Beckwith Professor of Management Studies
BS (Orta Dogu Teknik Universitesi), MBA, PhD (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
My research focuses on the intersections of strategy formulation and renewal, executive team competencies, and board governance effectiveness. I have conducted research on companies in the medical devices industry and food sector, as well as on professional service firms and entrepreneurial firms. Lately I have been studying sustainable food systems (entry into organic food market) and the global food waste problem. I served as a US Fulbright Research Scholar, an Associate Editor of Journal of Management, and participate in Cambridge Global Food Security Research Centre.
Professional experience
Yasemin Y Kor is Beckwith Professor of Management Studies at Cambridge Judge Business School. She received her MBA and PhD in Business Administration from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Professor Kor’s research focuses on the intersections of strategy formulation and renewal, top management teams, and corporate governance. She studies strategy as a configuration of resources and capabilities that are uniquely assembled to achieve a purpose. In her research, she examines how organisations differ in ways in which they manage and govern their resources and capabilities, and how they renew/revitalise their strategies. She has done industry-based research on firms in medical devices and biotechnology industries, professional service firms, food and beverage industry (conventional/organic food), and international social ventures. Lately, she has been doing research on sustainable food systems such as the pursuit of certified organic food market by large food companies (via acquisitions and greenfield entry), and reduction of the global food waste problem along the food supply chain.
Professor Kor is a former US Fulbright Research Scholar and served as an Associate Editor of Journal of Management, a premier research journal. She serves on the editorial boards of Strategic Management Journal and Strategic Organization. She served as an elected member of the Business Policy and Strategy Division Research Committee at the Academy of Management, and as a Representative at Large for the Corporate Strategy IG at the Strategic Management Society. She is part of the Global Food Security Interdisciplinary Research Centre at the University of Cambridge and serves on its Steering Committee. She is also the Academic Director of the Executive Education Programme on Leading Strategic Change and Renewal which attracted professionals and executives from a wide range of businesses, government, and non-profit sector.
Previous appointments
Prior to joining the School as the Beckwith Chair, Yasemin Y Kor was an Associate Professor of Management and Moore Research Fellow at the Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina.
Publications
Selected publications
- Ma, S., Kor, Y.Y. and Seidl, D. (2022) “Top management team role structure: a vantage point for advancing upper echelons research.” Strategic Management Journal, 43(8): O1-O28 (DOI: 10.1002/smj.3368)
- Nasirov, S., Li, Q.C. and Kor, Y.Y. (2021) “Converting technological inventions into new products: the role of CEO human capital.” Journal of Product Innovation Management, 38(5): 522-547 (DOI: 10.1111/jpim.12601)
- Kor, Y.Y., Ma, S. and Seidl, D. (2020) “Opportunities and pitfalls of advice seeking by CEOs and executives.” Harvard Business Review China, August: 132-139
- Tan, D., Su, W., Mahoney, J.T. and Kor, Y. (2020) “A review of research on the growth of multinational enterprises: a Penrosean lens.” Journal of International Business Studies, 51: 498-537 (DOI: 10.1057/s41267-020-00328-8)
- Ma, S., Kor, Y.Y. and Seidl, D. (2020) “CEO advice seeking: an integrative framework and future research agenda.” Journal of Management, 46(6): 771–805 (DOI: 10.1177/0149206319885430)
- Kor, Y.Y., Mahoney, J.T., Siemsen, E. and Tan, D. (2016) “Penrose’s The theory of the growth of the firm: an exemplar of engaged scholarship.” Production and Operations Management, 25(10): 1727-1744 (DOI: 10.1111/poms.12572)
Journal articles
- Kor, Y., Mahoney, J.T. and Tan, D. (2024) “Edith Penrose’s under-explored insights in strategic management and international business research.” Strategic Management Review (forthcoming)
- Kor, Y. and Tan, D. (2024) “Interactive effects of CEO’s firm-specific experience and versatile experiences on pursuit of new growth opportunity.” Journal of Management (DOI: 10.1177/01492063231200820) (published online Oct 2023)
- Ma, S., Kor, Y.Y. and Seidl, D. (2022) “Top management team role structure: a vantage point for advancing upper echelons research.” Strategic Management Journal, 43(8): O1-O28 (DOI: 10.1002/smj.3368)
- Nasirov, S., Li, Q.C. and Kor, Y.Y. (2021) “Converting technological inventions into new products: the role of CEO human capital.” Journal of Product Innovation Management, 38(5): 522-547 (DOI: 10.1111/jpim.12601)
- Kor, Y.Y., Ma, S. and Seidl, D. (2020) “Opportunities and pitfalls of advice seeking by CEOs and executives.” Harvard Business Review China, August: 132-139
- Ma, S., Kor, Y.Y. and Seidl, D. (2020) “CEO advice seeking: an integrative framework and future research agenda.” Journal of Management, 46(6): 771–805 (DOI: 10.1177/0149206319885430)
- Tan, D., Su, W., Mahoney, J.T. and Kor, Y. (2020) “A review of research on the growth of multinational enterprises: a Penrosean lens.” Journal of International Business Studies, 51: 498-537 (DOI: 10.1057/s41267-020-00328-8)
- Pettus, M.L., Kor, Y.Y., Mahoney, J.T. and Michael, S.C. (2018) “Sequencing and timing of strategic responses after industry disruption: evidence from post-deregulation competition in the US railroad industry.” Strategic Organization, 16(4): 373-400 (DOI: 10.1177/1476127017743502)
- Chen, P.-L., Kor, Y., Mahoney, J.T. and Tan, D. (2017) “Pre-market-entry experience and post-market-entry learning of the board of directors: implications for post-entry performance.” Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 11(4): 441–463 (DOI: 10.1002/sej.1251)
- Kor, Y.Y., Prabhu, J. and Esposito, M. (2017) “How large food retailers can help solve the food waste crisis.” Harvard Business Review, 19 December 2017
- Kor, Y.Y., Mahoney, J.T., Siemsen, E. and Tan, D. (2016) “Penrose’s The theory of the growth of the firm: an exemplar of engaged scholarship.” Production and Operations Management, 25(10): 1727-1744 (DOI: 10.1111/poms.12572)
- Mahoney, J.T. and Kor Y.Y. (2015) “Combining capability and governance perspectives to advance human capital research.” Academy of Management Perspectives, 29(3): 296-308 (DOI: 10.5465/amp.2014.0151)
- Kor, Y.Y., Mahoney, J.T., and Michael, S.C. (2007) “Resources, capabilities, and entrepreneurial perceptions.” Journal of Management Studies, 44(7): 1185-1210 (DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00727.x)
- Sundaramurthy, C., Pukthuanthong, K. and Kor, Y. (2014) “Positive and negative synergies between the CEO’s and the corporate board’s human and social capital: a study of biotechnology firms.” Strategic Management Journal, 35(6): 845-868 (DOI: 10.1002/smj.2137)
- Harris, D. and Kor, Y. (2013) “Role of human capital in scaling social entrepreneurship.” Journal of Management for Global Sustainability, 1(2): 163-172 (DOI: 10.13185/JM2013.01210)
- Kor, Y.Y. and Mesko, A. (2013) “Dynamic managerial capabilities: configuration and orchestration of top executives’ capabilities and the firm’s dominant logic.” Strategic Management Journal, 34(2): 233-244 (DOI: 10.1002/smj.2000)
- Kor, Y.Y. and Sundaramurthy, C. (2009) “Experience-based human capital and social capital of outside directors.” Journal of Management, 35(4): 981-1006 (DOI: 10.1177/0149206308321551)
- Pettus, M.L., Kor, Y.Y. and Mahoney, J.T. (2009) “A theory of change in turbulent environments: the sequencing of dynamic capabilities following industry deregulation.” International Journal of Strategic Change Management, 1(3): 186-212 (DOI: 10.1504/IJSCM.2009.024509)
- Foss, N.J., Klein, P.G., Kor, Y.Y., and Mahoney, J.T. (2008) “Entrepreneurship, subjectivism, and the resource-based view: towards a new synthesis.” Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 2(1): 73-94 (DOI: 10.1002/sej.41)
- Kor, Y.Y. and Misangyi, V.F. (2008) “Outside directors’ industry-specific experience and firms’ liability of newness.” Strategic Management Journal, 29(12): 1345-1355 (DOI: 10.1002/smj.709)
- Kor, Y.Y., Mahoney, J.T., and Michael, S.C. (2007) “Resources, capabilities, and entrepreneurial perceptions.”Journal of Management Studies, 44(7): 1185-1210 (DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00727.x)
- Kor, Y.Y. (2006) “Direct and interaction effects of top management team and board compositions on R&D investment strategy.” Strategic Management Journal, 27(11): 1081-1099 (DOI: 10.1002/smj.554)
- Kor Y.Y. and Leblebici, H. (2005) “How do interdependencies among human-capital deployment, development, and diversification strategies affect firms’ financial performance?” Strategic Management Journal, 26(10): 967-985 (DOI: 10.1002/smj.485)
- Kor, Y.Y. and Mahoney, J.T. (2005) “How dynamics, management, and governance of resource deployments influence firm-level performance.” Strategic Management Journal, 26(5): 489-496 (DOI: 10.1002/smj.459)
- Kor, Y.Y. and Mahoney, J.T. (2004) “Edith Penrose’s (1959) Contributions to the resource-based view of strategic management.” Journal of Management Studies, 41(1): 183-191 (DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2004.00427.x)
- Kor, Y.Y. (2003) “Experience-based top management team competence and sustained growth.” Organization Science, 14(6): 707-719
- Kor, Y.Y. and Mahoney, J.T. (2000) “Penrose’s resource-based approach: the process and product of research creativity.” Journal of Management Studies, 37(1): 109-139
Awards and honours
- Emerald Citation of Excellence Award (for the paper “Dynamic managerial capabilities: configuration and orchestration of the top executives’ capabilities and the firm’s dominant logic” by Kor and Mesko (2013), Strategic Management Journal), 2016
- Elected Research Committee Member, Academy of Management, Business Policy and Strategy Division – Selecting BPS Dissertation Competition judge, 2015-present
- Darla Moore Research Fellow, 2014-2015
- US Fulbright Research Scholar, Fall 2013
- Elected Representative-at-Large, Strategic Management Society – Corporate Strategy Interest Group, 2009-2011
- Outstanding Reviewer Award, Academy of Management, BPS Division, 1999, 2004, 2007
- Outstanding Reviewer Award, Midwest Academy of Management, 1999
News and insights
Internal candidates with versatile management experience are more likely to pursue new growth opportunities when promoted to CEO than hiring outside the firm, finds new study co-authored by Professor Yasemin Kor of Cambridge Judge Business School.
Insight
Formal and informal roles
Informal roles in top management teams can complement the formal structure but also cause conflict, says new review study co-authored by Professor Yasemin Kor of Cambridge Judge Business School.
aculty and other experts at Cambridge Judge Business School can offer expert opinion on various issues that may arise at the COP26 climate-change summit in Glasgow. If you would like to contact any of these faculty members, please email press-publicity@jbs.cam.ac.uk
Media coverage
The Conversation | 29 June 2021
The UK wastes millions of tonnes of food every year: here’s how we can change that
Yasemin Kor, Beckwith Professor of Management Studies at Cambridge Judge Business School, discusses food wastage problem in the UK and how we can change that.
Cambridge Network | 16 October 2020
Study examines cultural fit in big pharma integration
“I thought that such an empirical study was a great idea: most companies ignore this issue because they don’t know how to approach it scientifically as intangibles are hard to quantify,” says Professor Kor, Beckwith Professor of Management Studies at Cambridge Judge. “It’s better to run a study to diagnose the cultural attributes in both companies, map these, and see the diverging and converging points, rather than to make superficial assumptions about the fit.”
Harvard Business Review (China) | 14 August 2020
Staff more likely to back changes implemented by middle management
A study co-authored by Yasemin Kor, Beckwith Professor of Management Studies at Cambridge Judge Business School, on how CEOs receive advice regarding their businesses is featured in the Chinese-language edition of Harvard Business Review. The study is based on a review of 65 studies in high-impact academic journals or which have been heavily cited. (subs)
Cambridge Independent, 28 February 2020
From Hollywood ‘logic’ to ‘highly institutionalised myths’ of the workplace
Management Today, 29 January 2020
Why your turnaround is failing
The Economic Times, 16 January 2020
How CEOs can seek advice: Avoid internal advisors, surround themselves with diverse ideas
The Conversation, 29 April 2019
Shopping trends mean blocking the big Sainsbury’s-Asda merger may not protect customers
IEDP Developing Leaders, 21 February 2018
Lessons in strategic change
The Future Leadership Institute, 28 December 2017
Reducing food waste
Harvard Business Review, 19 December 2017
How large food retailers can help solve the food waste crisis
Cambridge Business Magazine, 1 August 2017
Are you experienced?
Cambridge Business Magazine, 1 October 2016
Diverse boards ask the best questions