Lakshmi Ramarajan
Anna Spangler Nelson and Thomas C. Nelson Associate Professor of Business Administration
Anna Spangler Nelson and Thomas C. Nelson Associate Professor of Business Administration
Lakshmi Ramarajan is the Anna Spangler Nelson and Thomas C. Nelson Associate Professor of Business Administration in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School. Her research examines the management and consequences of identities in organizations.
Lakshmi'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.
Lakshmi 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, Lakshmi 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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- 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
- 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
- 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
- Lee, Matthew, Stefan Dimitriadis, Lakshmi Ramarajan, and Julie Battilana. "Why Many Women Social Entrepreneurs Avoid Commercial Models." INSEAD Knowledge (December 8, 2017). View Details
- 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
- 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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- 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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- 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. 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. 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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- 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
- 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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Much of my research examines identities, group boundaries and intergroup relations in organizations.
People often define themselves as members' of multiple social groups -- race, nationality, gender, religion, etc. My primary stream of research investigates this phenomenon and demonstrates that people's psychological experience of managing multiple identities has consequences for groups and organizations. For instance, I have shown that intrapersonal identity conflict harms interpersonal problem-solving, while intrapersonal identity compatibility leads to cooperative behavior. In current projects, I am investigating contextual factors that influence people's experience of multiple identities and the effects of managing multiple identities and crossing group boundaries on prosocial behavior, gender relations, and conflict resolution in organizations.
- Additional Information
- Areas of Interest
- In The News
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