World’s Best B-School Professors: Jennifer Chatman

Professor Jennifer Chapman of the Haas School of Business

Jennifer Chatman

Haas School of Business

Claim to Fame: Organizational Culture

Age: 52

Discipline: Organizational behavior, management, leadership

Education:

UC Berkeley, PhD, Business

UC Berkeley, BA, Psychology

At Haas Since: 1993

Before Haas: Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, 1987 – 1993

Fun Fact: As a longtime runner, I escorted the Olympic Torch Runners across the Golden Gate Bridge!

If I wasn’t teaching, my dream job would be: Biologist or Veterinarian

Best part of the job: The opportunity to be around so many smart and energetic people – students, colleagues, managers. The vast array of activities such as studying fundamental social psychological phenomena like why people behave in accordance with social norms (e.g., organizational culture).Teaching and working with those really smart students and watching them use concepts they study in my class to successfully maneuver through organizational challenges. Serving on boards and making critical strategic decisions that, at times, significantly change the organization’s course, and advising organizations on how to develop strategically aligned cultures and leaders and ultimately, to perform better.

Worst part of the job: It is hard for me to say no to anything – I am humbled by the fascinating opportunities that come my way and pretty much everything sounds interesting to me.

To be a manager in the 21^st century requires the ability to not only help drive profits and motivate others to meet business goals, it calls for a supernatural ability to manage different personality types. Haas management professor Jennifer Chatman specializes in dissecting what happens when we mix and match people and personalities, then group them together to meet a common business goal. Her research specifically deals with organizational culture, managing diverse professionals, and getting teams on one accord to meet business needs. From Chatman’s studies, organizational leaders are able to glean smart management tips and ways to leverage the always-present differences within a given team.

At Haas, Chatman has is serving her second term as chair of the school’s management of organizations group.

Industry Leaders Say:

“Certain professors leave an indelible mark on their students long after they’ve moved on from their studies. Jennifer Chatman has that impact on all her students. She goes beyond any statistical measurement and improves them as students, leaders and people.” — Marc Badain, CFO, Oakland Raiders

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