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Tam­mar Zil­ber

Professor

Subjects
Organisation

Primary research areas

Institutional theory: Organizing in context

I explore how individuals, groups, and organizations come together to create a shared reality that they experience as given, and how they maintain or change this social world. I use Institutional Theory to understand how broad social meanings influence organizations and are influenced by them. For example, how a rape crisis center operates in the context of feminist and therapeutic worldviews; how Israeli hi-tech coped with the 2000s crisis, in the context of modernism, globalization and nationalism; CEO compensation in the USA and how it relates to capitalism; academic research and how it relates to conceptions of science; and organizing for the end of life and how peoples’ death is shaped by cultural beliefs about the “good life” and “good death”..

Qualitative research

My studies are based on qualitative methodologies such as ethnography, narrative, and discourse analysis; and span various levels of analysis, including the individual, organization, field, and society. I am interested in how theorization and methodology are interrelated.

There is nothing more practical than a good theory

I believe in the role of scientific research to create new knowledge that helps us understand, intervene and change reality. To that end, I strive to disseminate my research through academic publications, as well as to the wider public.  

I published the books Narrative Research: Reading, Analysis, and Interpretation (Sage) and Peace Entrepreneurs and Social Entrepreneurship: Life Stories from Israel and Palestine (Edward Elgar), and my work has been published in journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Organization Studies, Organization Science, Journal of Management Inquiry, and Research in the Sociology of Organizations. 
Given the significance of publishing for the accumulation of knowledge, I served as an Associate Editor at the Academy of Management Journal and on the EGOS board. As of September 2023, she is the co-Editor-in-Chief of Organization Studies. 

Outside activities

Co-Editor-in-Chief, Organization Studies, 2023–present

I serve as the co-Editor-in-Chief of Organization Studies, published by EGOS and Sage.
Organization Studies