PhD in Organizational BehaviorCurrent Students

Get to Know Our Students

Interested in enrolling in the PhD in Organizational Behavior program at Case Western Reserve University Weatherhead School of Management? Get to know the students who are pursuing their doctoral degrees with us.

Karlygash Assylkhan headshot

Karlygash Assylkhan

Organizational Behavior; PhD Organizational Behavior, 2015 - Present
Dissertation Title: "Temporal Motivation and Job Engagement"
Email: kxa265@case.edu 

Leadership, leaders' characteristics such as gender, subjective time experiences (such as urgency, pacing style, temporal focus and time perspectives), leader member dyadic relationships, the effectiveness of leadership coaching and how such leadership is related with their job performance, employees' job engagement/performance, and firm outcomes.


Melissa Cooper headshot

Melissa Cooper

PhD Organizational Behavior, 2016 - Present
Time, Ambivalence, Ambiguity, Decision-Making, Creativity, Higher Education
Email: mec186@case.edu


Gabriela Cuconato headshot

Gabriela Cuconato

PhD Organizational Behavior, 2020 - Present
Email: gdc27@case.edu 

Gabriela Cuconato is a Ph.D. candidate and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Organizational Behavior at the Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University. Gabriela received a Master of Science in Business from the Getulio Vargas Foundation and holds a B.S. in Management from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro.

Gabriela's research interests lie in interpersonal relationships at work, including the social psychology of teams, self-disclosure in the workplace, disclosure of unethical behaviors, and the interpersonal dynamics of honesty. 

Education
Master of Science in Business Administration, Getulio Vargas Foundation, 2018
Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Faculty of Business Administration and Accounting, 2016

Publications
Aggarwal, I., Cuconato, G., Ates, N. Y., & Meslec, N.(2023) Self-beliefs, Transactive Memory Systems, and Collective Identification in Teams: Articulating the Socio-cognitive Underpinnings of COHUMAIN. Topics in Cognitive Science,  https://doi.org/10.1111/tops.12681

Awards & Recognitions
Organizational Behavior Best Reviewer, Academy of Management, 2023 
Unity Banquet Scholarship, 2023


Sharon Ehasz

PhD Organizational Behavior, 2020 - Present
Email: sfe21@case.edu 


Erica Johnson

Adjunct Professor, Organizational Behavior
PhD Organizational Behavior, 2018 - Present
Email: eej13@case.edu 


Pooja Khatija headshot

Pooja Khatija

Adjunct Professor, Design & Innovation
PhD Organizational Behavior, 2018 - Present
Biases related to Gender, Geography, and Social Class in Selection Decisions; Holistic & Inclusive Leadership; Identity & Resilience
Email: pjk97@case.edu 


Han Liu

PhD Organizational Behavior, 2019 - Present
Email: hxl1043@case.edu 


Kaleigh May

PhD Organizational Behavior, 2018 - Present
Creativity in daily work experiences;
Interpersonal Relationships;
Innovation
Email: klm194@case.edu 


Anna Perlmutter headshot

Anna Perlmutter

PhD Organizational Behavior, 2013 - Present
Email: arp89@case.edu 

My work explores the impact of collaborative infrastructure on support for resilient, mission-driven organizations and the role of capacity building organizations in driving complex sector change. My goal is to understand how organizational structures, innovations, and new practices that emerge from collaborative networks create value and contribute to healthy organizations and the communities they serve. Shared resources, improved knowledge-management systems, interdisciplinary teams, and inter-organizational coordination are examples of such structural innovations that create long-term value for stakeholders and can catalyze social innovation and broader sector-wide transformation. My current research explores these topics in the context of the low-income rental housing market in Cleveland, Ohio. Through the lens of organizational theory and behavioral frameworks, I am scanning the complex landscape of low-income rental housing in order to understand the types of institutional logics and relational practices that might enable more coordinated, mutually reinforcing, and equitable resource distribution across the multi-sector rental housing sphere.


Michael Schwartz headshot

Michael Schwartz

PhD Organizational Behavior, 2017 - Present
- Transgender experiences in organizations- Intrinsic Motivation (Self-Determination Theory)- Social Identity Theory- Bias- Allyship
Email: mjr38@case.edu 


Maria Volkova headshot

Maria Volkova

PhD Organizational Behavior, 2018 - Present
Email: mxv175@case.edu 

Maria is interested in coaching and coaching competencies research in medical education, the role of Emotional, Social and Cultural Intelligence in Law and Health organizations, the neuroscientific effects of coaching on diverse audiences such as health professionals, students, multilingual and multicultural workers and leaders of organizations with their workforce.
Other aspects of Maria’s interest include the effects of the modern workplace including long distance business relationships, age diversity, and the integration of new technologies and the effects of these modern challenges on individual behavior and organizational culture.


Tathagata Bhowmilk

Tathagata Bhowmik

PhD Organizational Behavior, 2022 - Present

Tathagata's research interests include subaltern and postcolonial studies, folk culture studies, critical management studies, exploitative organizational practices, labor economics, meaningful work, alienation and boredom. He received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, and an MBA in Human Resources / Industrial Relations from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai, and was on the Dean's List. Tathagata worked in human resources for three years and as a political consultant for one year in India. He enjoys playing the guitar, singing, writing songs and poetry, making films, quizzing, and discovering obscure indie bands. He considers himself an existentialist and aims to be a full-time flaneur and a dedicated cat parent. 


Kiko Thiel headshot

Kiko Thiel

PhD Organizational Behavior, 2013 - Present
Dissertation Title: "Breaking the Thought Barrier: How Individuals Transform their Lifeworld to Create Transformative Change in their Field"
Email: sat59@case.edu

Kiko is interested in what motivates and enables people to do extraordinary things, often under great duress and considerable personal cost. She is particularly interested when people create a paradigm shift––changing the way we view the world, changing our view of what is possible; or when people are pathfinders, creating a new business model or market. She aims to understand the mechanics, psychological and psycho-social, of what prompts people to set off into uncharted territory, rewriting the rules to create a new, revolutionary way of doing things. Kiko previously consulted in strategic organizational alignment, change leadership, and innovation at McKinsey, Accenture and for the Insead Blue Ocean Strategy Network. She has an MBA from Insead and a BA in history from Yale.