John Stephens

The research of John Paul Stephens, PhD, focuses on the roles of individual-level perception and knowledge, and relationship quality in the collective performance of groups and organizations. These research interests fall under the umbrella of positive organizational scholarship, which addresses how our knowledge and behavior in organizations are shaped in inherently positive or virtuous ways. Stephens has researched how individual perception in group work involves aesthetic knowledge of the beauty of the group’s coordinating and motivates constant adaptation to preserve the quality of collective performance. He has also looked at how individual strengths of good character relate to person-job fit, and how strengths-based feedback influences individual leadership development. In his conceptual work, he has looked at how what we feel in our experiences at work matters both for problem-solving at the organizational level and for a sense of dignity in our relationships at work.

Stephens has used a range of methodologies in the course of his research, including ethnographic methods such as interviews, participant-observation, and video analysis; lab-based experiments; and field-based surveys. His research has been published in ADMINISTRATIVE SCIENCE QUARTERLY, ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW, JOURNAL OF APPLIED BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE, JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOLOGY, JOURNAL OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT INQUIRY, JOURNAL OF BUSINESS ETHICS, OXFORD HANDBOOK OF POSITIVE PSYCHOLOGY AND WORK, and the OXFORD HANDBOOK OF POSITIVE ORGANIZATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP. He has also presented his research in papers and symposia at the Annual Meetings of the Academy of Management and other international forums. Currently, he serves as an editorial board member of the ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW and GROUP & ORGANIZATION MANAGEMENT. In 2021, he will serve as a Guest Editor of the ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW's special issue on "The New Normal: Positive Organizational Impact in an Age of Disruption." He is a former executive committee member of the Managerial and Organizational Cognition Division of the Academy of Management. He is Vice-Chair of the Relational Coordination Collaborative Advisory Board, and an Advisory Board member of the Center for Positive Organizations, based at the University of Michigan, and of the startup organization XpandCulture.

Stephens received his master’s and doctoral degrees in organizational psychology from the University of Michigan. Since joining the faculty at Weatherhead School of Management in 2010, Stephens’ teaching focuses on organizational psychology/behavior, positive organizational scholarship, qualitative research methods, and negotiations and bargaining behavior.

In 2020, he was awarded the Outstanding Reviewer Award, GROUP & ORGANIZATION MANAGEMENT, and in 2015 was awarded the Outstanding Reviewer Award, ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT REVIEW. In 2013, he received the Best Paper Award, University of California-Davis Conference on Qualitative Research. Stephens has been an Ethics Table Fellow, Beamer-Schneider Professorship in Ethics, Case Western Reserve University. He is also the recipient of ACES+ ADVANCE Opportunity Grant Award, ACES+ Initiative, a CCI Research Foundation grant to study healthcare worker resilience, a Cleveland Clinic Foundation Grant for research on coordination, and has been nominated for University and Weatherhead teaching and mentoring awards.

Research

Psychology of coordination, performance adaptation, performativity/practice, organizational aesthetics, mindfulness/attention, organizational routines and knowledge, high-quality connections, character strengths & strengths-based feedback

Teaching

Organizational psychology/behavior, Positive organizational scholarship, Qualitative research methods, Negotiations and bargaining behavior

Education

• Ph.D. University of Michigan (2004 — 2009)
• M.S. University of Michigan (2004 — 2006)
• B.S. Morgan State University (2000 — 2004)
• B.S. Morgan State University (2000 — 2004)

Companies

• Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior Case Western Reserve University - Weatherhead School of Management (2016)
• Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior Case Western Reserve University (2010)
• Intermittent Lecturer University of Michigan Ross School of Business (2010 — 2010)
• PhD Candidate in Organizational Psychology University of Michigan (2004 — 2009)
• Graduate Student Instructor University of Michigan (2005 — 2009)
• Research Assistant Johns Hopkins University (2003 — 2004)
• Research Assistant Johns Hopkins University (2003 — 2004)

Selected Publications

• Hinz, J. D., Stephens, J. P., Van Oosten, E. B. (2021).
  Toward a pedagogy of connection: A critical view of being relational in listening Management Learning.
• Irani, E., Niyomyart, A., Dolansky, M., Stephens, J. P., Ganocy, S., Josephson, R., Hickman, R. (2021).
  A pilot randomized clinical trial of a teamwork intervention for heart failure care dyads. Heart & Lung.
• Stephens, J. P. (2021).
  Where mindfulness falls short Harvard Business Review Digital Article.
• Lyddy, C. J., Good, D. J., Bolino, M. C., Thompson, P. S., Stephens, J. P. (2021). In Talya Bauer (Ed.),
  The Costs of Mindfulness at Work: The Moderating Role of Mindfulness in Surface Acting, Self-Control Depletion, and Performance Outcomes Journal of Applied Psychology.
• Stephens, J. P. (2021). In Michael G. Pratt (Ed.),
  How the show goes on: Using the aesthetic experience of collective performance to adapt while coordinating (vol. 66, issue 1, pp. 1-41). Administrative Science Quarterly.
• Stephens, J. P. (2020). In Edward Powley, Brianna Barker Caza & Arran Caza (Ed.),
  From parts to whole: A place for individual tacit knowledge in organizational adaptability and resilience Edward Elgar.
• Thomas*, N., Sugiyama*, K., Rochford*, K., Stephens*, J., Kanov, J. (2018). In Jody Hoffer Gittell (Ed.),
  Experiential organizing: Pursuing relational and bureaucratic goals through symbolically- and experientially-oriented work. (vol. 43, issue 4, pp. 749-771). Academy of Management Review.
• Stephens, J. P., Carmeli, A. (2017). In Sven Hemlin & Michael Mumford (Ed.),
  Relational leadership and creativity: The effects of respectful engagement and caring on meaningfulness and creative work involvement. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar.
• Stephens, J. P., Carmeli, A. (2016).
  The positive effect of expressing negative emotions on knowledge creation capability and performance of project teams (vol. 34, issue 5, pp. 862-873). International Journal of Project Management.
• Stephens, J. P., Lyddy, C. J. (2016). In Ronald H. Humphrey (Ed.),
  Operationalizing heedful interrelating: How attending, responding, and feeling comprise coordinating and predict performance in self-managing teams. (vol. 7, ). Lausanne: Frontiers in Psychology.
• Stephens, J. P., Kanov, J. (2016). In Nicola Pless and Delia Mannen (Ed.),
  Stories as artworks: Giving form to dignity in connections at work New York, N.Y.: Journal of Business Ethics.
• Stephens, J. P. (2016). In Kimberly Elsbach & Beth Bechky (Ed.),
  Adapting for the sake of beauty: The role of leaders, levels, and learning in the coordination of a choral group (vol. 3, ). Information Age Publishing.
• Stephens, J. P., Boland, B. J. (2015). In Nelson Phillips (Ed.),
  The aesthetic knowledge problem of problem-solving with design thinking (vol. 24, issue 3, pp. 219-232). London: Journal of Management Inquiry.
• Stephens, J. P. (2014). In Donna Ladkin & Steven S. Taylor (Ed.),
  Leading a group through feeling: Teaching by the movement of learning (vol. 6, pp. 21). Bingley: Emerald Group Publishing Ltd..
• Stephens, J. P., Carmeli, A. (2014).
  Knowledge creation capability and project team performance: The importance of emotional carrying capacity. Academy of Management.
• Stephens, J. P., Heaphy, E., Carmeli, A., Spreitzer, G., Dutton, J. (2013). In Ron Fry & David Bright (Ed.),
  Relationship quality and virtuousness: Emotional carrying capacity as a source of individual and team resilience (vol. 49, issue 1, pp. 13-41). Arlington, VA: Journal of Applied Behavioral Science.
• Stephens, J. P., Heaphy, E. D., Dutton, J. E. (2011). In Kim Cameron & Gretchen Spreitzer (Ed.),
  High-Quality Connections (pp. 385-399). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
• Stephens, J. P. (2011). In Arne Carlsen & Jane Dutton (Ed.),
  Making research sing: Sharing, building, and feeling knowledge in conversation. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School Press.
• Spreitzer, G. M., Stephens, J. P., Sweetman, D. (2009).
  The Reflected Best Self field experiment with adolescent leaders: Exploring the psychological resources associated with feedback source and valence (vol. 4, issue 5, pp. 331-348). Journal of Positive Psychology.
• Peterson, C., Stephens, J. P., Lee, F., Park, N., Seligman, M. E. (2009). In P.A. Linley, S. Harrington, & N. Garcea (Ed.),
  Strengths of character and work (pp. 221-231). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Awards

• Editorial Board Outstanding Reviewer Award, Group & Organization Management, . (2020).
• Nominee, Undergraduate Teaching Award, Weatherhead School of Management. (2018).
• MOC Outstanding Service Award, Managerial and Organizational Cognition Division, Academy of Management. (2017).
• Outstanding Reviewer Award, Managerial and Organizational Cognition Division, Academy of Management. (2017).
• Outstanding Reviewer Award, Managerial and Organizational Cognition Division, Academy of Management. (2016).
• Nominee, Bruce Jackson, MD Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Mentoring, Case Western Reserve University. (2016).
• Nominee, John S. Diekhoff Award for Distinguished Graduate Student Teaching, Graduate Student Senate of Case Western Reserve University. (2016).
• Editorial Board Outstanding Reviewer Award, Academy of Management Review. (2015).
• Outstanding Reviewer Award, Managerial and Cognition Division & Organizational Behavior Division - Academy of Management. (2015).
• Ethics Table Fellow, Beamer-Schneider Professorship in Ethics, CWRU. (2015).
• Nominee, John S. Diekhoff Award for Distinguished Graduate Student Mentoring, Graduate Student Senate of Case Western Reserve University. (2014).
• Best Paper, University of California-Davis Conference on Qualitative Research. (2013).
• ACES+ ADVANCE Opportunity Grant Award, ACES+ Initiative. (2012).