William Kahn
Everett W. Lord Distinguished Faculty Scholar
Professor, Management & Organizations
Department Chair, Management and Organizations
Education
PhD, Yale University, 1987
MS, Yale University, 1983
BA, Clark University, 1981
Selected Research Presentations
Kahn, W. Using systems psychodynamics in organizational research., Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Boston, 2023
Kahn, W. Race and systems psychodynamics, INSEAD, 2022
Kahn, W. Falling apart and hanging together: Notes on resilient caregiving organizations, Scottish Institute of Residential Child Care annual conference, 2022
Kahn, W. Dignifying spaces, Technion University (Haifa, Israel), 2022
Kahn, W. Creating a better world: Towards better management of distress and trauma in the workplace., Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Seattle, 2022
Kahn, W. Dignifying spaces, Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2022
Kahn, W. Dignifying spaces, Washington University at St. Louis, 2022
Kahn, W. Resilient organizations amidst disruption, Vassar College, 2022
Kahn, W. Taking up appropriate authority at work, American Psychological Association Leadership Fellowship conference, 2022
Kahn, W. Distress and trauma in the workplace, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, virtual, 2021
Mobasseri, S. , Kahn, W. Organizations’ responses and narratives of workplace inequity, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, virtual, 2021
Publications
Kahn, W. (In Press). “Through the Narrows: The Meaning and Enactment of Interpersonal Holding”, Organization Science
Mobasseri, S., Kahn, W., Ely, R. (In Press). “Racial Inequality in Organizations: A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective”, Academy of Management Review
Mobasseri, S., Kahn, W., Ely, R. (2024). “Racial Inequality in Organizations: A Systems Psychodynamic Perspective”, Academy of Management Review, 49 (4), 718-745
Kahn, W. (2023). “Falling apart and hanging together: Notes on resilient caregiving organizations”, Scottish Journal of Residential Child Care, 22 (1), 93-111
Barton, M., Kahn, W., Maitlis, S., Sutcliffe, K. (2022). “Stop framing wellness programs around self-care”, Harvard Business Review (https://hbr.org/2022/04/stop-framing-wellness-programs-around-self-care)
Kahn, W. (2021). “Discoveries-through-Prose Nobody Home: A Parallel Process Investigation of a Child Welfare Agency”, Academy of Management Discoveries
Kahn, W., Rouse, E. (2021). “Navigating Space for Personal Agency: Auxiliary Routines as Adaptations in Toxic Organizations”, Academy of Management Journal, 64 (5), 1419-1444
Kahn, W., Feldman, E. (2020). “Making the most of conflicting advice from mentors.”, MIT Sloan Management Review: MIT’s journal of management research and ideas
Kahn, W., Rouse, E. (2020). “Toxic organizations and the unenviable choices available to mid-level managers.”, London School of Economics Business Review
Kahn, W., Barnes, L., Draga, S., Long, D., Maitlis, S., Ruttan, R., Burgess, R., Colquitt, J., DeCelles, K., Dutton, J., Hardin, A., Jun, S., Rockmann, K., Workman, K. (2020). “Navigating Distress: Exploring How People Make Sense of Negative Emotions in Everyday Workplaces”, Academy of Management Proceedings, 2020 (1), 14075-14075
Kahn, W. (2019). “Dynamics and Implications of Distress Organizing”, Academy of Management Journal, 62 (5), 1471-1497
Barton, M., Kahn, W. (2019). “Group Resilience: The Place and Meaning of Relational Pauses”, Organization Studies, 40 (9), 1409-1429
Feldman, E., Kahn, W. (2019). “When Developers Disagree: Divergent Advice as a Potential Catalyst for Protégé Growth”, Organization Science, 30 (3), 509-527
Kahn, W., Barton, M., Fisher, C., Heaphy, E., Reid, E., Rouse, E. (2018). “The Geography of Strain: Organizational Resilience as a Function of Intergroup Relations”, Academy of Management Review, 43 (3), 509-529
Kahn, W. (2015). “The Ostrich Effect”, Routledge
Kahn, W., Barton, M., Fellows, S. (2013). “Organizational Crises and the Disturbance of Relational Systems”, Academy of Management Review, 2 (38), 377-396
Kahn, W., Barton, M., Fellows, S. (2013). “Organizational crises and the disturbance of relational systems”, Academy of Management Review, 38 (3), 377-396
Kahn, W. (2012). “The functions of dysfunction: Implications for organizational diagnosis and change.”, Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 64 (3), 225-241
Kahn, W. (2011). “Treating Organizational Wounds”, Organizational Dynamics, 40 (2), 75-84
Kahn, W. (2008). “The Student’s Guide to Successful Project Teams”, Routledge Academic
Bookman, T., Kahn, W. (2006). “This House We Build Lessons for Healthy Synagogues and the People Who Dwell There”, Rowman & Littlefield
Kahn, W. (2006). Meaningful connections: Positive relationships and attachments at work. In JE, Dutton., BR, Ragins. (Eds.), “Exploring positive relationships at work”, Lawrence Erlbaum 189-206
Kahn, W. (2006). Positive relationships in groups and communities. In JE, Dutton., BR, Ragins. (Eds.), “Exploring positive relationships at work”, Lawrence Erlbaum 277-288
Kahn, W. (2005). “Holding Fast”, Routledge
Kahn, W. (2004). “Facilitating and Undermining Organizational Change”, The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 40 (1), 7-30
Kahn, W., Green, Z. (2004). Seduction and betrayal: A process of unconscious abuse of authority by leadership groups. In S, Cytynbaum., D, Noumair. (Eds.), “Group relations reader 3”, A.K. Rice Institute 175-199
Kahn, W. (2003). “The Revelation of Organizational Trauma”, The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 39 (4), 364-380
Kahn, W., Cross, R., Parker, A. (2003). “Layers of Diagnosis for Planned Relational Change in Organizations”, The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 39 (3), 259-280
(2003). “Review of H. Sondak, M. Neale & E. Mannix (Eds.), Toward phenomenology of groups and group membership”, Administrative Science Quarterly, 48 (2), 330-332
KAHN, W. (2002). “Managing the Paradox of Self-Reliance”, Organizational Dynamics, 30 (3), 239-256
Kahn, W., Hall, D. (2002). Developmental relationships at work: A learning perspective. In C, Cooper. (Eds.), “The world of work”, Oxford 49-74
Kahn, W. (2001). “Holding Environments at Work”, The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 37 (3), 260-279
Kahn, W. (1998). “Relational systems at work”, Research in Organizational Behavior, 20 39-76
Kahn, W. (1996). Secure base relationships at work. In DT, Hall. (Eds.), “The career is dead–Long live the career: A relational approach to careers”, Jossey-Bass 42-66
(1996). “Comment on “Understanding researcher projection in interpreting case study data: The South Canyon fire tragedy.””, The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 32 (1), 63-70
Kahn, W. (1995). “Organizational Change and the Provision of a Secure Base: Lessons from the Field”, Human Relations, 48 (5), 489-514
Kahn, W. (1995). “Group Process Checkpoints for Team Learning in the Classroom”, Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 14 (2), 310-310
Kahn, W., Kram, K. (1994). “Authority at work: Internal models and their organizational consequences.”, Academy of Management Review, 19 (1), 17-50
Kahn, W. (1993). “Caring for the caregivers: Patterns of organizational caregiving”, Administrative Science Quarterly, 38 (4), 539-563
Kahn, W. (1992). “To be fully there: Psychological presence at work”, Human Relations, 45 (4), 321-349
(1992). “Review of E. Shapiro & A. W. Carr, Lost in Familiar Places”, Academy of Management Review, 17 (3), 615-618
Kahn, W. (1990). “Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work”, Academy of Management Journal, 33 (4), 692-724
Kahn, W. (1990). “An Exercise of Authority”, Organizational Behavior Teaching Review, 14 (2), 28-42
Kahn, W. (1990). “There’s no place like home: Reflections on leaving a social system”, The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 26 (2), 135-149
Kahn, W. (1990). “Towards an agenda for business ethics research”, Academy of Management Review, 15 (2), 311-328
Kahn, W. (1990). “To wit: Humor and the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science”, The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 26 (1), 107-110
Kahn, W. (1989). University athletic teams. In JR, Hackman. (Eds.), “Groups that work (and those that don’t)”, Jossey-Bass 250-264
Kahn, W. (1989). “Toward a Sense of Organizational Humor: Implications for Organizational Diagnosis and Change”, The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 25 (1), 45-63
Kahn, W., Crosby, F. (1985). Change and stasis: Discriminating between changing attitudes and discriminatory behavior. In B, Gutek., L, Larwood., B, Stromberg. (Eds.), “Women and work”, Sage 48-62
KAHN, W. (1984). “The Structure of Exaltation”, American Behavioral Scientist, 27 (6), 705-722