I am pleased to announce the finalists for the 2014 INFORMS/Organization Science Dissertation Proposal Competition. The eight finalists were selected from the seventy-three proposals that were submitted this year. Competition was fierce, with many innovative and high-quality proposals submitted. The eight individuals below will be presenting their dissertation proposals at the INFORMS conference on November 8th in San Francisco, CA to a distinguished panel of judges who will select the winner and runner-up for this year's competition. If you know any of the finalists, please offer them your heartiest congratulations for a significant accomplishment. The finalists are:
Mabel Abraham
MIT, Sloan School of Management
"A Preference for John over Jane? The Role of Evaluators for Gender Inequality in Networks, Markets, and Organizations"
Abhinav Gupta
Pennsylvania State University, Smeal College of Business
"Organizational Ideology and Corporate Responses to Activism"
Matthew Karlesky
University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business
"Identifying Entrepreneurial Opportunities: Cognition and Categorization in Nascent Entrepreneurs"
Jacqueline Kirtley
Boston University, School of Management
"How Entrepreneurial Firms in Nascent Technology Industries Navigate Strategic Change"
Douglas Lepisto
Boston College, Carroll School of Management
"Reason for Being: Exploring the Formation and Consequences of Organizational Purpose in an Athletic Footwear and Apparel Company"
McKenzie Rees
University of Utah, David Eccles School of Business
"It's Not as Bad as Others Think: How The Differential Perspectives of Targets and Observers Affect the Perceived Negativity of the Situation and Subsequent Cooperative Responses"
Eunhee Sohn
MIT, Sloan School of Management
"Reverse Spillovers" and Microfoundations of Endogenous Scientific Change: Evidence from the Agricultural Biotechnology Industry"
Trevor Young-Hyman
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Sociology
"How Formal Power Shapes Knowledge-Intensive Work: Worker Ownership in the U.S. Automation Industry"
Finally, I would like to thank the 112 scholars who generously volunteered their time to provide reviews of the candidate proposals. This competition would be nothing without them, and I am grateful to them for their willingness to provide thoughtful and timely feedback. The individuals who reviewed for this year's competition are: