piazza
. “The Lifecycle of Management Ideas: Innovation, Diffusion, Institutionalization, Dormancy, and Rebirth.” In
The Oxford Handbook of Management Ideas
, edited by
Andrew Sturdy, Stefan Heusinkveld, Trish Reay, and David Strang
,
Oxford
:
Oxford University Press
, 2019.
Explore Further about The Lifecycle of Management Ideas: Innovation, Diffusion, Institutionalization, Dormancy, and Rebirth
Chapter
Abrahamson, Eric
. “Foreword.” In
Handbook of Research on Management Ideas and Panaceas: Adaptation and Context
, edited by
Anders Ortenblad
,
Northampton, MA
:
Edward Elgar
, 2016.
Explore Further about Foreword
Chapter
Abrahamson, Eric
. “Innovation Diffusion.” In
Encyclopedia of Management Theory
, edited by
Eric H. Kessler
,
Los Angeles
:
SAGE
, 2013.
Explore Further about Innovation Diffusion
Chapter
Abrahamson, Eric, Mikelle Calhoun, and William Starbuck
. “Fads, Fashions and the Fluidity of Knowledge: The Story of Peter Senge's 'The Learning Organization'.” In
The Blackwell Handbook of Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management
, edited by
Mark Easterby-Smith and Marjorie Lyles
,
225
-
248
.
Chichester
:
Wiley
, 2011.
Explore Further about Fads, Fashions and the Fluidity of Knowledge: The Story of Peter Senge's 'The Learning Organization'
Download PDF on Fads, Fashions and the Fluidity of Knowledge: The Story of Peter Senge's 'The Learning Organization'
Chapter
Abrahamson, Eric and Phillipe Beaumard
. “What Lies Behind Organizational Facades and How Organizational Facades Lie: An Untold Story of Organizational Decision Making.” In
The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Decision Making
, edited by
G. P. Hodgkinson and W. H. Starbuck
,
New York
:
Oxford University Press
, 2008.
Explore Further about What Lies Behind Organizational Facades and How Organizational Facades Lie: An Untold Story of Organizational Decision Making
Download PDF on What Lies Behind Organizational Facades and How Organizational Facades Lie: An Untold Story of Organizational Decision Making
  • Courses
  • Case Studies
Course
B7531: Power & Influence
View Course on Power & Influence
Course
B9507: (PhD) Organization Theory
View Course on (PhD) Organization Theory
Course
B8531: Power & Influence
View Course on Power & Influence
Case Study
Abrahamson, Eric
. Ed Heffernan at Alliance Data.  2010.
Explore Further about Ed Heffernan at Alliance Data
Download PDF on Ed Heffernan at Alliance Data
  • Awards & Honors
  • In the Media
  • Articles
In the Media

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In the Media

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Bloomberg News
  • CaseWorks
Case ID
240405

“Room at the Top”: A Multi-Student Exercise on Power, Negotiations, and Political Influence in Virtual or Real Organizational Hierarchies

View Case on “Room at the Top”: A Multi-Student Exercise on Power, Negotiations, and Political Influence in Virtual or Real Organizational Hierarchies
Case ID
220409

Rome & Rybak

When considering employee retention, should managers prioritize revenues and profits over other factors such as cultural fit and approach?

View Case on Rome & Rybak
Case ID
100409

Ed Heffernan at Alliance Data

In 2008, in the midst of a financial crisis and a credit freeze, how can a CFO of a private-label credit division convince others to pursue a bold acquisition plan?

View Case on Ed Heffernan at Alliance Data
Case ID
90409

Jean Spire at Teleswitches Ltd.

What implementation strategy should a junior consult propose for a new information system at a company resistant to change?

View Case on Jean Spire at Teleswitches Ltd.
Case ID
80413

Donna Dubinsky: Act II

How does Harvard MBA Donna Dubinsky finally find her niche as a serial entrepreneur?

View Case on Donna Dubinsky: Act II
Case ID
90401

Navigating Organizational Politics: The Case of Kristen Peters

When a summer intern in private wealth management at an investment firm receives poor feedback from the training program managers, what steps might she take to improve her performance and raise her stature?

View Case on Navigating Organizational Politics: The Case of Kristen Peters

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