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Rodolphe DURAND

Professor

Strategy and Business Policy

 Profile picture

Biography

Rodolphe Durand is the holder of the Joly Family Purposeful Leadership Chair and the Founder and Academic Director of the Society and Organizations Institute which he launched in 2009. Over the recent years, he was Visiting Professor at New York University (Stern Business School), London Business School, and Cambridge University (Judge Business School), and in 2012 Visiting Scholar at Harvard Business School. Previously, he chaired the Strategy & Business Policy department (2009-2013), served as the MSc in Strategic Management’s Academic Director (2012-2015). Rodolphe’s primary research interests concern the normative and cognitive dimensions of firms' performance, and especially the consequences for firms of identifying and coping with the current major environmental and social challenges. Why do organizations supersede rivals? Can new norms, interests, and behaviors (such as Corporate Social Responsibility and inclusive business) bring an advantage to firms and diffuse in markets? Should firms and organizations really innovate or rather conform to established logics to be successful?

For his work on these questions that integrate research streams from sociology, philosophy, and management, Rodolphe received the American Sociological Association’s R. Scott Award in 2005, the European Academy of Management/Imagination Lab Award for Innovative Scholarship in 2010, and was inducted Fellow of the Strategic Management Society in 2014.

Beyond his publications in journals including American Journal of Sociology, Academy of Management Review, and Strategic Management Journal, Rodolphe is also a prolific author of books where he puts in perspective the decline of ideologies, the evolution of capitalism, and the new foundations of management, notably: Organizational Evolution and Strategic Management (Sage, 2006), The Pirate Organization: Lessons from the Fringed of Capitalism (co-authored with JP Vergne, Harvard Press, 2013), and Organizations, Strategy, and Society: The Orgology of Disorganized Worlds (Routledge, 2014). As an advisor, senior advisor, and non-executive board member, he works with multiple organizations on assessing competitive advantage, and developing and implementing new strategies.

Scientific articles

Who Controls the Controller? People Reaction to Social Control Agent's Decisions about Organizational Misconduct

Journal of Management Studies, Forthcoming, (in coll. with G. Cattani, M. Clemente, K. M. Mai)

Impact investing in disadvantaged urban areas

Strategic Management Journal, 19 2024, vol. 45, n° 2, pp 238-271, (in coll. with R. Boulongne, C. Flammer)

Flipping the Coin Again – Redefining Strategy Through a Relational Class Approach

Advances in Strategic Management, 2023, vol. 43, pp 115-139, (in coll. with P.-A. KREMP, T. OBLOJ)

To Be or Not To Be (Typical): Evaluation-Mode Heterogeneity and its Consequences for Organizations

Academy of Management Review, October 2023, vol. 48, n° 4, pp 659-680, (in coll. with P. Gouvard)

From the Boardroom: Making Purpose Research Relevant for Practice

Strategy Science, June 2023, vol. 8, n° 2, pp 149-158,

A Rivalry-Based Theory of Gender Diversity

Strategic Management Journal, May 2023, vol. 44, n° 5, pp 1254-1291, (in coll. with J. K. MAWDSLEY, L. PAOLELLA)

Valuing Spanners: Why Category Nesting and Expertise Matter

Academy of Management Journal, 19 2023, vol. 66, n° 1, pp 335-365, (in coll. with A. Cudennec)

Litigate or let it go? Multi-market contact and IP infringement-litigation dynamics

Research Policy, July 2023, vol. 52, n° 6, pp 104784, (in coll. with L. Diestre, F. Lumineau)

Optimally Distinct? Understanding the Motivation and Ability of Organizations to Pursue Optimal Distinctiveness (or Not)

Organization Theory, January-March 2022, vol. 3, n° 1, pp 1-16, (in coll. with R. HAANS)

Communication Frames and Beneficiary Engagement in Corporate Social Initiatives: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in France

Strategic Management Journal, September 2022, vol. 43, n° 9, pp 1823-1853, (in coll. with M. HUYSENTRUYT)

Books

A Broader Vision of Business

Flammarion (in coll. with A. FRÉROT)

En quête de sens : un dialogue entre dirigeants et futurs dirigeants

Dunod (in coll. with C. LAVRARD-MEYER)

L'entreprise de demain

Flammarion (in coll. with A. FRÉROT)

Strategor - 8ème édition, Toute la stratégie de la start-up à la multinationale

Dunod (in coll. with B. GARRETTE, P. DUSSAUGE, L. LEHMANN ORTEGA, B. POINTEAU, O. SIBONY, F. LEROY)

Strategor - 7ème édition

Dunod (in coll. with L. LEHMANN ORTEGA, F. LEROY, P. DUSSAUGE, B. GARRETTE, ET AL.)

Organizations, Strategy and Society: The Orgology of Disorganized Worlds

Routledge, New York

La désorganisation du monde

Le Bord de l'Eau

Strategor - 6ème édition

Dunod (in coll. with P. DUSSAUGE, F. LEROY, L. LEHMANN ORTEGA, B. GARRETTE)

The Pirate Organization: Lessons from the Fringes of Capitalism

Harvard Business Press Books (in coll. with J. VERGNE)

L'organisation pirate

Le Bord de l'Eau (in coll. with J.-P. VERGNE)

Chapters in edited books

An Audience-Based Theory of Firm Purposefulness

Advances In Cultural Entrepreneurship (Research In The Sociology Of Organizations, Vol. 80, Lockwood C. and Soublière J-F., Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 193-216

Legitimacy Judgments and Prosociality: Organizational Purpose Explained

Handbook On The Business Of Sustainability: The Organization, Implementation, And Practice Of Sustainable Growth, Gerry George, Martine R. Haas, Havovi Joshi, Anita McGahan and Paul Tracey, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2, 43-62

Competitive Advantage = Strategy, Reboot

Strategic Management: State Of The Field And Its Future, Irene Duhaime, Michael Hitt, Marjorie Lyles, Oxford University Press, 4

When Do Market Intermediaries Sanction Categorial Deviation? The Role of Expertise, Identity and Competition

Microfoundations Of Institutions (Research In The Sociology Of Organizations, Vol. 65A), Haack P., Sieweke J. and Wessel L., Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 67-83

Advancing Category Research: Theoretical Mapping and Under-Researched Areas

The Sage Handbook Of Organizational Institutionalism, 2Nd Ed., R. Greenwood, C. Oliver, T. Lawrence, & R. E. Meyer, SAGE Publications, 4

Organizational wrongdoing and media bias

Organizational Wrongdoing ,Key Perspectives And New Directions, D. Palmer, K. Smith-Crowe K., R. Greenwood (Eds), Cambridge University Press, 435-473

Institutional Logics as Strategic Resources

Research In The Sociology Of Organizations, M. Lounsbry, E. Boxenbaum, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Institutional Logics in Action, 165-201

Strong in the morning, dead in the evening: a genealogical and contextual perspective on organizational selection

The Globalization Of Strategy Research (Advances In Strategic Management, Volume 27), J. Baum (ed.), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 279-312

(Un)Great Expectations- Effects of underestimations and self-perception on performance

Handbook Of Research On Foresight And Strategy, L. Costanzo (ed.), Edward Elgar Publishing

Practical wisdom and emotional capability as antecedents of organizational accountability in revolutionary change processes

Research On Emotion In Organizations, N. Ashkanasy, W. Zerbe, C. Hartel (Eds), Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Proceedings

Stick or Yardstick? Organizational Misconduct, Social Control Agents, and People Voice

The Sound of Finance: The Impact of Categorization and Linguistic Congruence on IPO Underpricing

78th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, August 10-14, 2018 , 2018 , Chicago , 2018 , 1 (P. GOUVARD)

Category Reloaded: The Case of Socially Responsible Investment

77th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, August 4-8, 2017 , 2017 , Atlanta , 2017 , 1 (D-L. ARJALIES)

Toward a Theory of Organizations’ Purpose: Linguistic Congruence, Antecedents and Consequences

Working papers

Case Studies

Is the LYDEC experience replicable?

2012

Purposeful Leadership in a turnaround

Scientific articles

Impact investing in disadvantaged urban areas

Strategic Management Journal, 19 2024, vol. 45, n° 2, pp 238-271, (in coll. with R. Boulongne, C. Flammer)

A Rivalry-Based Theory of Gender Diversity

Strategic Management Journal, May 2023, vol. 44, n° 5, pp 1254-1291, (in coll. with J. K. MAWDSLEY, L. PAOLELLA)

Flipping the Coin Again – Redefining Strategy Through a Relational Class Approach

Advances in Strategic Management, 2023, vol. 43, pp 115-139, (in coll. with P.-A. KREMP, T. OBLOJ)

From the Boardroom: Making Purpose Research Relevant for Practice

Strategy Science, June 2023, vol. 8, n° 2, pp 149-158,

Books

A Broader Vision of Business

Flammarion (in coll. with A. FRÉROT)

En quête de sens : un dialogue entre dirigeants et futurs dirigeants

Dunod (in coll. with C. LAVRARD-MEYER)

L'entreprise de demain

Flammarion (in coll. with A. FRÉROT)

Strategor - 8ème édition, Toute la stratégie de la start-up à la multinationale

Dunod (in coll. with B. GARRETTE, P. DUSSAUGE, L. LEHMANN ORTEGA, B. POINTEAU, O. SIBONY, F. LEROY)

Chapters in edited books

An Audience-Based Theory of Firm Purposefulness

Advances In Cultural Entrepreneurship (Research In The Sociology Of Organizations, Vol. 80, Lockwood C. and Soublière J-F., Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 193-216

Legitimacy Judgments and Prosociality: Organizational Purpose Explained

Handbook On The Business Of Sustainability: The Organization, Implementation, And Practice Of Sustainable Growth, Gerry George, Martine R. Haas, Havovi Joshi, Anita McGahan and Paul Tracey, Edward Elgar Publishing, 2, 43-62

Competitive Advantage = Strategy, Reboot

Strategic Management: State Of The Field And Its Future, Irene Duhaime, Michael Hitt, Marjorie Lyles, Oxford University Press, 4

When Do Market Intermediaries Sanction Categorial Deviation? The Role of Expertise, Identity and Competition

Microfoundations Of Institutions (Research In The Sociology Of Organizations, Vol. 65A), Haack P., Sieweke J. and Wessel L., Emerald Group Publishing Limited, 67-83

Proceedings

Stick or Yardstick? Organizational Misconduct, Social Control Agents, and People Voice

The Sound of Finance: The Impact of Categorization and Linguistic Congruence on IPO Underpricing

78th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, August 10-14, 2018 , 2018 , Chicago , 2018 , 1 (P. GOUVARD)

Category Reloaded: The Case of Socially Responsible Investment

77th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, August 4-8, 2017 , 2017 , Atlanta , 2017 , 1 (D-L. ARJALIES)

Toward a Theory of Organizations’ Purpose: Linguistic Congruence, Antecedents and Consequences

Working papers

Case Studies

Is the LYDEC experience replicable?

2012

Purposeful Leadership in a turnaround

Education

  • Doctor Honoris Causa, Catholic University of Louvain - Belgium
  • Habilitation a diriger des recherches (Qualified Research Supervisor), Strategy and Business Policy, Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3 - France
  • Doctorat HEC (Ph.D. in Management), HEC Paris - France
  • Master of Philosophy with top honors, Université Paris Sorbonne Lettres et Civilisations - France
  • DEA de Strategie et Management, Université Paris Ouest la Défense - France
  • Diplome Grande Ecole HEC Paris (Master Degree in Management), HEC Paris - France

Academic appointments

Academic Responsibilities at HEC

  • 2018- Joly Family Chaired Professor in Purposeful Leadership HEC Paris
  • 2016-2018 HEC Foundation Senior Chaired Professor HEC Paris
  • 2011-2015 Academic Director of the Msc in Strategic Management HEC Paris
  • 2010-2015 Chaired Professor « Business and Sustainability », funded by Engie HEC Paris
  • 2009- Founder and Director of the Society and Organizations Institute HEC Paris
  • 2009- Professor HEC Paris
  • 2004- Member of GREGHEC, the joint research laboratory CNRS-HEC Paris HEC Paris

External Academic Responsibilities

  • 2014-2014 Visiting professor London Business School
  • 2012-2012 Visiting scholar Harvard Business School
  • 2011-2011 Montemozolo Visiting Professor, Fellow of Sidney-Sussex College University of Cambridge, Judge Business School
  • 2011-2011 Visiting professor New York University, Stern School of Business
  • 2007-2008 Visiting professor City University - Cass Business School, Londres
  • 1999-2004 Professor, Strategy Department EM Lyon
  • 1998-1999 Visiting Assistant Professor Emory University - Goizueta School of Business
  • 1997-1998 Visiting Assistant Professor Tulane University

Scientific Activities

Membership in Academic or Professional Organisation

  • Permanent member of the "Commission Contrats de societe' in "Club des juristes"
  • Member of Academy of Management (AOM), Strategic Management Society (SMS), American Sociology Association (ASA), European Group for Organization Studies (EGOS), European Academy of Management (EURAM), Association Internationale de Management Strategique (AIMS)

Editorial activities

  • 2017- Associate Editor for Strategic Management Journal
  • January 2016-May 2020 Associate editor for Organization and Environment
  • 2011- Les mouvements sociaux, organisations et strategies - Revue Francaise de Gestion, octobre 2011, Editors: D. Golsorkhi, H. Bergeron, P. Castel, R. Durand, B. Leca
  • 2006-2012 Associate Editor, European Management Review
  • 2006- Associate Editor, Scandinavian Management Journal
  • Editorial Board member for Academy of Management Review (2011- 2015), Journal of Management Studies (2007- )
  • Member, Scientific Committee, Business Digest
  • Guest editor for Special Issue: SMJ 2017: Reviews of Strategic Management Research (with R. Grant and T. Madsen) Research in Sociology in Organizations (RSO volume) 2017: From categories to categorization (with N. Granqvist and A. Tyllstrom)
  • Guest editor for Special Issue: AMR 2015: Communication, Cognition, and Institutions (with J. Cornelissen, P. Fiss, J. Lammers, and E. Vaara)
  • Past Editorial Board memberships: Strategic Management Journal (2007- 2016), Organization Studies (2009-2012), Strategic Organization (2008-2013), and Long Range Planning (2008-2011)
  • Reviewer for Academy of Management Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, American Journal of Sociology, American Sociological Review, Organization Science among others

  • Conference organisation

  • 2023-2023 Organizer of the 1st edition of the Purpose Day, on corporate purpose: “ Bringing Change with Purpose”
  • 2022-2022 1st HEC Climate Days
  • 2019-2019 Organizer of the 2019 Society and Organizations Institute ARCS Workshop on “Accelerating Researcher-Practitioner Collaborations in Sustainability Research”, October 11-12, Collège des Bernardins, Paris, France
  • 2019- Organizer of the Society and Organizations Institute Annual Conference, "AI, Robotics and Work" conference
  • 2019- Co-organizer of the 5th edition of the Society and Organizations Institute Research Day
  • 2019- Organizing Committee of the XIth Medici Summer School in Management Studies, "Commercialization of Art and Science", HEC Paris
  • 2018-2018 Co-Chair of the 2018 Strategic Management Society Conference
  • 2018- Co-organizer of the 4th edition of the Society and Organizations Institute Research Day
  • 2018- Organizing Committee of the Xth Medici Summer School in Management Studies “the Role of Organizations as Vehicles for Social Change”, Bologna, Italy
  • 2017-2017 Annual conference "Alliances for cities in transition", co-organised by the Institute Society and Organizations Institute of HEC Paris and Association of Alumni
  • 2017-2017 Co-organizer of the 3rd edition of the Society and Organizations Institute Research Day
  • 2017- Organizing Committee of the IXth Medici Summer School in Management Studies, “The organization of Innovation & Entrepreneurship”, Cambridge MIT Sloan School of Management
  • 2016-2016 Organizer of the conference Finance4Good : How can Finance help address the main challenges of our global society?
  • 2016-2016 Co-organizer of the 2nd edition of the Society and Organizations Institute Research Day
  • 2016-2016 Organizing Committee of the VIIIth Medici Summer School in Management Studies, "Organizational Bases of Inequality", Paris
  • 2015-2015 Organizing Committee of the VIIth Medici Summer School in Management Studies "Social Valuation in Organizational, Interpersonal, and Market Contexts", Bologne
  • 2015-2015 Organizer of the Society and Organizations Institute and Golden Conference “Towards a Sustainable Economy”
  • 2015-2015 Co-organizer of the 1st edition of the Society and Organizations Institute Research Day
  • 2014-2014 Organizer of the VIth Medici Summer School, "Deviance and Deviants in Organizational Research", Florence
  • 2013-2013 Organizer of the Vth Medici Summer School in Management Studies, "Internationalization Strategies: old questions, new contexts", Florence
  • 2013- Organizer of the Social Business Conference : 10th anniversary
  • 2011-2011 Co-organizer of the Conference "Coordination within and among Organizations"
  • 2010- Co-organizer of the Conference "Society and Organizations": From routines to movements - and back", HEC Paris, Rouen Business School, Centre de Sociologie des Organisation, Sciences Po
  • 2008-2008 Program Track Director for the Track "Competitive Strategy" at the 2008 SMS Annual International Conference in Cologne
  • 2007-2007 Co-organizer and Academic Committee Chair of EURAM 2007 (European Academy of Management) held in Paris
  • 2007-2007 Co-organizer of Les Echos-INPI-HEC conference on industrial property
  • 2007-2008 Chair of the EURAM Scientific Committee
  • 2007-2007 President of the AIMS Scientific Committee
  • 2004-2004 Organizer of tracks for the EGOS conference
  • 2003-2003 Organizer of tracks for the EGOS conference - "Pushing old legitimacies clown the stairs", Copenhagen
  • 2001-2001 Organizer of tracks for the EGOS conference - "Space as an Organizational Resource", Lyon
  • Co-organizer of "Entretiens de Paris, les Echos, INPI HEC"
  • Awards & honors

    • 2022 Winner with Mark Desjardine (Pennsylvania State University) of the ONE-SIM Outreach Award for their outreach activities based on the paper Disentangling the effects of hedge fund activism on firm financial and social performance (Strategic Management Journal, 2020)
    • 2022 2021 HEC Foundation Award for Best Researcher
    • 2022 Competition winner: Purposeful Leadership at Best Buy,, Outstanding New Case Writer Competition category at The Case Centre Awards and Competitions 2022
    • 2021 Award of the Best Published Article goes to Mark DesJardine Rodolphe Durand, respectively Assistant Professor of Strategy and Sustainability at the Smeal College of Business at Pennsylvania State University and Professor of Strategy and Corporate Policy at HEC Paris with Disentangling the effects of hedge fund activism on firm financial and social performance Published in the Strategic Management Journal, 2020; 41 : 10541082
    • 2019 Doctor honoris causa by the Universite Catholique de Louvain
    • 2019 ARCS Annual Conference : Best Paper Award
    • 2017 HEC Foundation Award of the Best researcher
    • 2016 2016 Best Paper Award, ARCS (Alliance for Research in Corporate Sustainability) for the paper "A Model of Organizational Symbolism: Understanding the Different Shades of Green"
    • 2016 2016 Emerald Citation of Excellence for "Category stretching: Reorienting research on categories in strategy, entrepreneurship, and organization theory", Journal of Management Studies, 50(6), 1100-1123, Durand, R., and Paolella, L. (2013)
    • 2014 Fellow of the Strategic Management Society
    • 2012 Researcher of the Year Award, Fondation HEC
    • 2010 European Academy of Management, Imagination Lab award for Innovative Scholarship
    • 2010 Emerald Management Reviews Citation of Excellence 2010 pour l'article Causation, counterfactuals, and competitive advantage, Strategic Management Journal, 30: 1264-1284
    • 2009 HEC Foundation award for best paper published by HEC faculty member - "Do science and money go together ? The case of French Biotech industry", Strategic Management Journal, 2008, vol. 29, n 12
    • 2006 Fondation HEC, award for best paper published in 2006 by HEC faculty member
    • 2005 R. Scott Award 2005 for best paper (ASA, OOW division, 2005)
    • 1999 Winner of "Best Young French Researcher Award", AIMS
    • 1998 Finalist of "Best Dissertation Award", HEC
    • 1993 Best Research Paper, Ernst and Young Award
    • 1992 HEC Dean Award