Samuel Bacharach

Samuel Bacharach is the McKelvey-Grant Professor of Labor Management and the Director of the Smithers Institute. He received his BS in economics from NYU. His MS and Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin.

Upon joining the Cornell faculty in 1974, he spent most of his time working on negotiation and organizational politics, publishing numerous articles and two volumes (Power and Politics in Organizations and Bargaining: Power, Tactics, and Outcome, both with Edward J. Lawler). In the 1980s he continued working on negotiation, but shifted emphasis to the study of complex organizations, with the empirical referent being schools. Besides his academic articles, he published a number of books on school management and leadership, such as Tangled Hierarchies (with Joseph Shedd) and Education Reform: Making Sense of It All.

Research Statement

For the last ten years, working in New York City, Professor Bacharach has focused on bridging theory and practice. Integrating his earlier work on politics, negotiation, and complex organizations into his studies of the workplace, he has re-examined the role of leadership. Working closely with practitioners from various corporations and non-profits and conducting workshops, training sessions, and open discussions, he has developed his own leadership perspective, emphasizing the skills of execution. This work culminated with the publication of Get Them on Your Side: Win Support, Convert Skeptics, and Get Results (2005), Keep Them on Your Side: Leading and Managing for Momentum (2006), and The Agenda Mover: When Your Good Idea is Not Enough (2016). His newest book on the topic of the clunky organization will be published in 2018. He has created leadership workshops and developed a series of online courses based on this material. He is a regular columnist at Inc.com and has been a keynote speaker at many national meetings and conferences, including Cornell-sponsored events.

In the late 1980s, Professor Bacharach took over the directorship of the Smithers Institute. In this role, he launched a number of empirical studies such as: blue-collar workers in New York City, a study of New York City firefighters after 9/11, a study of transport workers in New York City, and a ten-year longitudinal study of retired workers. Currently he is principal investigator on a NIH-funded study that is examining changes in drinking behavior of graduating seniors into their first few years in the full-time workforce. With his colleagues Peter Bamberger and William Sonnenstuhl he has published numerous articles on blue-collar workers, with emphasis on substance abuse in the workplace. His collaboration with Bamberger and Sonnenstuhl resulted in two books: Member Assistance Programs: Labor''s Role in the Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse (1994) and Mutual Aid and Union Renewal: Cycles of Logics of Action (2001). He is coauthor with Bamberger of the volume, Retirement Hidden Epidemic: The Complex Link Between Aging, Work Disengagement and Substance Misuse—and What To Do About It (2014). His publications with his Smithers colleagues have appeared in journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, and Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.

Publications

Journal Articles

• Geisner Irene, Bamberger Peter, J Koopmann, Mo Wang, Mary E. Larimer, Inbal Nahum-Shani, Samuel Bacharach. . When the Party Continues: Impulsivity and the Effect of Employment ofn Young Adults'' Post-college Alcohol Use, Addictive Behaviors . 77:114-120.
• Peter Bamberger, Jaclyn Koopmann, Inbal Nahum-Shani, Mo Wang, Mary Larimer, Irene Geisner, Samuel Bacharach. . Does College Alcohol Consumption Impact Employment upon Graduation? Findings from a Prospective Study, Journal of Applied Psychology . (PubMed:28836800) (PubMed Central:10.1037/apl0000244)
• Dikla Segel-Karpas, Peter Bamberger, Samuel Bacharach. 2015. The Prevalence and Distribution of Aging-Friendly Human Resource Practices., International Journal of Aging . 81((1-2)):120-148. (PubMed Central:26663609)
• Songqi Liu, Mo Wang, Peter Bamberger, Junqi Shi, Samuel Bacharach. 2015. The Dark Side of Socialization: A Longitudinal Investigation of Newcomer Alcohol Use, Academy of Management Journal . 58(2):334-355. (DOI:http://amj.aom.org/content/early/2014/03/26/amj.2013.0239.short?cited-by=yes&legid=amj;amj.2013.0239v1)
• Peter A Bamberger, Samuel Bacharach. 2014. Predicting Retirement Upon Eligibility: An Embeddedness Perspective, Human Resource Management Journal (US) . 53(1):1-22. (DOI:10.1002/hrm.21548)
• Segel Dikla, Bamberger Peter, Samuel Bacharach. 2013. Income decline and retirement wellbeing: The moderating rold of attachment, Psychology and Aging . 28(4):1098-1107. (DOI:10.1037/a0034672) (PubMed Central:24364411)
• Elena Gitter, Peter A Bamberger, Samuel Bacharach. 2012. Workforce Disengagement Stressors and Retiree Alcohol Misuse: The Mediating Effects of Sleep Problems and the Moderating Effects of Gender, Human Relations . 65(6):705–728.
• Dana Vashdi, Peter A Bamberger, Samuel Bacharach. 2012. The effects of job control and situational severity on the timing of help-seeking, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology . 17(2):206-219. (DOI:10.1037/a0026858)
• Inbal Nahun-Shani, Peter A Bamberger, Samuel Bacharach. 2011. Social support and wellbeing among blue-collar workers: The conditioning effects of perceived patterns of supportive exchange, Journal of Health and Social Behavior .
• Samuel Bacharach, Peter A Bamberger, Michal Biron. 2010. Alcohol consumption and workplace absenteeism: The moderating effect of social support, Journal of Applied Psychology . 95(2):334-348. (PubMed:20230073)
• Samuel Bacharach, Peter A Bamberger, William Sonnenstuhl, Dana R Vashdi. 2008. Retirement and drug abuse: The conditioning role of age and retirement trajectory, Addictive Behaviors . 33:1610-1614.
• Samuel Bacharach, P Bamberger, D Vashdi, William Sonnenstuhl. 2008. Aging and drinking problems among mature adults: The moderating effects of positive alcohol expectanceies and workforce disengagement, Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs . 69(1):151-159. (PubMed:18080075)
• Samuel Bacharach, P Bamberger, E Doveh. 2008. Firefighters, critical incidents, and drinking to cope: and drinking behavior: The adaquacy of unit-level performance resources as a source of vulnerability and protection, Journal of Applied Psychology . 93(1):155-169.
• Samuel Bacharach, Peter A Bamberger, Michal Biron, Mickey Horowitz-Rozen. 2008. Perceived agency in retirement on retiree drinking behavior: The moderating effects of pre-retirement job satisfaction, Journal of Vocational Behavior . 73(3):376-386. (PubMed:19956364)
• Samuel Bacharach, Peter A Bamberger, Dana R Vashdi, William Sonnenstuhl. 2008. Aging and drinking problems among mature adults: The moderating effects of positive alcohol expectancies and workforce disengagement, Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs . 69(1):151-159.
• Samuel Bacharach, Peter A Bamberger. 2007. 9-11 and NYC firefighters'' post-hoc union support and control climates: A context theory of the consequences of involvement in traumatic work-related events, Academy of Management Journal . 50(4):849-866.
• Samuel Bacharach, Peter A Bamberger, Valerie M McKinney. 2007. Harassing under the influence: Male drinking norms and behaviors and the gender harassment of female co-workers, Journal of Occupational Health Psychology . 12:232-250.
• Samuel Bacharach, Peter A Bamberger, Ayala Cohen, Etti Doveh. 2007. Retirement, social support and drinking behavior: A cohort analysis of males with a baseline history of problem drinking, Journal of Drug Issues . 37(3):525-548.
• Peter A Bamberger, Samuel Bacharach. 2006. Abusive supervision and subordinate problem drinking: Resistance, distress and the moderating effect of personality, Human Relations . 59(6):723-752.
• Samuel Bacharach, Peter A Bamberger, Dana R Vashdi. 2005. Diversity and homophily at work: Supportive relations among white and African-American peers, Academy of Management Journal . 48(4):619-644.
• Samuel Bacharach, Peter A Bamberger. 2004. Diversity and the union: The effect of demographic dissimilarity on members'' union attachment, Group and Organization Management . 29(3):385-418.
• Samuel Bacharach, Peter A Bamberger. 2004. The power of labor to grieve: The impact of the workplace, labor market, and power-dependence on employee grievance filing, Industrial and Labor Relations Review . 57(4):518-539.
• Samuel Bacharach, Peter A Bamberger, William Sonnenstuhl. 2002. Driven to drink: Managerial control, work-related risk factors and employee drinking behavior, Academy of Management Journal . 45(4):637-658.

Books

• Peter Bamberger, Samuel Bacharach, . 2014. Retirement and the Hidden Epidemic: The Complex Link between Aging , Work Disengagement, and Substance Misuse--and What To Do About It. New York, NY, United States: Oxford University Press, 2014. (Accepted)
• Samuel Bacharach, Peter A Bamberger, William Sonnenstuhl. 2001. Mutual Aid in Union Renewal: Cycles of Logics of Action. Ithaca, NY, United States: Cornell University Press, 2001. (200)
• Samuel Bacharach, Peter A Bamberger, William Sonnenstuhl. 1994. Member Assistance Programs: Labor''s Role in the Prevention and Treatment of Substance Abuse. Ithaca, NY, United States: Cornell University Press, 1994.
• Samuel Bacharach, Pamela Tolbert. 1992. Research in the Sociology of Organizations: Organizational Demography and Current Research Issues. Greenwich CT, United States: JAI Press, 1992.
• Samuel Bacharach, Joseph Shedd. 1991. Tangled: Hierarchies: Teachers as Professionals and the Management of Schools. San Francisco, CA, United States: Jossey-Bass, 1991.
• Samuel Bacharach, Edward Lawler. 1981. Bargaining Power, Tactics and Outcomes. San Francisco, CA, United States: Jossey-Bass, 1981. (215)
• Samuel Bacharach, Edward Lawler. 1980. Power and Politics in Organizations. San Francisco, CA, United States: Jossey-Bass, 1980. (249)

Book Chapters

• Edward Lawler, Samuel Bacharach. 1998. Political alignments in organizations: contextualization, mobilization and coordination. Thousand Oaks CA, United States: Sage Publications, 1998. Roderick Kramer, Margaret Neale.