Interim Dean | Paul J. Cortese Distinguished Professor of Management | Co-Director, Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation
Management of Organizations
World-renowned researcher, teacher & consultant on leveraging organizational culture for firm performance and leading high-performance teams
About
Jennifer A. Chatman is the interim dean of the Haas School of Business. Chatman is the Paul J. Cortese Distinguished Professor of Management and a faculty member in the Management of Organizations (MORS) Group. She has served as Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, and from October-December 2023 she served as the school’s Acting Dean.
In her research, teaching, and consulting work, she focuses on how organizations can leverage culture for strategic success and how diverse teams can optimize performance. Her award-winning research has shown, for example, how emphasizing innovation in the context of a strong culture increases firms’ financial success, how narcissistic leaders create organizational cultures lower in collaboration and integrity, and how norms to cooperate can cause members to blur differences among them, even if those differences are useful for group performance—suggesting that collaboration should be calibrated in diverse teams.
Chatman is the Co-Director of the Berkeley Center for Workplace Culture and Innovation and co-host of “The Culture Kit with Jenny & Sameer” podcast. She serves as Editor-in-Chief for the journal Research in Organizational Behavior. She also runs the Leading Strategy Execution Through Culture executive education program. She has served in many other leadership roles at Haas and UC Berkeley over the years. Chatman earned her PhD at Berkeley Haas, and her BA in Psychology from UC Berkeley.
Expertise and Research Interests
- Organizational Culture and Firm Performance
- Norms in Diverse Groups
- Leadership and the Impact of Leader Attributes on Team Performance
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Lu, R., Chatman, J., Goldberg, A., & Srivastava, S. (2023). Two-Sided cultural fit: The differing behavioral consequences of cultural congruence based on values versus perceptions. Organization Science. https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/9j5qf/
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Chatman, J. Sharps, D., Kray, L., and North, M. (2022). Agentic but not warm: Age-Gender intersections and the consequences of stereotype incongruity perceptions for middle-aged professional women. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0749597822000796
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Gelfand, M., Li, R., Stamkou, E., Denison, E., Fernandez, J., Choi, V., Chatman, J., Jackson, J.C., Pieper, D., Dimant, E. (2022). Persuading conservatives and liberals to comply with mask-wearing: An intervention tournament. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1h2aMjnuiOqKKvix2-BglCf0Sl1A5mKxC/view
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Chatman, J. & Choi, A. (2022). Measuring organizational culture: Converging on definitions and approaches to advance the paradigm. In C. Newton & R. Knight (Eds.) Handbook of research methods for organizational culture. Edward Elgar Publishing: Cheltenham, UK.
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O’Reilly, C.A. & Chatman, J.A. (2021). When ‘me’ trumps ‘we’: Narcissistic leaders create less collaborative and lower integrity organizational cultures. Academy of Management Discoveries. https://doi.org/10.5465/amd.2019.0163
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Chatman, J. (2021). Behavioral norms, not personality, is how cultures change. Organization Development Review. Winter/Spring, 53(1): 60-62.
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Canning, E. A., Murphy, M.C., Emerson, K.T., Chatman, J.A., Dweck, C.S., & Kray, L.J. (2020). Organizational mindsets shape corporate culture, trust, and commitment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.5465/ambpp.2018.15049abstract
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Chatman, J., Greer, L., Sherman, E., & Doerr, B. (2019). Blurred lines: How collectivism mutes the disruptive and elaborating effects of demographic heterogeneity in Himalayan expeditions. Organization Science (lead article), 30 (2): 235-259. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2018.1268
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2020 Outstanding Publication in Organizational Behavior Award, Academy of Management Association.
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- O’Reilly, C., Doerr, B., & Chatman, J.. “See you in court”: How CEO narcissism increases firms’ vulnerability to lawsuits. The Leadership Quarterly. 2018
At Haas since 1993
- 2024 – Interim Dean, Haas School of Business
- October – December 2023, Acting Dean, Haas School of Business
- 2021 – 2024, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs, Haas School of Business
- 2019 – 2021, Associate Dean of Learning Strategies, Haas School of Business
- 2019 – present, Editor-in-Chief, Research in Organizational Behavior
- 2018 – present, Founder and Co-Director, Berkeley Haas Culture Initiative
- 2001 – present, Paul J. Cortese Distinguished Professor of Management
- 2001 – 2004, Director, Haas School of Business PhD Program
- 2001 – 2002, Marvin Bower Fellow, Harvard Business School
- 1997 – 2000, Harold Furst Professor of Management Philosophy and Values, Haas School of Business
- 1993 – 2001, Assistant and Associate Professor, Haas School of Business
- 1991 – 1992, Visiting Associate Professor and Research Psychologist, Institute of Personality and Social Research and Visiting Professor, Haas School of Business
- 1987 – 1993, Assistant and Associate Professor of Organization Behavior, Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University
Corporate and Organizational Boards
- 2015 – present, Berkeley Executive Education Faculty Oversight Committee, Committee Member
- 2011 – 2014, Greater Good Science Center, University of California, Faculty Board Member
- 2011 – 2014, Healthcare Business Women’s Association, Advisory Board Member
- 2006 – present, Prospect Sierra School (Trustee, Chair of Compensation Working Group)
Young Presidents Organization (YPO) faculty member (2017-present) - 2004 – present, Simpson Manufacturing (NYSE: SSD) Board of Directors Outside Director, and Chair of the Compensation and Leadership Committee (2009 – present)
- 2004 – present, The Trium Group, Academic Affiliate
- 2003 – 2006, UC Berkeley Center for Health Research Advisory Board Member
- 2002 – 2006, Unicru Advisory Board Member, formerly Guru Worldwide
- 2001 – 2004, Thinkshed Advisory Board Member
- 1999 – 2005, Ashesi University, Ghana, Africa Advisory Board Member
- 1998 – 2006, BrassRing Systems Inc. Advisory Board Member
- 1998 – 1999, Institute for Management Studies Advisory Board Member
- 1996 – 1998, Center for Executive Development at Haas Advisory Board Member
- 1995 – 1999, East Bay Outreach Program, University of California Faculty Advisor
- Simpson Manufacturing (NYSE: SSD) Board of Directors Outside Director (2004 – present), and Chair of the Compensation and Leadership Committee (2009 – present)
- Prospect Sierra School (Trustee, Chair of Compensation Working Group) – 2006-present
- Young Presidents Organization (YPO) faculty member (2017-present)
- Greater Good Science Center, University of California, Faculty Board Member (2011 – present)
- Healthcare Business Women’s Association, Advisory Board Member (2011 – 2014)
- The Trium Group, Academic Affiliate (2004 – present)
- Ashesi University, Ghana, Africa Advisory Board Member (1999 – 2005)
- UC Berkeley Center for Health Research Advisory Board Member (2003 – 2006)
- Center for Executive Development at Haas Advisory Board Member (1996 – 1998)
- East Bay Outreach Program, University of California Faculty Advisor (1995 – 1999)
- Editorial Boards: Academy of Management Annual Reviews Editorial Committee (2005 – 2007); Academy of Management Journal (1989 – 1993); Academy of Management Review (1997 – 1999; 2002 – 2009); Administrative Science Quarterly (1992 – 2002); Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior (2013-2016); California Management Review (1994 – present) Journal of Applied Psychology (1998 – 1999); The Leadership Quarterly (2017 to present)
- Association Memberships: Fellows of the Academy of Management (inducted 2006); Academy of Management American Psychological Association; American Psychological Society; Society for Organizational Behavior
- Executive Development (partial list): Leading High Performance Cultures (faculty director); Berkeley Executive Leader Program (former faculty director); Women’s Executive Leader Program; New Manager Boot Camp; various custom programs
- Consulting (partial list): Cisco Systems, Clorox, The Coca-Cola Company, Conoco-Phillips, Daimler (Mercedes), Draper, Richards, Kaplan Foundation, Franklin Templeton Investor Services, Gallo Winery, Genentech, Goldman Sachs, Kaiser Permanente, Mars Inc., New York Life, Novartis, OSIsoft, PG&E, Pixar, Portland Trail Blazers, Prudential, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Qualcomm, Raiders Football, Roche, Salesforce, Sandia National Laboratory, Schneider Electric, Sony, Statoil, Wolters Kluwer, United Capital, U.S. Treasury
Lifetime Achievement Award recipient from the Academy of Management, Organizational Behavior Division
2023
Teaching Honors
Member of Berkeley Haas “Club 6” for high teaching scores (2019 & each year since 1993)
Named on Poets & Quants “World’s Best B-School Professor” list (2012)
Cheit Teaching Award for Teaching Excellence, Berkeley-Columbia Executive MBA Program (2007)
Cheit Teaching Award Honorable Mention, FTMBA, EWMBA & PhD programs (1994, 1996, 1997, 1998)
Outstanding Teacher of the Year Award, 2nd place, Kellogg Graduate School of Management Evening MBA program (1991)
“Outstanding Publication in Organizational Behavior,” Academy of Management
2020
For “Chatman, J. A., Greer, L. L., Sherman, E., & Doerr, B. (2019). Blurred lines: How the collectivism norm operates through perceived group diversity to boost or harm group performance in Himalayan mountain climbing. Organization Science, 30(2), 235-259.”
This award recognizes one paper chosen from those published in the OB domain in a particular year.
Harvard Business School Paul Lawrence Seminar Speaker
2019
“This seminar is “intended to “bring a luminary in the field of Organizational Behavior to Harvard Business School to honor the life, scholarship, and legacy of Paul Lawrence.”
“Best Paper of the Year” Runner Up, The Leadership Quarterly
2019
For “O’Reilly, C., Chatman, J., & Doerr, B. (2018). See you in court: How CEO narcissism increases firms’ vulnerability to lawsuits. The Leadership Quarterly, 29 (3): 365-442.”
“Best Paper of the Year,” Group and Organization Management
2015
For “The Promise and Problems of Organizational Culture: CEO Personality, Culture, and Firm Performance.”
Inducted as a Fellow of the Academy of Management
2006
“Most Influential Paper Award,” 1997-2000, Academy of Management, Conflict Management Division
2005
For “Being different yet feeling similar: The influence of demographic composition and organizational culture on work processes and outcomes” published in Administrative Science Quarterly, 1998, 43 (4): 749-780.
Accenture Award
2004
For the article that “made the most important contribution to improving the practice of management,” in California Management Review for “Leading by Leveraging Culture.”
L.L. Cummings Scholar Award, Academy of Management Organizational Behavior Division
1998
Awarded for “outstanding achievement to one researcher in early mid-career.”
Administrative Science Quarterly Award for Scholarly Contribution
1997
For “the article that had the most impact on the field of organizational behavior over the past five years,” for Mixing and matching people and organizations: Selection and socialization in public accounting firms.
Schwabacher Research Award, Haas School of Business
1996
Ascendant Scholar Award, Western Academy of Management
1994
Best Paper Award, Academy of Management Organization and Management Theory Division
1991
For “Assessing the relationship between industry characteristics and organizational culture: How different can you be?”
Outstanding Paper Based on a Dissertation Award, Academy of Management Organizational Behavior Division
1989
For “Mixing and Matching People and Organizations: Selection and Socialization in Public Accounting Firms.”
Phi Beta Kappa
1980
- Musk Buys Twitter: UC Berkeley Management Professor On Acquisition, CBS Bay Area, 04/25/2022
- A groundbreaking California law to address workplace diversity was overturned. What happens now?, USA Today, 04/07/2022
- Leaked Amazon Emails Show How Andy Jassy Has Started to Run Company, Business Insider, 02/11/2022
- Things you should stop saying at work in 2022, MSN Money, 12/30/2021
- Contra Costa County issuing fines to restaurants not checking customers vaccination status, FOX2 KTVU, 11/10/2021
- Newsom weighs in on controversy over In-N-Out’s vaccine stance, FOX2 KTVU, 10/27/2021
- Pleasant Hill In-N-Out Burger shut for violating COVID orders, FOX2 KTVU, 10/26/2021
- The unvax tax, Politico, 08/31/2021
- Theranos: Elizabeth Holmes’ criminal trial to showcase Silicon Valley’s most notorious startup crash, The Mercury News, 08/29/2021
- Delta Air Lines’ $200 charge to unvaccinated employees puts penalty power to the test, Marketplace, 08/26/2021
- Biden administration rolls out new vaccine incentives, Marketplace, 06/04/2021
- The ‘Well-Being-Engagement Paradox’ Explains Why You Suddenly Can’t Focus on Work as Pandemic Restrictions Loosen, Well+Good, 05/07/2021
- 3 ways to keep your company culture intact after the pandemic, Fast Company, 04/29/2021
- Started A New Job While Remote? Here’s How To Get To Know Your Co-Workers In Person, Forbes, 04/07/2021
- Researchers publish recommendations for using behavioral science to increase vaccine uptake, The Daily Californian, 03/29/2021
- COVID-19 Has Redefined the Workplace – for Better or Worse, Variety, 03/10/2021
- How narcissistic leaders infect their organizations’ cultures, Vet Candy, 03/17/2021
- Moving the Middle: How to Get More People to Take Vaccines, Knowledge@Wharton, 03/15/2021
- Elon Musk moved to Texas and embraced celebrity. Can Tesla run on Autopilot?, The Washington Post, 02/23/2021
- Opinion | The Narcissist in Chief Brings It All Crashing Down, The New York Times, 01/10/2021
- Teach regularly in all executive education verticals and delivery methods, including Faculty Director for the Berkeley CEO program and Leading Strategy Execution Through Culture program (both Open Enrollment) and for various customized corporate programs, plus many other specialized topics for OE, Custom and B2B online programs
- Core Organizational Behavior, Full-time MBA, Evening & Weekend MBA, and Executive MBA programs
- Micro Organizational Behavior, PhD Program
- Executive Development, Courses on Leadership, Cultivating a Strategically Effective Culture, Power and Influence, and other custom topics
