Robert J. David
Desautels Faculty Scholar
Academic Director (Research)
PhD, Cornell University, USA
MBA, 海角社区, Canada
BEng, 海角社区, Canada
Professor David does research on the emergence and evolution of market categories. He has studied management consulting, alternative energy, aviation, and artisan food production. His current projects include research on the market for Local Food, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Professor David has been honoured with the Cleghorn Faculty Scholar Award (2007-2010 and 2011-2014), the Brojde Faculty Scholar Award (2016-2018 and 2018-2021), the Desautels Faculty Scholar Award (2022-2025), and a Visiting Professorship (honourary) at the Adam Smith School of Business, University of Glasgow (2017-2021). He also holds a visiting appointment at the Knauss School of Business, University of San Diego.听
Professor David teaches Strategic Management, Industry Analysis & Competitive Strategy, and a PhD Seminar in Organizational Theory.听He has also taught in 海角社区's executive programs and MBA Japan program. Professor David has been honoured with the Faculty of Management's Distinguished Teaching Award,听the Desautels Doctoral Student Society's Best Advisor Award, and the听Quebec Teaching Fellow Award. Prior to joining 海角社区, Professor David taught Management & Organizations to both undergraduate and graduate students at Cornell University.
Professor David is the Academic Director (Research) for the Faculty.听
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Professor David has received research grants from the "Fonds de Recherche sur la Societ茅 et la Culture" of Quebec (FQRSC) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). He frequently presents his research at the annual meetings of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC), the Academy of Management (AoM), and the European Group on Organization Studies (EGOS). He has won Best Paper awards from ASAC and from the Academy of Management. Professor David has published his work in Research Policy, Strategic Management Journal, Strategic Organization, Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Administrative Science Quarterly, as well as in numerous edited volumes. He co-edited a book titled Institutions and Entrepreneurship (Research in the Sociology of Work, vol. 21). He served听previously as a co-editor of Strategic Organization and is currently guest co-editing a special issue on Categories and Place.听Prof. David was honoured in 2008听for Outstanding Service to the Organization Science Editorial Board.
Professor David has served the Faculty as Academic Director (Research), Academic Director (Faculty), and Vice-Dean (Faculty).听
Prior to entering academia, Professor David worked for Procter & Gamble and Canadian Pacific Limited.
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Papers in Peer-Reviewed Journals
Ierfino-Blachford, L., and Robert J. David.听. Forthcoming (In press) at Strategic Organization.听
David, Robert J., Candace Jones, and Gr茅goire Croidieu. 2023.听.听Strategic Organization,听21(1), 6鈥�
22.
David, Robert J., & Lee, Yoojin. 2022. . Strategic Organization, 20(4), 709鈥�721.听
Boghossian, Johnny, and Robert J. David. 2021.听. Administrative Science Quarterly,听66(4): 1084鈥�1129.听
Litrico, Jean-Baptiste, and Robert J. David. 2017.听The Evolution of Issue Interpretation within Organizational Fields: Actor Positions, Framing Trajectories, and Field Settlement.听 Academy of Management Journal, 60: 986-1015.
Strang, David, Robert J. David, and Saeed Akhlaghpour. 2014. Co-evolution in management fashion: Computational models of consultant-driven innovation. American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 120, No. 1, pp. 226-264.
Newbert, Scott, Robert J. David, and Shin-Kap Han. 2014. Rarely pure and never simple: Assessing cumulative evidence in strategic management.听 Strategic Organization, 12(2) 142-154.
David, Robert J., Sine, Wesley D., and Haveman, Heather A. 2013. "Seizing Opportunity in Emerging Fields: How Institutional Entrepreneurs Legitimated the Professional Form of Management Consulting". Organization Science, 24:356-377.
Okhmatovskiy, Ilya, and Robert J. David. 2012. Setting your own standards: Internal corporate governance codes as a response to institutional pressure. Organization Science, 23: 155-176.
Dowell, G., and David, R.J. 2011. Effects of Ancestral Populations on Entrepreneurial Founding and Failure: Private Liquor Stores in Alberta, 1994-2003. Industrial and Corporate Change, 20: 825鈥�853
Tolbert, P. S., David, R.J., and Sine, W.D. 2011. Studying Choice and Change: The Intersection of Institutional Theory and Entrepreneurship Research. Organization Science, 22: 1332-1344
Sine, WD, David, RJ, and Mitsuhashi, H. 2007. "From Plan to Plant: Effects of Certification on Operational Start-up in the Emergent Independent Power Sector". Organization Science, 18 (4): 578-594
David, R. J. and Strang, D. 2006. "When Fashion is Fleeting: Transitory Collective Beliefs and the Dynamics of TQM Consulting" Academy of Management Journal, 49 (2): 215-233.
David, R. J., and Han, S-K. 2004.听"A Systematic Assessment of the Empirical Support for Transaction Cost Economics," Strategic Management Journal, 25 (1): 39-58.
Sine, W. D., and David, R.J.听2003. "Environmental Jolts, Institutional Change, and the Creation of Entrepreneurial Opportunity in the U.S. Electric Power Industry," Research Policy, 32 (2): 185-207.
Books and Edited Volumes
Sine, W.D. and R.J. David (eds.). 2010. Research in the Sociology of Work (Vol 21): Institutions and Entrepreneurship. Emerald Group Publishing, Bingley, UK.
Chapters in Books
David, R., Tolbert, P., & Boghossian, J. 2019. . In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management. Oxford University Press. doi:
David, Robert J., Wesley D. Sine, and Caroline Kaehr Serra.听2017. Institutional Theory and听Entrepreneurship: Taking Stock and Moving Forward. In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, T. Lawrence, and R. Meyer (eds),听The Sage Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism, 2nd Edition.听 Sage, UK. pp. 671-688.
David, Robert J. 2012. Institutional change and the growth of strategy consulting in the United States. In M. Kipping and T. Clark (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Management Consulting. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, pp. 71-92.
Sine, Wesley D., and Robert J. David. 2010. Institutions and Entrepreneurship. In W.D. Sine and R.J. David (eds.), Institutions and Entrepreneurship: Research in the Sociology of Work, Vol. 21. Emerald Group Publishing, Bingley, UK, pp. 1-26.
David, Robert J., and Alex B. Bitektine. 2009. The Deinstitutionalization of Institutional Theory? Exploring Divergent Agendas in Institutional Research. In D. Buchanan and A. Bryman (eds.), The Sage Handbook of Organizational Research Methods: 160-175. London: Sage. [.pdf]
Haveman, Heather A., and Robert J. David. 2008. Ecologists and Institutionalists: Friends or Foes? In R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, K. Sahlin-Andersson, and R. Suddaby (eds.), The Sage Handbook of Organizational Institutionalism: 573-595. London: Sage.
Other
Reviews:
David Robert J. 2020. "Eitan Y. Wilf: Creativity on Demand: The Dilemmas of Innovation in an Accelerated Age."听Administrative Science Quarterly,听65(4):NP40-NP42. doi:
David, Robert J. 2007. "McKenna: The World鈥檚 Newest Profession: Management Consulting in the Twentieth Century." Organization Studies, 29: 634-638.
David, Robert J. 2004. "Sahlin-Andersson and Engwall, eds: The Expansion of Management Knowledge: Carriers, Flows, and Sources". Administrative Science Quarterly, 48: 693-695
Other Papers and Publications:
David, Robert J., and Motamedi, Amir. 2004. "Cirque du Soleil: Can it Burn Brighter?" Journal of Strategic Management Education, 1(2): 369-382.
Conference Proceedings:
Strang, David, Robert J. David, and Saeed Akhlaghpour. 2012. Co-evolution in management fashion: Computational models of consultant-driven innovation. Best Paper Proceedings of the Academy of Management Annual Meeting. Published online at:
David, Robert J., and Strang, David. "When Fashion Is Fleeting: Boom-Bust Dynamics in TQM Consulting". Best Paper Award. Proceedings of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Annual Meetings. 2004. CD-ROM. ISBN 2-9808490-0-6
David, R.J. "A Narrow Target or a Wide Net? Specialist and Generalist Strategies in the Management Consulting Industry,"听Best Paper Award, Proceedings of Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Annual Meetings, London Ontario, May 2001, pp. 13-23.
David, R. J. "Environmental Change and Industry Evolution: An Historical Account of the Emergence and Growth of the Management Consulting Industry" (conference version), Best Paper Award, Proceedings of the Academy of Management Annual Meetings, Toronto, August 6-9, 2000, CD ROM.
David, R. J. "The Institutional Embeddedness of Management Consulting Firms: Effects of Affiliations to Industry and Professional Associations" (conference version), Proceedings of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Annual Meetings, Montreal, July 8-11, 2000, pp. 44-53.
David, R. J. "The Institutionalization of New Organizational Forms"(conference version), Proceedings of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Annual Meetings, Saint John, New Brunswick, June 12-15, 1999, pp. 25-34.
David, R.J. "Building Legitimacy Through Symbolic Action: Statements of Organizational Mission" (conference version), Proceedings of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Annual Meetings, St. John's, Newfoundland, June 1-3, 1997, pp. 20-29.
Visiting Faculty Member,听Knauss School of Business, University of San Diego, 2024-2025.听
Visiting Scholar, Cornell University, June 2022 - July 2023.
Desautels Faculty Scholar Award, 2022-2025 Desautels Faculty of Management.
Adam Smith Visiting Professor, Adam Smith School of Business, University of Glasgow, 2017-2020.
Research Visiting Scholar, ESSEC Business School, France, March, 2017.
Brojde Faculty Scholar Award, 2016-2018, 2018-2021 Desautels Faculty of Management.
Research Visiting Scholar, ESSEC Business School, France, March-April, 2015.
Faculty Fellow, School of Labor and Industrial Relations, Cornell University, Fall 2014.
Cleghorn Faculty Scholar Award, 2011-2014, Desautels Faculty of Management.
Cleghorn Faculty Scholar Award, 2007-2010, Desautels Faculty of Management.
Best Paper Award, Organizational Theory Division, Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Annual Meetings, 2011
Quebec Teaching Chair Award, 2009-2013
Award for Outstanding Service to the Editorial Board of Organization Science, 2009
Visiting Scholar, EM-Lyon Business School, March 2009
Visiting Scholar, Cornell University, 2008-2009
Best Advisor Award (Ph.D. program), Desautels Doctoral Student Society, 2008
Best Paper Award, Organizational Theory Division, Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Annual Meetings, 2004
Distinguished Teaching Award (Undergraduate). 海角社区 Faculty of Management, 2004.
Nominee, Principal鈥檚 Award for Excellence in Teaching (Assistant Professor), 海角社区, 2003
Best Paper Award, Organizational Theory Division, Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Annual Meetings, 2001
Best Paper Award (John F. Mee Award for Outstanding Contribution), Management History Division, Academy of Management Annual Meetings, August 2000.
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