About

Gerardo Okhuysen joined The Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine, in July 2012 as a Professor of Organization and Management. His teaching focuses on Organizational Behavior, Effectiveness of Groups and Teams, and Decision Making, with a primary concern for enhancing leadership and management skills necessary for effective influence on group and organizational functioning. He holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management from Stanford University. His research primarily examines managing groups in different decision situations, emphasizing the management of task and environmental uncertainty. His work has explored negotiation settings, groups working on ambiguous or uncertain tasks, the role of context in group work, and small organizations operating under high uncertainty. Current projects investigate group dynamics, group success, and the embedding of emotion in decision-making activities. His scholarly contributions have been published in prominent journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, and Organization Science.

Research topics

• Sociology
• Computer Science
• Social Science
• Epistemology
• Political Science
• Management
• Social psychology
• Library science
• Public relations
• Psychology
• Environmental ethics

Selected publications

• Abductive Study of Conflict Expressions Using Large Scale Multi-Modal Data Analyses

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2025-07-01

  article

  Abductive research offers a unique approach to organizational behavior by generating plausible hypotheses through iterative exploration of patterns and potential explanations. Unlike inductive reasoning, which provides possible explanations, or deductive reasoning, which confirms them, abductive reasoning bridges data and theory with a focus on plausibility (Behfar & Okhuysen, 2018). Advancements in computational methods, such as natural language processing (NLP) for text analysis and tools to extract and analyze facial and vocal cues, have accelerated the adoption of abductive research. These technologies enable detailed analysis of verbal, vocal, and non-verbal behaviors, making abductive approaches particularly valuable for uncovering subtle interaction patterns that influence outcomes. For instance, abductive research can help explore how individuals can be both direct and respectful or how openness to opposing views can coexist with firm self-representation. These nuanced behaviors, shaped by tone, facial expressions, and body language, are critical to effective communication but often elude traditional methods. This symposium gathers experts—Randall Peterson, Kevin Rockmann, Gerardo Okhuysen, and Julia Ive—to explore how abductive research can advance organizational behavior theory. Randall Peterson brings his vast experience in studying team dynamics, championing innovative methods that integrate diverse approaches. Kevin Rockmann brings his experience as Editor-in-Chief of Academy of Management Discoveries and advocacy for exploratory, data-driven discovery. Gerardo Okhuysen provides deep insights into abductive reasoning through his seminal work on the topic. Julia Ive brings a fresh perspective, leveraging computational methods and abductive reasoning to address complex challenges in healthcare. By examining computational tools, the advantages of abductive reasoning, and strategies for engaging academic audiences, the symposium highlights how abductive methods can tackle complex behavioral challenges and establish themselves as a cornerstone of modern organizational behavior research.

  PublisherDOI

• Research Relevance: A Problematic Review, Critique, and Proposal For Moving Forward

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2025-07-01

  articleSenior author

  The relevance of scholarly research is a core concern for many in the field of organizations and management, leading to an ever-growing body of literature on the topic. However, discussions regarding the challenges involved in attaining relevance, and the proposed solutions, tend to be repetitive, reflecting little progress. To address these difficulties, this paper is organized in three parts. First, through a problematizing review, we identify the use of the theory-practice gap as an overarching frame that drives the dominant discussions in the research relevance literature, and using that identification as a starting point, we organize the currently fragmented literature. Next, we delve deeper into three problematic assumptions that are produced through the use of the theory-practice gap as a framing device, offering a detailed critique. Finally, using our review and critique and drawing on essential insights from related literature to research relevance, we propose three alternative conceptualizations of relevance that respond directly to these shortcomings. We provide a path for future research by suggesting that research relevance can reconceptualized as practical utility, as a cyclical process, and as etched in organizational processes.

  PublisherDOI

• Theorizing Time in Management and Organizations

  Academy of Management Review · 2024 · 37 citations

  • Sociology
  • Sociology
  • Library science
  PublisherDOI

• Tackling the Relevance of Management Research as a Scholarly Enterprise

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2023-07-24

  articleSenior author

  The relevance of scholarly research is a central concern in the field of organizations and management, leading to an ever-growing body of literature. However, the same challenges and solutions seem to be repeated periodically with little progress made. In this review, we address this dissatisfying state of affairs and suggest directions to move the conversation forward. First, we present the different discussions and perspectives prominent in the literature. We build our critique based on two repetitive themes others have noted: the fragmentated nature of the conversations and the simplistic treatment of relevance within them. Next, we add to this critique with insights from peripheral perspectives in the literature, specifically on the nature of social science and on management education. Then, using our review and critique as a starting point, we propose three potential ways of redefining relevance that integrate the fragmented perspectives in a meaningful way. These three proposals help inform a more comprehensive understanding of the relevance of management research.

  PublisherDOI

• Diverse but not Inclusive: How Organizational Status Maintenance Undermines Social Inclusion

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2023-07-24

  articleSenior author

  We examine how the concern to maintain organizational status undermines social inclusion. To do this, we study the experience of Electi, an elite university in Peru, as it implements a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiative aimed at diversifying the student body by enrolling becarios, academically accomplished students from low-income backgrounds. Although Electi enrolled these students, the initiative could have been more effective at achieving inclusion. In particular, we find that the presence of becarios represented a potential status threat for the organization and, consequently, faculty, staff, and students engaged in actions that respond to this threat. We identify four key processes unfolding at Electi: the creation and maintenance of a student prototype, the establishment of upper-class standards as the norm, the creation of a becario stereotype, and the concealment of information that might reveal lower social class. Together, these processes undermine the inclusion objectives of the DEI initiative. We conclude by discussing the theoretical implications of our work.

  PublisherDOI

• An Examination of Mind Perception and Moral Reasoning in Ethical Decision-Making: A Mixed-Methods Approach

  Journal of Business Ethics · 2022 · 13 citations

  Senior authorCorresponding
  • Sociology
  • Psychology
  • Social psychology
  PublisherDOI

• Searching for a Cure: The Role of a Project Scaffolding Intervention In Scientific Collaborations

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2021-07-26

  article

  We investigate the use of formal interventions in early-stage discovery collaborations focused on curing devastating diseases. To advance their objectives, these collaborations must overcome profound differences in members’ specialized knowledge, despite having limited familiarity and prior histories of collaboration with one another. We conducted a field quasi-experiment using 26 biomedical research collaborations across the US beginning to work on treatments or cures for human diseases. We provided and tested the efficacy of a formal scaffolding intervention, focused on tentative problem solving and provisional planning. Results show that using this intervention allowed collaborations to integrate members’ disparate and diverse expertise into innovative research projects, which led to increased productivity. The effect of the intervention was mediated by the extent to which collaborators were able to align and coordinate with one another to complete project tasks. Elements of transactive memory (i.e., knowing who knows what) and nascent creative efficacy did not mediate this effect.

  PublisherDOI

• Seeing Through the FOG: A Classroom Exercise Illustrating the Challenges of Sharing Information as Facts, Opinions, and Guesses in Teams

  Management Teaching Review · 2021-09-08 · 1 citations

  articleSenior author

  Information sharing is a critical aspect of effective team functioning. However, it can be challenging to discern whether the information communicated is fact, opinion, or someone’s best guess (FOG) due to the varied understandings, assumptions, and interests team members bring to any collaboration. In this article, we introduce a role-play exercise that helps participants better understand the complexities associated with information sharing in teams and how to sort through the FOG associated with information exchanges. Drawing upon research on motivated information processing, this exercise simulates the challenges of information sharing and assists teachers in demonstrating strategies to overcome them.

  PublisherDOI

• A Place in the World: Vulnerability, Well-Being, and the Ubiquitous Evaluation That Animates Participation in Institutional Processes

  Academy of Management Review · 2020 · 56 citations

  • Sociology
  • Political Science
  • Sociology

  We explain how and why people become motivated to participate in institutional processes. Responding to recent efforts to address the micro and meso in institutional analysis, we introduce two interrelated constructs, a person’s embodied world of concern and a community’s shared world of concern, which shape how people experience, evaluate, and participate in institutional arrangements. The world of concern, which is the product of people’s sedimented experiences of thriving and suffering, becomes the basis for their commitments to antagonisms towards certain social arrangements. The world of concern, as a lens, sheds light on the complex ways the macro, meso, and micro levels are co-implicated in constructing commitments and attachments that animate action in institutional arenas by providing a new metaphor, one that links the realism of participant concerns to the micro dynamics that underpin institutions. We conclude with a discussion of the implications of these ideas for future research.

  PublisherOA PDFDOI

• Participant-Observation in the Modern Era of Organization Studies

  Academy of Management Proceedings · 2020-07-29

  articleSenior author

  The theme of this year's Academy is “Broadening our Sight.” Broadening our sight involves getting a new view on the theories and the methods we use. Firsthand experiences, as provided by participant-observation methods, are a great source of learning and a way to broaden our sight by looking at an organizational phenomenon through the “eyes” of the informants (Douglas, 1976; Pratt, Lepisto & Dane, 2018). Several scholars (see call for papers in Academy of Management Review by Haveman, Mahoney & Mannix, 2019) in the management field have stressed the importance of going into the field to get a better understanding of how people in organizations deal with current issues and thus get a fresh look at possibly outdated theories (Pratt & Rouse, forthcoming). This symposium’s purpose it to offer a new perspective on how the researcher can take actions in their work, and what participating in the contexts we study can bring to qualitative work.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Bryant A. Hudson

  Institut d'Economie Scientifique Et de Gestion

  43 shared

• Kristin Smith‐Crowe

  Boston University

  29 shared

• W. E. Douglas Creed

  University of Rhode Island

  27 shared

• R. Mark Greenwood

  21 shared

• Roy Suddaby

  Washington State University

  21 shared

• Michael Lounsbury

  University of Alberta

  15 shared

• Thomas B. Lawrence

  University of Oxford

  12 shared

• Rodolphe Durand

  HEC Paris

  12 shared