Lynn Wooten, Faculty Co-Director

Lynn Wooten’s interest in positive organizational scholarship began during her dissertation research. She studied the strategic management practices of professional service firms and the results indicated that humanistic work cultures were not only an efficient mode of organizing, but also resulted in higher levels of client service and human resource management capabilities. These humanistic work cultures emphasized interpersonal relationships, self-actualization and emotional well being, while simultaneously focusing on the attainment of organizational goals. Currently, her POS-related research explores three areas: (1) positive organizing routines; (2) diversity management; and (3) crisis leadership through resilience and organizational learning.
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Current POS projects

Jane Dutton, Faculty Co-Director

Jane Dutton's research on Positive Organizational Scholarship began with an interest in compassion and the difference it makes for individuals and organizations (see www.compassionlab.org). Her research has expanded to focus on the power of positive relationships at work, job crafting (creating positive meaning at work) and positive identities. Her recent co-edited books include Exploring Positive Identities and Organizations (Routledge), Exploring Positive Relationships (Erlbaum) and she is working on co-editing two books—one on Positive Social Change (Routledge) and Generative Moments in Doing Qualitative Research (Copenhagen Business School Press). Jane’s background in strategic management keeps her focused on how positive dynamics create sustainable capabilities in organizations.
Website
Current POS projects

Janet Max, Projects Coordinator

Janet Max manages public relations, event planning, finances, and contract negotiations for the Center. She builds and maintains relationships with the Center’s constituencies, writes and produces the Center’s periodic reports, and manages the Center website. She organizes various events including the Positive Links speaker series and the biannual conference of POS scholars. She prepares and manages the Center budget and manages contract negotiations with collaborators and donors.

Core Faculty

Wayne Baker

Wayne Baker was the first Director of the Center for Positive Organizational Scholarship. His POS research interests include (1) energy networks in organizations, (2) generosity and reciprocity, and (3) values. He blogs five days a week about values and ethics in America at www.OurValues.org. His books are America's Crisis of Values: Reality and Perception (Princeton University Press) and Achieving Success Through Social Capital (Jossey-Bass) - chapters from both books and various POS articles are available at www.waynebaker.org.
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Current POS projects

Gretchen Spreitzer

Gretchen Spreitzer's research focuses on employee empowerment and leadership development, particularly within a context of organizational change and decline. Her most recent work is looking at positive deviance and how organizations enable employees to thrive and become their best self. Most recently she is involved in a large scale project to establish the business case for how positive organizational practices can lead to human and organizational flourishing.
Website
Current POS projects

Kim Cameron

Kim Cameron became interested in Positive Organizational Scholarship as a result of a decade of studying the consequences of organizational downsizing. Organizations characterized by virtuous practices—for example, forgiveness, compassion, integrity, trust, optimism, kindness—tended to avoid the declining performance associated with downsizing. Observing this effect led to a variety of empirical studies on the relationships between organizational virtuousness and organizational performance. This research has been funded by the Templeton Foundation and by corporations. Reports of the work have appeared in a variety of books—for example, Positive Organizational Scholarship (Berrett Koehler), Making the Impossible Possible (Berrett Koehler), and Leading with Values (Cambridge University Press)—and in a variety of academic journals and book chapters.
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Current POS projects

Bob Quinn

Robert E. Quinn is interested in the process of positive change. He seeks to understand processes that lead to increased individual and collective capacity. He has published 16 books. Quinn is a fellow of both the Academy of Management and the World Business Academy. His recent books include Deep Change, Change the World, and Building the Bridge as You Walk on It. He combines both a research and an applied orientation. He has 25 years of experience in working with executives on issues of organizational change. He has been involved in the design and execution of numerous large-scale change projects. He teaches in both the MBA and Executive Education Programs at the University of Michigan and is known for innovative instructional efforts.
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Current POS projects

David M. Mayer

Dave Mayer’s interest in Positive Organizational Scholarship began as he prepared to teach a doctoral seminar on prosocial behavior. He is interested in the connection between ethics and POS. His research focuses on how organization’s can create environments that promote positive behavior. Much of his research examines how aspects of the work context (e.g., leadership, peers, climate) impact employees’ displays of ethical and prosocial behavior.
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Current POS projects

Research Fellow

Bradley P. Owens

Bradley P. Owens’s interest in positive organizational scholarship centers around the topics of humility, energy, and positive work identities. His current research explores how humility influences individual performance, performance improvement, team processes, and leadership effectiveness. He is also currently working with other POS scholars in examining positive identities, thriving, and energy at work.
Website
Current POS projects

Faculty Affiliates

Laura Morgan Roberts

Laura Morgan Roberts’s research focuses on how to construct, sustain and restore positive identities at work. She became interested in POS through her doctoral dissertation research on social identity-based impression management among medical professionals. Her interests in the social construction of positive identities now include: the reflected best-self, diversity, authenticity, strengths, leadership, and talent management.
Website
Current POS projects

Executive Education Affiliate

Shawn Quinn

Shawn teaches courses on leadership, change, and innovation. He is the Managing Partner for LIFT Consulting, and specializes in working with organizations interested in applying positive organizing concepts. His clients include General Electric, Coca Cola, O2, American Express, Reuters, the U.S. Army, and Telefonica. Shawn has also helped develop and run the Competing Values Assessment with over one hundred teams and organizations. He is the co-author of Leading Innovation: How to Jumpstart Your Organization’s Growth Engine (McGraw-Hill, 2006).

Knowledge Product Consultant

Emily Plews

Emily Plews’s interest in Positive Organizational Scholarship was borne out of her studies of organizational change as an MBA/MS student at the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise. She is interested in how POS concepts can inform the movement toward sustainable enterprise on the individual and relational levels. She is currently consulting the Center for POS on the production and marketing translations of research into practitioner experiences and shepherding connections to people and ideas in sustainable enterprise.