Derek Harmon
Associate Professor of Management
Broad College of Business, Michigan State University
I study how people's language and beliefs shape—and are shaped by—the organizations, markets, and institutions they inhabit. My work investigates these ideas in the domains of institutional dynamics, social deviance, and entrepreneurship in nascent markets.
Research Areas
Institutional
Dynamics
How language and meaning shape institutions, and how institutions constrain and enable action.
View research →Social
Deviance
Why organizational misconduct persists, and the implications of violating social norms.
View research →Entrepreneurship in
Nascent Markets
How entrepreneurs build legitimacy and navigate uncertainty in emerging markets.
View research →Featured Findings
Police officers randomly exposed to misconduct early in their careers go on to commit more misconduct — and pass it on to their subordinates when they become managers.
Frake & Harmon (2024) · Management Science
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During the dot-com boom, brand-new metrics like “page views” gained credibility on Wall Street not because they predicted profits — but because firms successfully linked them to a future that hadn't yet arrived.
Harmon, Rhee & Cho (2023) · Strategic Management Journal
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When the Fed chair reaffirms what everyone takes for granted about monetary policy, markets don't stabilize — they get more uncertain.
Harmon (2019) · Administrative Science Quarterly
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Even when an algorithm makes the same performance review decision a human would, employees perceive the algorithmic process as less fair.
Newman, Fast & Harmon (2020) · Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes
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When founders have a knowledge advantage, projecting confidence wins funding. But when nobody truly knows the future, openly admitting uncertainty wins more — confidence backfires when it's clearly performative.
Naumovska & Harmon (2024) · Strategy Science
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The same ECB speech moves stock markets in opposite directions across Europe. Abstract language meant to create common ground with diverse audiences ends up dividing them.
Harmon & Mariani (2024) · Academy of Management Journal
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Punishing officers for misconduct in the Chicago Police Department doesn't deter their peers — it actually makes them act out more. When the rules are inconsistently enforced, punishment feels unjust and backfires.
Gordon, Harmon & Frake · R&R at Administrative Science Quarterly
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Conventional pitch advice says be precise. But entrepreneurs who use more ambiguous language actually win more audience support — especially when reaching diverse audiences with novel ideas.
Song & Harmon · R&R at Strategic Management Journal
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