Samer Faraj
Canada Research Chair in Technology, Innovation & Organizing
Associate Member, Department of Social Studies of Medicine
BSc Engineering, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
SM Technology & Policy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
PhD Management, Boston University
Samer Faraj holds the Canada Research Chair in Technology, Innovation & Organizing at the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University. He is head of the research group on Complex Collaboration and was the former Director of the Faculty’s PhD program. Previously, he was an Associate Professor at the University of Maryland, College Park. His current research focuses on complex collaboration in settings as diverse as health care organizations, knowledge teams, and online communities. He is also interested in how emergent social technologies are transforming organizations and allowing new forms of coordination and organizing to emerge. He has published over 130 journal articles, refereed proceedings, and book chapters in outlets such as: Academy of Management Journal, Management Science, Organization Science, MIS Quarterly, Information Systems Research, Journal of Applied Psychology, Business Horizon, OMICS, and Annals of Emergency Medicine. He has served as Senior Editor at both Organization Science and Information Systems Research. He currently serves on the editorial boards of Organization Science and Information and Organization.
He has won multiple best published paper awards; most recently, the AOM OCIS division 2021 Best Published Paper Award, the AOM Healthcare division 2018 Best Theory to Practice paper award, the 2018 FNEGE Prix Académique de la Recherche en Management, the AOM OCIS division 2016 and 2018 Best Paper Award; the AIS 2012 Best Published Paper Award, as well as the 2013 Desautels best doctoral advisor award. Institutions such as SSHRC, NSF, IBM, the Fulbright foundation, and the Government of Quebec have funded his research.
He is currently a Research Fellow at the Cambridge Judge Business school, a Fellow at the Cambridge University Digital Innovation Center and has been a visiting professor at HEC-Paris, VU University (Amsterdam), and a Senior Fulbright Scholar at the American University of Beirut. He is one of the highly cited Management scholars in Canada recognized by 5 ISI Highly Cited Papers awards and more than 7,600 citations in Web of Science and 23,000 Google Scholar citations.
Some of my favourite papers
Bailey, D., Faraj, S., Hinds, P., von Krogh, G. & Leonardi P. (forthcoming 2022) Emerging Technologies and Organizing. Organization Science.
Leone, P. V., Mantere, S., & Faraj, S. (2021). Open Theorizing in Management and Organization Studies. Academy of Management Review. 46(4): 725-749.
Faraj, S. & Pachidi S. (2021). “Beyond uberization: the co-constitution of technology and organizing”. Organization Theory. 2: 1-14
Safadi, H., Johnson S. and Faraj, S. (2021) “Core-Periphery Tension in Online Innovation Communities” Organization Science. 32(3): 752-775 .
Pachidi, S., Berends, H., Faraj, S., and Huysman, M. (2021) "Make way for the algorithms: Symbolic actions and change in a regime of knowing," Organization Science. 32(1): 18-41.
Bourgoin, A., Bencherki, N. and Faraj, S. (2020) “And who are you? A performative perspective on authority in organizations” Academy of Management Journal. 63(4): 1134-1165.
Sergeeva, A., Faraj, S. and Huysman, M. (2020) “Losing Touch: An embodiment perspective on coordination in robotic surgery” Organization Science. 31(5): 1248-1271.
Faraj, S., Pachidi, S. and Sayegh, K. (2018) “Working and Organizing in the Age of the Algorithm” Information and Organization. 28: 62-70.
Faraj, S., von Krogh, G., Monteiro, E. & Lakhani, K. (2016) “Online Community as Space for Knowledge Flows” Information Systems Research, 27(4): 668-684.
Schakel, J-K, von Fenema, P., and Faraj, S. (2016) “’Shots Fired!’ Switching Practices in Police Work” Organization Science, 27 (2): 391-410
Faraj, S., Kudaravalli, S., and Wasko, M. (2015). “Leading Collaboration In Online Communities.” MIS Quarterly, 39(2) 393-412.
Johnson, S., Safadi, H., and Faraj, S. (2015). “The Emergence of Online Community Leadership”. Information Systems Research, 26(1): 165-187.
Faraj, S. and Johnson, S. “Network exchange patterns in online communities” (2011) Organization Science, 22(6): 1464-1480
Faraj, S., Jarvenpaa S. and Majchrzak, A. (2011) “Knowledge Collaboration in Online Communities” Organization Science, 22(5): 1224-1239.
Faraj, S. and Yan, A. (2009) “Boundary Activities of Knowledge Teams” Journal of Applied Psychology, 94(3): 604-617.
Xiao, Y., Schenkel, S., Faraj, S., Mackenzie, C. and Moss, J (2007) “What an operating room whiteboard can teach us about emergency department communication” Annals of Emergency Medicine. 50(4): 387-395.
Zammuto, R., Griffith, T., Majchrzak, A., Dougherty, D., Faraj, S. (2007) “Information Technology and the Changing Fabric of Organization” Organization Science. 18(5): 1-14.
Faraj, S. and Xiao, Y. (2006) “Coordination in fast response environments” Management Science, 52(8): 1155-1169.
Wasko, M. and Faraj, S. (2005) “Why should I share? Examining knowledge contribution in electronic networks of practice.” MIS Quarterly. 29(1): 35-58.
Faraj, S. and Sproull, L. (2000). “Coordinating expertise in software development teams.” Management Science, 46: 1554-1568.
Recent Chapters in Books
Faraj, S., Renno, W., and Bhardwaj, A. (forthcoming) “AI and Uncertainty in Organizing”. In Griffin, M. and Grote, G. (Eds.) Oxford University Handbook on Uncertainty Management. Oxford UK: Oxford University Press.
Safadi, H., Boudreau, M-C. and Faraj, S., (January 4, 2021). One Picture to Study One Thousand Words: Visualization for Qualitative Research in the Age of Digitalization in the Cambridge University Press Handbook of Qualitative Research in the Age of Digitalisation, Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press.
Faraj, S., & Shimizu, T. (2018, February 26). Online Communities and Knowledge Collaborations. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management. Ed. Retrieved 13 Nov. 2018, from http://business.oxfordre.com/view/10.1093/acrefore/9780190224851.001.000....
Faraj, S., Sayegh, K., and Rouleau, L. (2017) “Knowledge Collaboration in Organizations: From Information Processing to Social Knowing.” In Galliers, R. and Stein, M. C., The Routledge Companion to Management Information Systems, 370-386. London; Taylor & Francis Group.
Majchrzak, A., Jarvenpaa, S., and Faraj, S. (2017) “Theorizing Knowledge Collaboration in Online Communities” 1-27. In Argote, L. and Levine, J. Oxford Handbook of Group and Organizational Learning. Oxford University Press.
Sims, H., Faraj, S., Yun, S. and Pearce, C. (2013) “University of Maryland Shock trauma center rotates shared leadership in crisis situations, depending on skill level and crisis severity.” In Pearce, C.L., Manz, C.M. & Sims, H.P. (Eds) Share, Don’t Take the Lead, 15-27. Information Age Publishing.
Faraj, S. and Azad B. (2012). “The Materiality of Technology: An Affordance Perspective.” In Leonardi, P., B. Nardi, Y. Kallinikos (Eds) Materiality in Organizing: Social Interaction in a Technological World, 237-258, Oxford University Press.
Selected Awards
• Best published paper award 2021 from the Academy of Management OCIS division for the Sergeeva, Faraj, & Huysman paper in Organization Science.
• Best Theory to Practice paper award at the 2018 Academy of Management (AOM) Conference from the Health Care Management Division, with PhD student Carla Sayegh
• Best Conference Paper at the 2018 Academy of Management (AOM) OCIS division for “who contributes knowledge? Embeddedness and marginality in online communities.” with Hani Safadi and Steven Johnson.
• Winner of the FNEGE 2018 Prix Académique de la Recherche en Management for the Kudaravalli, S., Faraj, S., Johnson, S. (2017) “A Configural Approach to Coordinating Expertise in Software Development Teams” MIS Quarterly 41(1): 43-64.
• Best Student-led paper at the 2018 Organizational Behavior and Health Care (OBHC) Conference, coauthored with (McGill) PhD student Karla Sayegh for “Wait, the baby could die! Integrating expertise differences in a hospital merger,” Montreal, Canada.
• Runner up for Best Student led-paper at the 2018 Organizational Behavior and Health Care (OBHC) Conference with (U. Cambridge) student Stavros PolyKarpou and Michael Barrett for "Pebble in Still Water: How Implementing 3D Printing Reconfigures Boundary Relations" Montreal, Canada.
• Best published paper award 2016 from the Academy of Management OCIS division for the Johnson, Safadi and Faraj paper in MISQ.
• Finalist for the 2015 CIONET European Research Paper of the Year, for Emergence Of Power Laws In Online Communities: The Role Of Social Mechanisms And Preferential Attachment.
• Information Systems Research 2014 Meritorious Service Award for service as senior editor 2012-2014
• Best doctoral advisor award (2013) from the Doctoral Student Association, Desautels faculty of management, McGill University.
• Association of Information Systems (AIS) Best Publication award (2012) for the Faraj et al., “Knowledge collaboration in online communities” Organization Science article.
• Most highly cited paper award in 2012 at the Journal of Strategic Information Systems in celebration of JSIS's 20th anniversary for the 2000 article: "’It is what one does’: Why people participate and help others in electronic communities of practice.”
• Organization Science 2012 Service Award for extraordinary service as senior editor 2006-2012.
• Highlight Paper Award (best paper), 2011 ASQ-HEC-OMT Coordination Conference, Paris France.
• Best paper award, 2008 OCIS division, Academy of Management.
• INFORMS 2010 service award for role as Senior Editor at Organization Science.
• 2nd rank on Scopus TOP CITED articles in the fields of Business, Management and Accounting (1st in information systems) for last 5 years (2005 - 2009) for “Why should I share?” 2005 MISQ article (http://info.scopus.com/topcited/ site visited April 26, 2009).
• Runner up, Best Paper International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS) 2008, Paris.
• Emerald Literati Highly Commended Award for Excellence, 2005, for Information Technology and People article “Contested artifact: technology sensemaking, actor networks, and the shaping of the Web browser.”
Grants
$7.4M (not including collaborator/member role). Summary: 2 CRC, 8 SSHRC, 3 NSF and a Fulbright Senior Scholar Award