Rodrigo Canales

Kelli Questrom Associate Professor in Management & Organizations

Rodrigo Canales does research at the intersection of organizational theory and institutional theory, with a special interest in the role of institutions for economic development. Rodrigo studies how individuals can purposefully change complex organizations or systems. Rodrigo’s work explores how individuals’ backgrounds, professional identities, and organizational positions affect how they relate to existing structures and the strategies they pursue to change them. His work contributes to a deeper understanding of the mechanisms that allow institutions to operate and change. Rodrigo has done work in entrepreneurial finance and microfinance, as well as in the institutional implications of the Mexican war on drugs. His current research is divided in three streams. The first focuses on the structural determinants of the quality of startup employment. The second explores the conditions under which development policies and practices integrate rigorous evidence. The third, with generous support from the Merida Initiative, explores how to build effective, resilient, and trusted police organizations in Mexico.

Rodrigo is faculty director of Questrom’s Social Impact Program. Before, he was Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at the Yale School of Management, where he taught the Innovator Perspective. He sits in the advisory board of the Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values at MIT; he spent the 2014-2015 academic year advising the Mexican government on the US-Mexico bilateral relationship; and sits in the Board of Trustees of the Nature Conservancy.

Publications

Canales, R., Regele, M., Grosberg, M., Eftekhari, N. (In Press). “Falling Off the Unicorn: The Maintenance of Unrealistic Startup Labor Narratives”, Academy of Management Journal

Canales, R., Santini, J., Cherem, A., Marina, G. (In Press). “Shaping Police Officer Mindsets and Behaviors: Experimental Evidence of Procedural Justice Training”, Management Science

Canales, R. (In Press). “From Ideals to Institutions: Institutional Entrepreneurship in Mexican Small Business Finance”, SSRN Electronic Journal

Canales, R. (In Press). “Weaving Straw into Gold: Rule Bending, Localism, and Managing Inconsistencies in Organizational Rules”, SSRN Electronic Journal

Canales, R. (In Press). “Rule Breaking, Sociological Citizenship, and Organizational Contestation in Microfinance”, SSRN Electronic Journal

Canales, R., Bradbury, M., Sheldon, T., Cannon, C. (2024). “Evidence in Practice: How Structural and Programmatic ScaffoldsEnable Knowledge Transfer in International Development”, Administrative Science Quarterly, 69 (3), 665-710

Canales, R., Bitran, A., Crandall, V. (2024). Nurturing Community Vitality through Violence Reduction: An Organizational Change Approach.”Justice Collaboratory: Community Vitality Notebook”, Yale

Canales, R. (2024). “Innovative Violence Prevention Programs and Police Partnerships From Around the World”, Global Law Enforcement and Health Association

Velmer, S., Ramus, T., Besharov, M., Kislenko, S., Thompson, T., Bushe, G., Canales, R., Bradbury, M., Sheldon, A., Fayard, A., Vaccaro, A., Brusoni, S. (2023). “Addressing Grand Challenges Through Unconventional Leadership Styles and Novel Organizing Mechanisms”, Academy of Management Proceedings, 2023 (1)

Saha, A., Ansari, S., Canales, R., Yu, T., DiBenigno, J. (2023). “Understanding the Qualitative Content of Relational Strategies”, Academy of Management Proceedings, 2023 (1)

Bechky, B., Canales, R., Chown, J., Karunakaran, A., Ortiz Casillas, S. (2022). “Professionals in Public: Challenges to Professional and Frontline Work in Public Organizations”, Academy of Management Proceedings, 2022 (1)

Sorenson, O., Dahl, M., Canales, R., Burton, M. (2021). “Do Startup Employees Earn More in the Long Run?”, Organization Science, 32 (3), 587-604

(2021). “Erin Metz McDonnell. Patchwork Leviathan: Pockets of Bureaucratic Effectiveness in Developing States”, Administrative Science Quarterly, 66 (4), NP29-NP32

Kim, M., Sudhir, K., Uetake, K., Canales, R. (2019). “When Salespeople Manage Customer Relationships: Multidimensional Incentives and Private Information”, Journal of Marketing Research, 56 (5), 749-766

Canales, R., Sheldon, T., Grieves, T., Lehan, B. (2019). “Paying it Forward in International Development”, Stanford Social Innovation Review, 17 (3), 33-39

Coles, R., Hiatt, S., Sine, W., Hoskisson, R., Khanna, T., Canales, R., Eberhart, R., Kim, J., Eesley, C., Siegel, J. (2017). “Applications of the Institutional Approach to Entrepreneurship Across Global Contexts”, Academy of Management Proceedings, 2017 (1), 13607-13607

McDoniel, W., Höhnerbach, M., Canales, R., Ismail, A., Bientinesi, P. (2017). “LAMMPS’ PPPM Long-Range Solver for the Second Generation Xeon Phi”, Springer International Publishing 61-78

Canales, R. (2016). “From Ideals to Institutions: Institutional Entrepreneurship and the Growth of Mexican Small Business Finance”, Organization Science, 27 (6), 1548-1573

Canales, R., Greenberg, J. (2016). “A Matter of (Relational) Style: Loan Officer Consistency and Exchange Continuity in Microfinance”, Management Science, 62 (4), 1202-1224

Canales, R. (2014). “Weaving Straw into Gold: Managing Organizational Tensions Between Standardization and Flexibility in Microfinance”, Organization Science, 25 (1), 1-28

Canales, R., Cannon, C., Fabian, C., Fabricant, R., Kochi, E., Rabison, R. (2014). “DIY innovation: Creating an Innovation Capability within an Organization”, Rotman Management Magazine, 2014 (Fall), 66-71

Canales, R. (2013). “Financial Markets and Practices in Emerging Economies”, Academy of Management Proceedings, 2013 (1), 11514-11514

Canales, R. (2012). The stranger as friend: Loan officers and positive deviance in microfinance.”Using a Positive Lens to Explore Social Change and Organizations”, Routledge 443-473

Canales, R., Nanda, R. (2012). “A darker side to decentralized banks: Market power and credit rationing in SME lending”, Journal of Financial Economics, 105 (2), 353-366

Lall, S., Bruhn, M., Canales, R., Meier, S., Schoar, A. (2012). “Improving Access to Finance by the Poor: What Difference Does Management Make?”, Academy of Management Proceedings, 2012 (1), 18163-18163

Canales, R., Greenberg, J. (2012). “Categorical Coherence or Sequential Consistency: Breach of contract in SME financing”, Academy of Management Proceedings, 2012 (1), 17295-17295

Canales, R. (2011). “Rule bending, sociological citizenship, and organizational contestation in microfinance”, Regulation & Governance, 5 (1), 90-117

Canales, R., Massey, C., Wrzesniewski, A. (2010). “Promises Aren’t Enough: Business Schools Need to Do a Better Job Teaching Students Values”,

Canales, R., Nanda, R. (2009). Small and Medium Firm Lending in Mexico: Lessons and Current Issues.”Mexico Competitiveness Report”, World Economic Forum 63-70