Research
The Role of the Chief Human Resource Officer (CHRO)
While many have studied the roles of CEO, CFO, and other Top Management Team (TMT) members, the CHRO is often overlooked as a key leader in organizations. After collecting detailed information on CHROs and their organizations (using the S&P 500 group of companies) over a 20 year period, we have noted several key trends in terms of the demographics of the CHRO, dynamics associated with the appointment, and impact on results. This is an ongoing research effort with colleagues, Toro Yoshikawa and Daisuke Uchida.
What Makes A Great Place to Work
Academic research has shown that Great Workplaces outperform their peers (ROIC) and enjoy strong human capital results (engagement, turnover, etc.). Partnering with the Great Place to Work Institute, we have uncovered several new insights related to organization culture and building trust to improve the work environment. Recent research reports have centered on Teamwork, Psychological Safety, Inclusion, and Belonging. The current effort targets Employee Wellbeing, Diversity, and Innovation as we analyze lognitudinal data from millions of survey respondents. This is ongoing research with colleagues, Michelle Barton, Pete Aceves, and Chris Myers.
Cross-Border Organization Effectiveness
While there are many factors that drive the effectiveness of organizations, we have examined key areas related to global or regional enterprises. The challenge of managing regional operations or global expansions have been a challenge in practice and provide ongoing opportunities for research related to cross-border talent management, leading across borders in diverse economies, and regional structures that lead to organizational effectiveness.
Research Reports and Papers
Yoshikawa, T., Uchida, D., & Smith, R. (2023). Female CHRO Appointments: A Crack in the Glass Ceiling? Academy of Management 83rd Annual Meeting, August, Boston. (Acknowledged as a Best Paper by the Academy)
Uchida, D., Smith, R., & Yoshikawa, T. (2021). Gender Diversity in the Executive Suite: How Much is Enough? Strategic Management Society Annual Conference, Toronto.
Goh, K., Smith, R., Tan, C., & Dhevarajulu, D. (2020). Healthcare Innovation from the Inside-Out. Asian Management Insights, Emerald, Vol 7-2, 52-58.
Smith, R. & Perchthold, G. (2020). Building Global Organizations: Developing Cross-Border Leaders. In C. Sripada (Ed.), Human Capital and Leadership: Perspectives for 2020’s (pp. 34-46). ISB Publishing, India.
Smith, R., & Tan, S.C. (2019). Managing Across Borders in Asia. Asian Management Insights, Emerald, Vol 6-1, 32-37.
Smith, R. & Wong, A. (2017). Skyscanner: Globalising a Business Model. Asian Management Insights, Emerald, Vol 4-1, 48-52.
Doh, J., Smith, R., Stumpf, S., & Tymon, W. (2014). Emerging Markets and Regional Patterns in Talent Management: The challenge of India and China. In P. Sparrow, H. Scullion, and I. Tarique (Eds.), Strategic Talent Management: Contemporary Issues in International Context (pp. 224-253). Cambridge University Press, London.
Smith, R., Jules, C., & Tambe, H. (2020). Responsible Leadership in the AI Era: New Decisions, Dilemmas, and Dimensions. Academy of Management 80th Annual Meeting, August, Vancouver.
Kryscynski, D., Smith, R., Morris, S., Jules, C., & Van Schalkyck, M. (2017). Developing a human capital theory in response to real world problems. Strategic Management Society Annual Conference, Houston.
Smith, R., Kannan, S., & Thomas, H. (2017). Regional Management Structures for Global Firms: The Challenge of Human Capital Heterogeneity. Strategic Management Society Special Conference, Milan.
Smith, R. (2016). Who Makes a Great Place to Work? Creating the Human Capital Resource of the Firm. Strategic Management Society Annual Conference, Berlin.
Smith, R. and Inamdar, N. (2015). Design Thinking and Business Model Innovation: Preparing Management Students to Challenge Convention. Academy of Management Teaching and Learning Conference, Vancouver.
Smith, R. and Yoshikawa, T. (2015). The Escalation of Chief Human Resources Officers to Top Management Teams. Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Vancouver.
Yoshikawa, T. and Smith, R. (2014). Chief Human Resources Officers: The Elevation of Human Capital Management to Top Management Teams, Strategic Management Society Annual Conference, Madrid.
Smith, R., Jules, C., and Kang, J. (2014). What Makes the Words Work when Aligning Human Capital to Business Strategy, Academy of Management Annual Conference, Philadelphia.
Gandhok, T. and Smith, R. (2013). International Talent Management Practices in Emerging Market Firms: The Indian Human Capital Paradox, Strategic Management Society, Delhi.
Smith, R. and Jules, C. (2013). Leadership with Purpose: Developing Global Leaders with High Intent, Academy of Management Annual Conference, Orlando.
Gan, B., Menkhoff, T., and Smith, R. (2015). Enhancing students’ learning process through interactive digital media: New opportunities for collaborative learning. Computers in Human Behavior, Vol 51, 652-663.
Gandhok, T. and Smith, R. (2014). Rethinking Cross-Border Talent Management: The Emerging Markets Perspective,Asian Management Insights, Emerald, Vol 1-2, 18-25.
Stumpf, S., Tymon, W., Favorito, N., and Smith, R. (2013). Employees and change initiatives: intrinsic rewards and feeling valued. Journal of Business Strategy, Vol 34-2, 21-29.
Doh, J., Smith, R., Stumpf, S., and Tymon, W. (2011). Pride and Professionals: Retaining Talent in Emerging Economies. Journal of Business Strategy, Vol 32-5, 35-42.
Tymon, W., Stumpf, S. and Smith, R. (2011). Manager Support Predicts Turnover of Professionals in India. Career Development International, Vol 16, 293-312.