Christopher Steele

About

From the beginning of my career, I have been interested in three overarching topics: the production and consumption of knowledge, the emergence and maintenance of identity, and the production of order, meaning, and innovation in everyday life. I continue to focus on these questions, which would keep me happily occupied for several lifetimes. I did my undergraduate and master’s degrees at the Said Business School, University of Oxford, and my doctorate at the Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University.

Research

Research Interests

Within the three broad themes mentioned above, my work connects to a variety of more specific questions. How is it that certain things come to be accepted as true, self-evident, practical or impossible? When are different methods of knowing prioritized in organizations, and in societies more broadly? When, and with what effect, do people attribute character and intentionality to organizations and other collectives? And how do these various processes ground efforts at innovation and entrepreneurship? My research to date has explored the dynamics of identity and innovation within a new physician specialty in the U.S., and the efforts of business analysts and others to design, legitimate, and implement data analytic techniques, as well as a theoretical consideration of the role of history in the formation and dynamics of societal logics. Theoretically, I draw on resources from institutional, organizational, and practice theory, and from the sociology of knowledge; as well as social theory more broadly.

Selected Publications

Steele, C.W.J., 2021. ‘When things get odd: Exploring the interactional choreography of taken-for-grantedness’. Academy of Management Review, 46(2): 341-361.

Lounsbury, M., Steele, C.W.J., Wang, M.S., & Toubiana, M., 2021 'New directions in the study of institutional logics: From tools to phenomena’. Annual Review of Sociology, 47: 261-280.

Ocasio, W., Mauskapf, M., & Steele, C.W.J., 2016 (all authors contributed equally). ‘History, society, and institutions: The role of collective memory in the formation of societal logics’. Academy of Management Review, 41(4): 676-699.

Teaching

I teach undergraduate-level courses in management (SMO 310) and business strategy (SMO 441). These courses are both designed to blend theoretical depth and practical relevance, and to provide plentiful opportunities for discussion and reflection. I am also involved in the teaching and supervision of doctoral students.

SEM 703 - Seminar in Strategic Management

This course examines the current state of knowledge in strategic management. Topics may include the sources of competitive advantage, the role of industry evolution and technology, the organization of top management, and managerial decision-making and cognition. The course introduces students to alternative theoretical perspectives and available empirical evidence related to these topics. Prerequisite: Registration in Business PhD Program or written permission of instructor. Approval of the Business PhD Program Director is also required for non-PhD students. Not to be taken by students with credit in ORG A 703.

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