Sarah Kovoor-Misra is currently a Professor of Management at the Business School. She was President of the Western Academy of Management from 2018-19 and is also on the international advisory board of the Eastern Academy of Management International. She has served as a track chair for their international conferences that were held in India, Spain, Peru, Australia, and Croatia. Sarah is a past director of the MBA program and past discipline director for Management faculty and programs at the Business School.

Education

PhD, University of Southern California

Areas of expertise

Dr. Sarah Kovoor-Misra is internationally recognized for her scholarship in the field of crisis management and change. She has published a number of journal articles on these topics, and has also published a single-authored book titled ‘Crisis Management: Resilience and Change (2020), Sage Publications. Dr. Kovoor-Misra has consulted with some leading organizations in the private and public sectors on these issues, and has been quoted in The Korn Ferry Institute Briefings on Talent & Leadership, and multiple times in Ignites (Financial Times publication).  She was also featured as a crisis management expert in an article in Harvard Business Review, and the corporate publication of Hoganas Sweden AB.  In addition, because of her expertise, Dr. Kovoor-Misra was invited to speak at the Council on Corporate Communications Strategy meeting organized by the Conference Board and Coors-Molson.  

Publications

Kovoor-Misra, S., Gopalakrishnan, S. & Haisu, Z. (2021) Staying grounded: Identification and perceived control during crises. Journal of Organizational Change Management. 34 (2) 366-384  

Gopalakrishnan, S. & Kovoor-Misra, S. (2021) Understanding the Covid-19 pandemic through the lens of organizational innovation. Business Research Quarterly, 24 (3) 224–232  

Kovoor-Misra, S. (2020). Crisis Management: Resilience & Change. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc. (Sage is ranked as an A academic book publisher – see http://www.sense.nl/organisation/documentation)

Kovoor-Misra, S. (2020). The impetus for resilience and change in business education and management research. Journal of Management Inquiry 29 (2):128–133. (Journal is ranked A in the 2016 Australian Business Deans’ Journal Ranking)

Kovoor-Misra, S. (2020). The transformative professor: Adapting and fostering positive change. Journal of Management Inquiry 29(2):154–158. (Journal is ranked A in the 2016 Australian Business Deans’ Journal Ranking)

Kovoor-Misra, S. & Gopalakrishnan, S. (2016), Culpable leaders, trust, emotional exhaustion, and identification during a crisis. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 37 (8): 1100-1116.

Kovoor-Misra, S & Olk, P. (2015). Leader culpability, hopelessness, and learning during organizational crises. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 36 (8): 990-1011.

Kovoor-Misra, S. (2012). Academic decathletes: Insights from the metaphor and an exemplar. Journal of Management Inquiry, 21(3): 279-286. (Journal is ranked A in the 2016 Australian Business Deans’ Journal Ranking)

Kovoor-Misra, S. & Smith, M. (2011). Artifacts, identification and support for change after an acquisition. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 32 (6):584-604. (This article received the Emerald Literati network outstanding paper award for the best paper published in the journal in 2011).

Kovoor-Misra, S. (2009). Understanding perceived organizational identity during crisis and change: A threat/opportunity framework. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 22 (5): 494-510.

Kovoor-Misra, S. & Smith, M. (2008). In the aftermath of an acquisition: Triggers and effects on perceived organizational identity. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 44 (4):422-444.(Journal is ranked as a top tier management journal - see Judge et al., 2007, Academy of Management Journal,50, 3: 491-506).

Kovoor-Misra, S. & Misra, M. (2007). Understanding and managing crises in an online world. In, International Handbook of Organizational Crisis Management. (Eds.) C.M. Pearson, C. Roux-Dufort, & J.A. Clair, Pg. 85-103. Sage Publications.

Nathan, M, & Kovoor-Misra, S. (2002). No pain, yet gain: Vicarious organizational learning from crises in an inter-organizational field. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 38 (2): 245-266. (Journal is ranked as a top tier management journal – see Gomez-Mejia and Balkan, 1992, Academy of Management Journal, 35: 921-955).

Kovoor-Misra, S. (2002). Boxed-in: Top managers’ propensities during crisis issue diagnosis. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, (69): 803-817.(Journal is ranked A in the 2016 Australian Business Deans’ Journal Ranking)

Kovoor-Misra, S, Clair, J.A. & Bettenhausen, K.L. (2001). Clarifying the attributes of organizational crises. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 67: 77-91. (Journal is ranked A in the 2016 Australian Business Deans’ Journal Ranking)

Kovoor-Misra, S. & Nathan, M. (2000). Timing is everything: The optimal time to learn from crises. Review of Business, 21 (3): 31-36.

Kovoor-Misra, S, Zammuto, R., & Mitroff.I.I. (2000). Crisis preparation in organizations: Prescription versus reality. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 63 (1): 43-62. (Journal is ranked A in the 2016 Australian Business Deans’ Journal Ranking)

Kovoor-Misra, S. & Nathan, M. (1999). Crisis causation re-framed. Central Business Review, 18 (2):29-35.

Fiol, M.C. & Kovoor-Misra, S. (1997). Two-way mirroring: Identity and reputation when things go wrong. Corporate Reputation Review, Summer/Fall: 147-151

Pearson, C., Clair, J., Kovoor-Misra, S. & Mitroff, I.I. (1997). Managing the unthinkable. Organizational Dynamics, Autumn: 51-64. (Journal is ranked A in the 2016 Australian Business Deans’ Journal Ranking)

Kovoor-Misra, S. (1996). Moving towards crisis preparedness: Factors that motivate organizations. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 53: 169-183. (Journal is ranked A in the 2016 Australian Business Deans’ Journal Ranking)

Kovoor-Misra, S. & Mitroff, I.I. (1996). The effects of emotion & politics on field research on organizational crises. Industrial & Environmental Crisis Quarterly (renamed Organization & Environment), 9 (4): 543-563. (Journal is ranked # 4 out of 217 in Management based on the 2-year impact factor of 8.50 in the Journal Citation Reports)

Kovoor-Misra, S. (1995). A multidimensional approach to crisis preparation for technical organizations: Some critical factors. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 48:143-160. (Journal is ranked A in the 2016 Australian Business Deans’ Journal Ranking) 

 Siegel, G., Clayton, R., & Kovoor, S. 1990. Modeling Interorganizational Effectiveness. Public Productivity & Management Review, Spring: 215-222. (This article was selected as one of the best papers published in the journal during 1985-93). (The journal is ranked # 6 among Public Administration journals, and # 4 among Public Organization Studies journals.  (See Forrester and Watson (1994), Public Administration Review, 54, 5: 474-482).