Lakshmi Ramarajan
Diane Doerge Wilson Professor of Business Administration
Diane Doerge Wilson Professor of Business Administration
Organizational Behavior
Professor Ramarajan is the Diane Doerge Wilson Professor of Business Administration in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School. Her research examines the management and consequences of identities in organizations.
She teaches the second-year MBA course, Power and Influence, as well as the PhD seminar on Micro-topics in Organizational Behavior. She also teaches in various executive education programs. She previously taught the second-year MBA course, Authentic Leader Development and the first-year MBA course in Leadership and Organizational Behavior (LEAD).
Profesor Ramarjan's research examines how people can work fruitfully across social divides, with a particular emphasis on identities and group boundaries. Her research addresses two broad questions: 1) How does the work environment shape people’s experiences as members of particular groups and of their multiple identities? 2) What are the consequences of multiple identities and group differences in organizations? She investigates professional and work identities alongside other identities that are important to people, such as ethnicity, community and family. She examines consequences such as employee engagement and commitment to work, career success and satisfaction, quality of interpersonal and intergroup relations, and performance. In recent work, using experiments, surveys and interviews, she has examined how individuals’ manage their organizational, cultural and personal identities, and how these identities interact to influence engagement and performance. Professor Ramarajan's research has been published in journals such as the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, the Academy of Management Annals, and the Academy of Management Review, among others.
Professor Ramarajan earned her B.A. (Honors) in International Relations from Wellesley College, her M.Sc. in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and her PhD in Management from The Wharton School of Business. She was awarded the State Farm Foundation Dissertation Proposal Award in 2008. She was a Post Doctoral Fellow at Harvard Business School from 2008 to 2010.
Prior to her academic career, Professor Ramarajan worked in international development, managing conflict resolution programs in West Africa with a focus on gender and workforce development. She was also a professional dancer for several years.
- Featured Work
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- Journal Articles
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- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, and Julie Yen. "Defining Who You Are by Whom You Serve? Strategies for Prosocial–Professional Identity Integration with Clients." Administrative Science Quarterly 69, no. 2 (June 2024): 515–567. View Details
- Reid, Erin, and Lakshmi Ramarajan. "Seeking Purity, Avoiding Pollution: Strategies for Moral Career Building." Organization Science 33, no. 5 (September–October 2022): 1909–1937. View Details
- Battilana, Julie, Julie Yen, Isabelle Ferreras, and Lakshmi Ramarajan. "Democratizing Work: Redistributing Power in Organizations for a Democratic and Sustainable Future." Organization Theory 3, no. 1 (January–March 2022). View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, and Erin M. Reid. "Relational Reconciliation: Socializing Others Across Demographic Differences." Academy of Management Journal 63, no. 2 (April 2020): 356–385. View Details
- Rothbard, Nancy, Lakshmi Ramarajan, Ariane Ollier-Malaterre, and Serenity Lee. "OMG! My Boss Just Friended Me: How Evaluations of Colleagues' Disclosure, Gender, and Rank Shape Personal/Professional Boundary Blurring Online." Academy of Management Journal 65, no. 1 (February 2022): 35–65. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, Nancy Rothbard, and Steffanie Wilk. "Discordant vs. Harmonious Selves: The Effects of Identity Conflict and Enhancement on Sales Performance in Employee-Customer Interactions." Academy of Management Journal 60, no. 6 (December 2017): 2208–2238. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, Ida Berger, and Itay Greenspan. "Multiple Identity Configurations: The Benefits of Focused Enhancement for Prosocial Behavior." Organization Science 28, no. 3 (May–June 2017): 495–513. View Details
- Dimitriadis, Stefan, Matthew Lee, Lakshmi Ramarajan, and Julie Battilana. "Blurring the Boundaries: The Interplay of Gender and Local Communities in the Commercialization of Social Ventures." Organization Science 28, no. 5 (September–October 2017): 819–839. View Details
- Reid, Erin M., and Lakshmi Ramarajan. "Managing the High Intensity Workplace: An 'Always Available' Culture Breeds a Variety of Dysfunctional Behaviors." Harvard Business Review 94, no. 6 (June 2016): 85–90. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi. "Past, Present and Future Research on Multiple Identities: Toward an Intrapersonal Network Approach." Academy of Management Annals 8 (2014): 589–659. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, and Erin M. Reid. "Shattering the Myth of Separate Worlds: Negotiating Non-Work Identities at Work." Academy of Management Review 38, no. 4 (October 2013): 621–644. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, Katerina Bezrukova, Karen A. Jehn, and Martin Euwema. "From the Outside In: The Negative Spillover Effects of Boundary Spanners' Relations with Members of Other Organizations." Journal of Organizational Behavior 32, no. 6 (August 2011): 886–905. View Details
- Barsade, Sigal G., Lakshmi Ramarajan, and Drew Westen. "Implicit Affect in Organizations." Research in Organizational Behavior 29 (2009): 135–162. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, Sigal G. Barsade, and Orah Burack. "The Influence of Organizational Respect on Emotional Exhaustion in the Human Services." Journal of Positive Psychology 3, no. 1 (2008): 4–18. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, Katerina Bezrukova, Karen Jehn, Martin Euwema, and Nicolien Kop. "The Relationship between Peacekeepers and NGO Workers: The Role of Training and Conflict Management Styles in International Peacekeeping." International Journal of Conflict Management 15, no. 2 (2004): 167–191. View Details
- Book Chapters
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- Seegars, Lumumba Babushe, and Lakshmi Ramarajan. "Blacks Leading Whites: How Mutual and Dual (Ingroup and Outgroup) Identification Affect Inequality." Chap. 19 in Race, Work, and Leadership: New Perspectives on the Black Experience, edited by Laura Morgan Roberts, Anthony J. Mayo, and David A. Thomas. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2019. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, and Emily LeRoux-Rutledge. "How Identities and Discrimination Catalyze Global Entrepreneurship." In Positive Organizing in a Global Society: Understanding and Engaging Differences for Capacity-building and Inclusion, edited by Laura Morgan Roberts, Lynn Perry Wooten, and Martin N. Davidson. Routledge, 2014. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, and David A. Thomas. "A Positive Approach to Studying Diversity in Organizations." Chap. 41 in The Oxford Handbook of Positive Organizational Scholarship, edited by Kim S. Cameron and Gretchen M. Spreitzer, 552–565. Oxford University Press, 2011. View Details
- Rothbard, Nancy, and Lakshmi Ramarajan. "Checking Your Identities at the Door? Positive Relationships Between Non-Work and Work Identities." In Exploring Positive Identities and Organizations: Building a Theoretical and Research Foundation, edited by Laura M. Roberts and Jane E. Dutton. Psychology Press, 2009. View Details
- Working Papers
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- Seegars, Lumumba, Erin M. Reid, Lakshmi Ramarajan, and S. Lee. "What Am I Worth? Wage Security and the (In)secure Self." Working Paper, 2021. (Manuscript in preparation.) View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, Kathleen McGinn, and Deborah Kolb. "An Outside-Inside Evolution in Gender and Professional Work." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 13-051, November 2012. (Work in progress for requested submission, Research in Organizational Behavior.) View Details
- Cases and Teaching Materials
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- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, Hannah Riley Bowles, and Michael Norris. "Mariam Braimah: Designing a Career in Tech." Harvard Business School Case 424-030, January 2024. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi. "Identity, Power, and Influence." Harvard Business School Module Note 423-062, January 2023. (Revised March 2023.) View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, and Rachel Tropp. "Nadine Vogel: Transforming the Marketplace, Workplace, and Workforce for People with Disabilities." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 423-048, January 2023. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, and Francesca Gino. "Mellody Hobson at Ariel Investments." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 423-719, January 2023. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, and Rachel Tropp. "Mellody Hobson at Ariel Investments." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 423-047, January 2023. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, Julie Battilana, and Rachel Tropp. "Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn: The Power of Writing to Launch and Sustain a Movement." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 423-056, December 2022. View Details
- Battilana, Julie, Lakshmi Ramarajan, and Michael Norris. "Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn: The Power of Writing to Launch and Sustain a Movement (Abridged)." Harvard Business School Case 419-059, April 2019. View Details
- Battilana, Julie, and Lakshmi Ramarajan. "Claude Grunitzky." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 415-059, March 2015. View Details
- Battilana, Julie, Lakshmi Ramarajan, and Michael Norris. "Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn: The Power of Writing to Launch and Sustain a Movement." Harvard Business School Case 418-004, June 2018. (Revised November 2018.) View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, Hannah Riley-Bowles, and Michael Norris. "Nadine Vogel: Transforming the Marketplace, Workplace, and Workforce for People with Disabilities." Harvard Business School Case 420-062, March 2020. (Revised January 2023.) View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, Vincent Dessain, and Emer Moloney. "Leading Change in Talent at L'Oréal." Harvard Business School Case 420-106, February 2020. View Details
- Gino, Francesca, and Lakshmi Ramarajan. "Mellody Hobson at Ariel Investments." Harvard Business School Case 419-041, November 2018. (Revised March 2019.) View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, and Amy C. Edmondson. "Traversing a Career Path: Pat Fili-Krushel-Video Supplement." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 417-709, February 2017. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, and Amy C. Edmondson. "Carla Ann Harris at Morgan Stanley." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 417-706, November 2016. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi. "Public Architecture." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 416-039, March 2016. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi. "Carla Ann Harris at Morgan Stanley." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 416-040, March 2016. (Revised January 2023.) View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, and Alex Radu. "Carla Ann Harris at Morgan Stanley." Harvard Business School Case 415-029, September 2014. View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi. "Building Effective Working Relationships." Harvard Business School Module Note 415-030, September 2014. (Revised January 2015.) View Details
- Battilana, Julie, Lakshmi Ramarajan, and James Weber. "Claude Grunitzky, Founder & CEO of TRACE Magazine, In-class Comments, February 2, 2012." Harvard Business School Video Supplement 412-705, March 2012. (Revised March 2015.) View Details
- Battilana, Julie, Lakshmi Ramarajan, and James Weber. "Claude Grunitzky." Harvard Business School Case 412-065, January 2012. (Revised March 2012.) View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, Christopher Marquis, and Bobbi Thomason. "Public Architecture." Harvard Business School Case 411-030, July 2010. (Revised September 2012.) View Details
- Other Publications and Materials
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- DeSantola, Alicia, Lakshmi Ramarajan, and Julie Battilana. "New Venture Milestones and the First Female Board Member." Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings (2017). View Details
- Lee, Matthew, Stefan Dimitriadis, Lakshmi Ramarajan, and Julie Battilana. "Why Many Women Social Entrepreneurs Avoid Commercial Models." INSEAD Knowledge (December 8, 2017). View Details
- Manning, Ryann Elizabeth, Julie Battilana, and Lakshmi Ramarajan. "Communicating Change: When Identity Becomes a Source of Vulnerability for Institutional Challengers." Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings (2014): 453–458. View Details
- Caza, Brianna, Lakshmi Ramarajan, Erin M. Reid, and Stephanie Creary. "How to Make Room in Your Work Life for the Rest of Your Self." Harvard Business Review Digital Articles (May 30, 2018). View Details
- Ramarajan, Lakshmi, and Erin M. Reid. "Changes in Work, Changes in Self? Managing Our Work and Non-Work Identities in an Integrated World." European Business Review (September–October 2013): 61–64. View Details
- Research Summary
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How do people manage their professional identity alongside other identities traditionally considered outside the domain of work, such as identities stemming from their family roles, personal values, race, class, gender, and nationality? Professor Ramarajan’s research examines this critical question, and the consequences for individuals and organizations.Peoples’ work identities, which are often a deep source of meaning for them, may conflict with or complement cultural, familial, or personal identities they value. A central focus of Professor Ramarajan’s work is understanding, on the individual level, how these conflicts and complementarities influence the way people engage with their work roles, relate to co-workers and clients, and ultimately perform in their jobs. Additionally, her research investigates how organizational, occupational, and societal norms about identity expression and disparities such as gender, racial, or economic inequality shape employees’ identities at work, with the goal of helping organizations harness their employees’ multiple identities to improve employees’ effectiveness in their work roles. She has found that conflict among identities harms, while enhancement among identities helps, intrinsic motivation, perspective taking, work performance and prosocial behavior. In her recent work she has examined the challenges of integrating -- personal and professional identities when connecting as friends with colleagues online; race and class identities as authority figures in demographically diverse educational organizations; prosocial and professional identities in contexts that face commercial pressures such as architecture and journalism; and gender and national identities among leaders in global organizations. Overall, Professor Ramarajan’s research finds that when people can leverage and embrace their multiple identities, and when their organizations support them in doing so, they can improve their individual well-being, find more meaningful work and relationships, and engage in their work in more innovative ways that can spark organizational and social change.
- Awards & Honors
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Winner of the 2021 Wyss Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring.Finalist for 2021 Best Article in Academy of Management Journal for “Relational Reconciliation: Socializing Others Across Demographic Differences” (April 2020) with Erin Reid.Junior Faculty Runner-up for the 2020 Wyss Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring.Recipient of a 2019 Hellman Faculty Fellowship.Junior Faculty Runner-up for the 2017 Wyss Award for Excellence in Doctoral Mentoring.Winner of the First Annual African American Student Union (AASU) Case Award in 2016 for "Carla Ann Harris at Morgan Stanley" (HBS Case No. 415-029) with Alex Radu, taught in the HBS Second-year Elective Curriculum.Recipient of a 2008 State Farm Doctoral Dissertation Award for “Who Am I? The Influence of Multiple Intrapersonal Identities on Interpersonal Problem Solving.”Recipient of a 1998 American Friends of the London School of Economics (LSE) Graduate Scholarship Award.
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