Michael G. Pratt

I am an organizational psychologist whose research is problem-centered.  That means my research is motivated by how individuals, groups, and other collectives solve problems of organizing.  My view of problem-centered research is summarized in a Distinguished Scholar talk I gave to the Managerial and Organizational Cognition Division of the Academy of Management. 

Most of the problems I address are problems of connection: connection with work or with the organizations, professions and occupation where one's work occurs. Given these interests, I often draw on theories of organizational identity and identification, sensemaking, meaningful work, culture (especially artifacts), as well as nonconscious processes (e.g., intuition).  Currently, I am most passionate about finding solutions to (identity) polarization, understanding trust repair, and finding and cultivating meaningful work.  

Methodologically, I often utilize qualitative methods.  When I am studying a new group or context, such methods excel at finding out what problems the people I am studying are trying to solve, how they think and feel about these problems, and ideally, how they address them.  I then "translate" these findings to build and extend academic theories that can be applied to problems in other contexts.

My work has appeared in various outlets, including the Academy of Management Annals, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science, Quarterly, Journal of Management Inquiry, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Vocational Behavior, Management Learning, Organizational Research Methods, Organization Science, and in numerous edited books.  I also co-edited the Oxford Handbook of Organizational Identity (with M. Schultz, B. Ashforth, & D. Ravasi, 2016) and Artifacts and Organizations: Beyond Mere Symbolism (with A. Rafaeli, 2006, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates).  

My research has also been showcased in TIME magazine, Discover magazine, the New Yorker, Forbes , MIT Sloan Review, and Harvard Business Review as well as in the Boston Globe, the Chicago Tribune, and the New York Times.  I also made an appearance on Here and Now on NPR, and my research on meaningful work was showcased in the book, The Job.