Research

Dr. Driver has published 24 journal articles most of them in top, peer-reviewed journals in her field of management and organization studies such as Organization Studies, Human Relations, Organization, Journal of Management Inquiry, Management Learning, Journal of Business Ethics, and the Journal of Organizational Change Management. Dr. Driver's work has been and continues to be cited extensively and has been recognized for being cutting-edge and trendsetting. Dr. Driver also serves in numerous roles of academic leadership in her field. She is on three editorial boards of leading journals, a reviewer for a dozen top journals and conferences as well as a guest editor for a number of special issues. Dr. Driver's current research projects focus on leadership and processes of learning in organizations.

Refereed (Blind Peer-Reviewed) 

Journal Articles

– single authorship except ** (Please note each journal has been categorized as A, B, or C according to journal quality and acceptance rates published in Cabell’s Directory with 0-20% being A, 20-40% being B and 40-90% being C):

“Encountering the Arugula Leaf: The Failure of the Imaginary and Its Implications for Research on Identity in Organizations” by Michaela Driver (Basic research developing a meta-critique of identity research and radically new alternatives for the theory and practice of identity based on a psychoanalytic understanding of subjectivity) in Organization, 2009, Volume 16, Issue 4, 487-504 (A ranking)

“Struggling with Lack: A Lacanian Perspective on Organizational Identity” by Michaela Driver (Basic research developing a psychoanalytic perspective on organizational identity that renders transparent previously under-explored dynamics and opens up new avenues for the theory and practice of organizational identity) in Organization Studies, 2009, Volume 30, Issue 1, 55-72 (A ranking)

“From Loss to Lack: Stories of Organizational Change as Encounters with Failed Fantasies of Self, Work and Organization” by Michaela Driver (Empirical research examining stories of organizational change as conscious articulations of loss that also have unconscious meaning as empowering struggles with lack in organizations) in Organization, 2009, Volume 16, Issue 3, 353-369 (A ranking )

“New and Useless: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on Organizational Creativity” by Michaela Driver (Basic research developing a psychoanalytic framework for understanding why the creative self-image supports but also undermines the production of the new and useful in organizations) in the Journal of Management Inquiry, 2008, Volume 17, Issue 3, 187-197 (A ranking)

“Every Bite You Take…Food and the Struggles of Embodied Subjectivity in Organizations” by Michaela Driver (Empirical research examining discourses of food using reflexive methodology and different perspectives, including critical, postmodern and psychoanalytic theories, on how subjects construct the self at work) Human Relations, 2008, Volume 61, Issue 7, 913-934 (A ranking)

“Reviewer Feedback as Discourse of the Other: A Psychoanalytic Perspective on the Manuscript Review Process” by Michaela Driver (Basic research exploring the discourse of reviewers from a Lacanian perspective) Journal of Management Inquiry, 2007, Volume 16, Issue 4, 351-360 (A ranking)

“Meaning and Suffering in Organizations” by Michaela Driver (Basic research suggesting that, within a framework of Viktor Frankl’s logotherapy, suffering needs to be explored in organizational contexts as a dimension of spirituality in general and a way by which individuals find meaning in organizations in particular) Journal of Organizational Change Management, 2007, Volume 20, Issue 5, pp. 611-632 (A ranking)

“A Spiritual Turn in Organization Studies: Meaning Making or Meaningless?” by Michaela Driver (Basic research on the contribution of organizational spirituality research to organization studies with regard to existential meaning making and logotherapy in organizations) Journal of Management, Spirituality and Religion 2007, Volume 4, Issue 1, pp. 56-86 (B category)

“Beyond the Stalemate of Economics versus Ethics: Corporate Social Responsibility and the Discourse of the Organizational Self” by Michaela Driver (Basic research developing an alternative perspective on corporate social responsibility based on post-egoic narratives of the organizational self) Journal of Business Ethics 2006, Volume 66, Issue 4, pp. 337-356 (A ranking)

“From Empty Speech to Full Speech? Reconceptualizing Spirituality in Organizations Based on a Psychoanalytically-Grounded Understanding of the Self” by Michaela Driver (Basic research critiquing and redirecting the field of organizational spirituality research based on a Lacanian conception of Self) in Human Relations, Volume 58, Issue 9, 2005, pp. 1091-1110 (A ranking)

**“Fiction and Humor in Transforming McDonald’s Narrative Strategies” by David Boje, Michaela Driver and Yue Cai (Basic research developing strategy as dialogic imagination and examining how the McDonald’s corporation uses fiction and humor to revitalize its strategy) Culture and Organization, Volume 11, Issue 3, 2005, pp. 195-208 (A ranking)

“Using Brechtian Ideas And Theatrical Practices to Reconceptualize Role Distance and Facilitate Learning In Organizations” by Michaela Driver (Basic research exploring how Bertold Brecht’s ideas on the Verfremdungs-effect and critical distance can be used to better understand and change organizational role behaviors) in TAMARA: Journal of Critical and Postmodern Organization Science, Volume 2, Issue, 4, 2003, pp. 83-94 (A ranking)

“United We Stand or Else? Exploring Organizational Attempts to Control Emotional Expression by Employees on September 11, 2001"  by Michaela Driver (Basic research exploring the control of emotions in organizations) in The Journal of Organizational Change Management, Volume 16, Issue 5, 2003, pp. 534-546 (A ranking)

“Improving Group Learning Through Electronically Facilitated Skillful Discussions?” by Michaela Driver (Empirical study examining whether and how electronic conferences can be used to support group learning in the workplace) in The Learning Organization, Volume 10, Issue 5, 2003, pp. 283-293 (B ranking)

“Nothing Clinical Just Business? Reflections On Psychoanalytically Grounded Organizational Diagnosis and Intervention” by Michaela Driver (Basic theoretical research investigating recent developments of psychoanalytical paradigms in organizational studies in performative contexts) in Human Relations, Volume 56, Issue 1, 2003, pp. 39-59 (A ranking)

“Diversity And Learning In Groups” by Michaela Driver (Empirical study exploring how groups respond to diverse, cognitive, member resources and how this response affects group learning) in The Learning Organization, Volume 10, Issue 3, 2003, pp. 149-166 (B ranking)

“Investigating the Benefits of Web-Centric Instruction for Student Learning: Organizational Lessons Learned” by Michaela Driver (empirical study of web-centric teaching tools and their impact on student learning outcomes), Journal of Education for Business, Volume 77, number 4, 2002, pp. 236-245. (B ranking)

“Responding To Diversity In Groups As An Opportunity For Group Learning” by Michaela Driver (Empirical research examining various group processes as they pertain to diverse group member resources and how these affect group learning) in The Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, Volume 7, number 2, 2002, pp. 24-44. (B ranking)

“The Learning Organization: Foucauldian Gloom or Utopian Sunshine?” by Michaela Driver (conceptual paper on the ideological dimensions of the learning organization), in Human Relations, Volume 55, Issue 1, January, 2002, pp.33-53 (A ranking)

“Learning and Leadership in Organizations: Toward Complementary Communities of Practice” by Michaela Driver (conceptual and empirical research about how learning is managed via resource flows and social exchanges in organizational settings) in Management Learning, Volume 33, Issue 1, 2002, pp.99-126. (A ranking)

“Exploring Student Perceptions Of Group Interaction And Class Satisfaction In The Web-Enhanced Classroom” by Michaela Driver (Empirical research examining various types of interactions and how they can be weighted with regard to influencing student perceptions) in The Internet and Higher Education Journal, Volume 5, number 1, 2002, pp. 35-45 (B ranking)

“Fostering Creativity in Business Education: Developing Creative Classroom Environments to Provide Students with Critical Workplace Competencies” by Michaela Driver (empirical study showing the benefits of introducing various instructional tools and cultural dimensions into the business classroom to stimulate creative thinking and prepare students for more creative workplaces), Journal of Education for Business, Volume 77, number 1, 2001, pp.28-33. (B ranking)

“Activity-Based Costing: A Tool for Adaptive and Generative Organizational Learning?” by Michaela Driver (conceptual and empirical paper on using Activity-Based Costing as a learning tool in organizations), in The Learning Organization, Volume 8, Issue 3, 2001, pp.94-105. (B ranking)

“Integrating Internet-Based Resources Into Classroom Instruction: An Organizational Learning Approach” by Michaela Driver (conceptual and empirically validated research on the processes by which institutions of higher education can integrate Internet teaching technologies into students’ learning environments) in Journal of Business Education, pp. 14-30, Spring 2000. (A ranking)

Journal Articles Currently Under Review

• “Leadership as Lack” by Michaela Driver (Empirical research examining the construction of leadership identity in discourse from a psychoanalytic perspective) currently under review in Organization Studies (A ranking)

• “Learning as Lack: Individual Learning in Organizations as an Empowering Encounter with Failed Imaginary Constructions of the Self” by Michaela Driver (Basic research examining individual learning as an identity- and discourse-based phenomenon from a psychoanalytic perspective) currently under review in Management Learning (A ranking)

Book Chapter - coauthored

“Innovation and Adaptation: An Organizational Learning Approach to the Development of Core Competencies” by Michaela Driver with J.Cashman, in Implementation of Competency-Based Strategies: Theory and Practice, Advances in Applied Business Strategy Series, JAI Press, Stamford CT, Vol. 7, 1999, pp.51-66.

Invited Contributions

“Introduction to the Special Issue: Whither the MBA? Factions, fault lines and the future” by Michael Brocklehurst, Andrew Sturdy, Diana Winstanley and Michaela Driver in Management Learning (A ranking), Volume 38, Issue 4, 2007, pp. 379-388.

Refereed Presentations and Proceedings:

“Donuts and Diets: Food and Subjectivity in Organizations” by Michaela Driver (Empirical research on discursive constructions of the self in relation to food and eating) to be presented at the Academy of Management Conference in Philadelphia, PA, 2007

“Neither Good nor Happy: Reflections on Goodness of and Happiness in Organizations as Imaginary Constructions of the Self” by Michaela Driver (Conceptual paper for a special topic symposium on the psychoanalytic contribution to our understanding of organizational goodness and happiness) to be presented at the Academy of Management Conference in Philadelphia, PA, 2007

“New and Useless? Rethinking the Concept of Usefulness in Organizational Creativity Research” by Michaela Driver (Basic research exploring the creative process as playfulness and lived experience) to be presented at the European Group for Organization Studies Conference in Vienna, Austria, 2007

“Lacanian Analysis and the Study of Identity Through Discourse in Organizations: Taking Responsibility for the Ethics of Subjectivity” by Michaela Driver (Basic research identifying issues with discourse research focused on identity work in organizations and a framework for how to address them) to be presented at the Critical Management Studies Conference in Manchester, UK, 2007

“Resistance and Spirituality: The Discourse of Subjectivity and the Authentic Self” by Michaela Driver (Basic research on discursive acts of resistance and authenticity from a psychoanalytic perspective) to be presented at the Critical Management Studies Conference in Manchester, UK, 2007

“Lacanian Analysis and the Study of Discourse in Organizations: Taking Responsibility for the Ethics of Subjectivity” by Michaela Driver (Basic research developing an ethical model of organizational discourse research based on a psychoanalytic framework) presented at the 2006 Annual Colloquium for Advancing Psychoanalytically Informed Organization Theory and Research, Columbia, Missouri.

“From Transcendence To Resistance: Toward Critical Spirituality in Organizations” by Michaela Driver (Basic research developing a new perspective on spirituality, entitled critical spirituality, that seeks to integrate current spirituality research with critical management studies) presented at the Academy of Management Meeting 2004, New Orleans, LA

“A Strategic Theory of Humor” by David Boje, Michaela Driver and Yue Cai (Basic research on developing a theory of the strategic use of humor illustrated using the example of the McDonald’s corporation) presented at The Standing Conference on Organizational Symbolism 2004, Halifax, Canada

“Finding Meaning At Work: The Integration Of Suffering As A Dimension Of The Spiritual Organization” by Michaela Driver (Theoretical paper on meaning creation in the workplace and on expanding the dimensions we explore for how meaning is found in the workplace), presented at the European Group of Organization Studies Conference, Copenhagen, Denmark, 2003

“Toward a Brechtian Model of Role-Related Learning in Organizations”, Submission 10575, (Theoretical paper exploring how Brecht’s ideas may be used to facilitate role-related learning in organizations) presented at the Academy of Management Conference, Seattle, 2003

“Vulnerable - A Performance” by Michaela Driver (Theoretical and experiential exploration of vulnerability as a step toward creating more spiritual organizations), Submission 10573, presented at the Academy of Management Conference, Seattle, 2003

“Silence As Space For Purposeful Alienation” by Michaela Driver (Theoretical paper exploring how Brechtian ideas on alienation may facilitate organizational learning through the practice of silent reflection) presented at the international Critical Management Studies Conference, Lancaster, UK, 2003

“The Psychological Contract And The Psychoanalytical Approach” by Michaela Driver (Basic theoretical research investigating the appropriateness of psychoanalytical paradigms in organizational studies relative to recent changes in the psychological contract in organizations) presented at the Academy of Management Conference, 2002

“Serial Number 9-11-01, September 11, 2001: Voices In The Workplace – A Performance In Three Acts” by Michaela Driver, an Arts and Poetry submission presented at the Academy of Management Conference, 2002

“Does Your Team Have a Learning Disorder?” by Michaela Driver – conceptual research about how learning in teams can be improved in organizational settings, DSI National Conference, 2000

“Life Cycle Learning” by Jean and Ed Stead and Michaela Driver, Eighth International Conference of the Greening of Industry Network, Kenan-Flagler Business School, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, 1999

“Innovation and Adaptation: Leading for Effective Learning in Organizations” by Michaela Driver – conceptual research with practical implications on processes and resources required to develop and maintain both routine and radical learning in organizations, presented at the Southeastern DSI, 1999

Grants Received:

Recipient of the James and Sandra Powell Research Fellowship for a five-year term (2005-2009)

Instructional Support Grant for developing an MBA course on the management of change for online delivery, Spring 2007

Research Development Grants from the College of Business and Technology for Summer 2004, Fall 2004 and Summer 2005, Spring 2006, Summer 2007

Presidential-Grant-In-Aid from the University for attending three two-day seminars to improve teaching skills (The Art of Leadership)

Grant from Distance Education for the development of the first online version of BADM 5120, graduate Managing Change class

Instructional Development Grant from the University for the Development of Web-Based Resources from the Teaching and Learning Center