Dror Etzion
PhD, IESE Business School, University of Navarra, Spain
MSc, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
BSc, Ben-Gurion University, Israel
Dror Etzion is an associate professor of strategy and organization at the Desautels Faculty of Management, and an associate member of the Bieler School of Environment.
Dror joined McGill in 2008, after completing his Ph.D. studies at IESE Business School in Barcelona, Spain. Previously, Dror worked for 5 years in the Israeli software industry, and also spent a year at The Natural Step, an international non-profit research and consultancy organization focused on sustainable development.
Dror's current research program focuses on “grand challenges”: the unyielding, intractable problems that characterize the Anthropocene. His work suggests that managing for sustainability through local, open, emergent initiatives increases the recruitment of diverse stakeholders, fosters creativity, and yields impactful outcomes. Dror is co-leading PIVOT, an action research project that employs social networks and peer support to accelerate the large-scale adoption of sustainable business practices throughout the country. The core of PIVOT is an online platform (www.gopivot.org) that enables business owners to share their stories about climate actions, and discuss challenges and successes. PIVOT serves as a space for SMEs to inspire each other, connect, and build partnerships across Canada.
Dror's research has been published in Academy of Management Review, Journal of Management, Nature Sustainability, Organization Science, Organization Studies, Strategic Management Journal and other outlets. These articles are available on the McGill eScholarship portal and on Google Scholar.
MGPO-440: Strategies for sustainability
Papers in Peer-Reviewed Journals (selected)
Etzion, D. The proliferation of carbon labels. Forthcoming. Nature Climate Change.
Etzion, D., Gehman, J., Davis GF. 2022. Reimagining academic conferences: Toward a federated model of conferencing. Management Learning. 53(2): 350-362.
Mikkelson, G. M., Avidan, M., Conevska, A., & Etzion, D. 2021. Mutual reinforcement of academic reputation and fossil fuel divestment. Global Sustainability.
Etzion, D. 2020. Corporate engagement with the natural environment. Nature Ecology & Evolution. 4(4): 493.
Etzion, D., Kypraios, E., & Forgues, B. 2019. Employing finance in pursuit of the Sustainable Development Goals: The promise and perils of catastrophe bonds. Academy of Management Discoveries. 5(4): 530–554.
Avidan, M., Etzion, D., & Gehman, J. 2019. Opaque transparency: How material affordances shape intermediary work. Regulation & Governance. 13(2): 197-219.
Etzion, D. & Gehman, J. 2019. Going public: Debating matters of concern as an imperative for management scholars. Academy of Management Review, 44(2): 480-492.
Etzion, D. 2018. Management for sustainability. Nature Sustainability, 1: 744–749.
Mintzberg, H., Etzion, D. & Mantere, S. 2018. Worldly strategy for the global climate. Stanford Social Innovation Review, 16(4): 42-47.
Etzion, D., Gehman, J., Ferraro, F. & Avidan, M. 2017. Unleashing sustainability transformations through robust action. Journal of Cleaner Production, 170: 167-178.
Etzion, D. & Aragon-Correa, J. 2016. Big data, management, and sustainability: Strategic opportunities ahead. Organization & Environment, 29(2): 147-155.
Ferraro, F., Etzion, D. & Gehman, J. 2015. Tackling grand challenges pragmatically: Robust action revisited. Organization Studies 36(3), 363-390.
Etzion, D., & Pe’er, A. 2014. Mixed signals: A dynamic analysis of warranty provision in the automotive industry, 1960- 2008. Strategic Management Journal, 35: 1605-1625.
Etzion D. Diffusion as classification. 2014. Organization Science, 25(2): 420-437.
Delmas, M., Etzion, D., & Nairn-Birch, N. 2013. Triangulating environmental performance: What do corporate social responsibility ratings really capture? Academy of Management Perspectives, 27(3): 255-267.
Etzion, D. & Ferraro, F. 2010. The role of analogy in the institutionalization of sustainability reporting. Organization Science, 21(5): 1092–1107.
Etzion, D. & Davis, GF. 2008. Revolving doors? A network analysis of corporate officers and U.S. government officials. Journal of Management Inquiry, 17(3): 157-161.
Etzion, D. 2007. Research on organizations and the natural environment, 1992-Present: a Review. Journal of Management, 33(4): 637-664.
Books and Edited Volumes
Gehman, J., Etzion, D., & Ferraro, F. 2022. Robust action: Advancing a distinctive approach to grand challenges. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 79: 259-278
Chapters in Books
Etzion, D. & Struben, J. (2011). Better Place: Shifting paradigms in the automotive industry. Case Studies in Social Entrepreneurship – The oikos Collection volume 4. 2014. Greenleaf Publishing.Awards
2022: Runner-up, ONE-SIM Outreach Award, Academy of Management.
2018: Ideas Worth Teaching Award. Aspen Institute, Business and Society Program. (ACCT 401: Sustainability & Environmental Accounting).
2017: Winner, bi-annual Roland Calori Prize for best article published in Organization Studies ("Tackling grand challenges pragmatically: Robust action revisited").
2014: 1st Prize, oikos Case Writing Competition (Social Entrepreneurship Track) “Communauto: A big idea for a big market” (w. Raymond Paquin, James Povitz and Ben Gruber).
2014: Finalist, Giarratani Rising Star Award, Industry Studies Association.
2013: Academy of Management’s Organization and Natural Environment (ONE) Emerging Scholar Award.
2011: 1st Prize, oikos Case Writing Competition (Social Entrepreneurship Track) “Better Place: Shifting Paradigms in the Automotive Industry” (w. Jeroen Struben).
2009: Academy of Management’s “Organization and Natural Environment (ONE)” Best Doctoral Dissertation Award.
2009: Finalist, EDAMBA (European Doctoral Programmes Association in Management and Business Administration) Doctoral Thesis Competition.
2007: Aspen Institute, Business and Society Program, US Dissertation Proposal Award.
1993-4: Ben Gurion University, Rector’s list
Fellowships
2019 - 2021: Desautels Faculty Fellow.
2013 - 2015: Faculty Fellow, Marcel Desautels Institute for Integrated Management, McGill University.
2007: Booz Allen Hamilton/Strategic Management Society Fellowship.
2004-8: IESE Business School, University of Navarra Ph.D. Fellowship.
Grants
2021- 24: "PIVOT: Mobilizing online platforms to promote climate action in Canadian Small- and Medium-Size Enterprises" (w. Chris Luederitz, Catherine Potvin, Andrew Piper, Jerome Waldispuhl, Cécile Bulle, NFB, GEC, & QNP). Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
2019 - 23: "Sustainability Transitions" (w. Jaye Ellis & Catherine Potvin). McGill Sustainability Systems Initiative.
2018 - 19: "Evaluating sustainable strategy: Methods for querying and assessing corporate responses to sustainability surveys" (w. CDP). Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
2015: "From availability to accessibility: Effectively using information disclosure to govern energy production" (w. Joel Gehman & Duncan Kenyon). Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
2015 - 18: "An impactful multidimensional partnership for social innovation and entrepreneurship: The social innovators' integration lab" (w. PI Emma Vaast, et. al.). Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
2015 - 19: "An exploration of organizational response variation to institutional complexity In fracking" (w. Joel Gehman & Michael Lounsbury). Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
2013- 15: "Predatory selection: An analysis of cultural vulnerability and opportunity exploration in unconventional gas well drilling" (w. Joel Gehman). Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
2009- 13: “An industry level view of environmental performance.” Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.
2009: "Corporations, ecosystems and democracy" (w. Gregory Mikkelson). McGill School of Environment Seed Grant for New Research Initiatives.
On the PIVOT project (in the National Observer)
On divestment (in the Toronto Star)
About climate action (in La Vanguardia)
