Charlotte Karam is an associate professor and scholar-activist. Her research broadly examines responsible engagement of organizations and employees within the context of developing economies. With the aim of building more inclusive business and management models, both in theory and practice, Charlotte’s current work focuses on women and other marginalized groups and adopts a multilevel lens embedded largely within the context of patriarchy, cultural variations, and sociopolitical instability. Interested in power dynamics and logics, her research draws from and informs the overlapping conversations about managing organizational behavior, HR/HRD, business, and public policy. Key concepts she examines include – development-oriented CSR and women’s career patterns and opportunities; sexual harassment; influence ethics; and cultural variations in work-related beliefs. Charlotte’s publications appear in the International J. of Management Reviews, J. of World Business, J. of Business Ethics, Business Ethics Quarterly, Business & Society, Asia-Pacific J. of Management, Career Development International, and others. Through her activism, Charlotte works to build multi-stakeholder collaborations in support of more inclusive workplaces, such as the Knowledge is Power (KIP) Project that focuses on combatting sexual harassment and other forms of exclusion from workplace and the workforce. KIP was recognized as one of AACSB 2018 Innovations that Inspire. Charlotte is often invited to speak about the work that she does at the intersection of research and activism, such as at the European Group of Organizational Studies (sub-plenary), the Academy of Management (PDW), the Arab Centre for Scientific Research and Humane Studies in Morocco (panelist), and in international media outlets (e.g., CNN). Finally, Charlotte serves as an Area Editor at the Journal of Business Ethics and as an Associate Editor at Business Ethics: European Review. She also is an executive board member of the Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality.
EDUCATION
University of Windsor, Canada: PhD in Applied Social Psychology, emphasis in Industrial/Organizational Psychology 2008
University of Windsor, Canada: MA in Applied Social Psychology, emphasis in Industrial/Organizational Psychology 2002
American University of Beirut, Lebanon BA in Psychology, graduated with Honors 1998
ACADEMIC POSITIONS
Olayan School of Business, American University of Beirut
Associate Professor 2015-pres
Assistant Professor 2018-15
LEADERSHIP POSITIONS AT OSB
Associate Dean of Programs 2016-18
Chair (Convener): Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship Track 2015-16
Director, Knowledge is Power (KIP) Project on Gender and Sexuality 2015-16
INTERNATIONAL VISITING RESEARCHER POSITIONS
Isenberg School of Business, Univ. of Massachusetts- Amherst 2018-pres
Visiting Professor for 1-year sabbatical
Five College Women's Studies Research Center- Mt. Holyoke 2018-pres
Research Associate for 1-year sabbatical
SELECTED HONORS AND DISTINCTIONS
Distinguished Scholar Award of the Arab Fund Fellowship Program from the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development ($52,000). 2018-
Best Paper Award at the Gender Work and Organization conference- Labour and Industry Stream for the paper: Preoccupation as Occupation: Lebanese Women’s Career Narratives on Context, with F. Afiouni. 2018
Research Merit Award from the Olayan School of Business, AUB for research excellence the previous year ($5,000). 2017
Best International Paper Finalist at the Academy of Management meeting - Career Division: Contextualizing Career Calling: War and Patriarchy, with F. Afiouni. 2017
Keeper of the Land Award of the Environment and Sustainable Development Unit for exceptional contribution to the advancement of women’s role in community. 2016
Research Merit Award from the Olayan School of Business, AUB for research excellence the previous year ($6,000 x 2 = $12,000). 2016 & 2015
Best International Symposium Finalist at Academy of Management meeting: Gender & Governance: Exploring Approaches in Developing Economies, with F. Afiouni. 2015
Best International Symposium Award at the Academy of Management meeting: The Bursting Pipeline: Gender and HR Development in the Arab MENA, with F. Afiouni. 2014
Research Merit Award from the Olayan School of Business, AUB for research excellence the previous year ($6,000 x 2 = $12,000). 2014 & 2013
Emerald Literati Highly Commended Award (2012) at the Academy of Management meeting: Good Organizational Soldiers: Conflict-Related Stress Predicts OCB in the International Journal of Conflict Management. 2012
Best International Symposium Finalist (2012) at Academy of Management meeting: Gender and the Arab Spring: Women Shaping Change, with F. Afiouni. 2012
AUB’s Teaching Excellence Award (2012): University-wide teaching excellence award. Nominated for three consecutive years since then.
Canada’s Governor General Gold Medal Nominee, for Academic Excellence during doctoral studies at the University of Windsor.n 2008
SELECT SUCCESSFUL RESEARCH GRANTS
U.S. Dept of State, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Federal Assistance Award: Knowledge is Power Project on Gender. $464,766 2015-17
Lebanon’s Center of National Research Studies Grant. Workplace gendered communication patterns in Lebanon. $8,000 2015-17
Lebanon’s Center of National Research Studies Grant. Gender differences in political attitudes and participation in the Arab world, with R. Saab and C. Harb. $13,000 2016-17
Citi Foundation Grant. Women's Entrepreneurship Initiative for the WEP program. Awarded jointly to OSB-Executive Education, with F. Kanaan, D. Jamali, and A. Lentari. $50,000 2013
Middle East Research Council Grant. Current Status of Academic Women in the Middle East. Awarded, with F. Afiouni. $5,000 2010
Perceptions of Sexual Harassment in Lebanese Workplaces. $9,400 2018
Mapping workplace sexual harassment discourses in Lebanon. $7,200 2017
Gender and Patriarchy and Perceived (Un)Employment Legitimacy. $6,000 2015
Crossvergence, Ecological Economics, and Corporate Responsibility. $6,000 2014
Crafting a Multi-level Perspective of Work Values Crossvergence. $6,000 2013
Crafting Localizing Women Work Experiences in Five Arab MENA. $7,200 2012
Women’s Work Experiences in Arab MENA Countries: Academia. $8,300 2011
Organizational Citizenship Behavior within the Context of War. $6,000 2010
Organizational Citizenship Behavior within the MENA Context. $7,500 2009
SELECT PUBLICATIONS
Karam C.M., Afiouni, F., and Metcalfe, B.D. (in press). Introduction: Gender and Governance in Developing Economies. Business Ethics: European Review.
Ralston, D.A., Egri, C.P., Karam, C.M., Yongjuan, L. and Fu, P.P. (2018). Changes in Work Values: A Longitudinal Assessment across China. Asia-Pacific Journal of Management. 5(1), 145-79. DOI: 10.1007/s10490-017-9519-y.
Karam, C.M. and Afiouni, F. (2017). Women and the legitimization of (not) engaging in paid work. Career Development International, 22(6): 628-58. DOI: 10.1108/CDI-09-2016-0148.
Jamali, D., Karam, C.M., Yin, J. and Soundararajan, V. (2017). CSR Logics Developing Countries: Translation, Adaptation, and Stalled Development. Journal of World Business, 52(3): 343-59. DOI: 10.1016/j.jwb.2017.02.001.
Banalieva. E.R., Karam, C.M., Ralston, D.A., Naoumova, I., Dabic, M., Potocan, V., Thanh, H.V., Starkus, A., Elenkov, D., Danis, W. and Wallace, A. (2017). Communist Footprint and Subordinate Influence Behavior in Post-Communist Economies. Journal of World Business. 52(2), 209-29. DOI: 10.1016/j.jwb.2016.12.002.
Karam, C.M. and Jamali, D. (2017). A Cross-Cultural and Feminist Perspective on CSR in Developing Countries: Uncovering Latent Power Dynamics. Journal of Business Ethics, 142(3), 461-77. DOI: 10.1007/s10551-015-2737-7.
Afiouni, F. and Karam, C. M. (2017). Debunking myths surrounding women’s careers in the Arab Middle East: A critical reflexive approach. In R Ronald Sultana (Ed). Career Guidance and Livelihood Planning in the Mediterranean Region, edited by Ronald Sultana, Sense Publishers, Rotterdam, pp. 55-70.
Jamali, D. and Karam, C.M. (2016). CSR in Developing Countries as an Emerging Field of Study. International Journal of Management Reviews. 52(3), 343-59. DOI: 10.1111/ijmr.12112.
Jamali, D. and Karam, C. M. (2016). CSR in Developed Versus Developing Countries: A Comparative Glimpse. In A. Örtenblad (Ed.) Handbook of Research on Corporate Social Responsibility. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Karam, C.M. and Ralston, D. (2016). A Failure before Analysis: The soup to nuts of preparing for multi-country analyses. Cross Cultural & Strategic Management. 23(4), 590-612. DOI: 10.1108/CCSM-05-2016-0105.
Dawkins, C., Jamali, D., Karam, C.M., Lin, L. and Zhao, J-X. (2016). Corporate Social Responsibility and Job Choice Intentions: A Cross-Cultural Analysis. Business & Society, 55(6), 854-88. DOI: 10.1177/0007650314564783.
Dima Jamali, D., Karam, C.M. and Blowfield, M. (2015). Development-Oriented Corporate Social Responsibility: Multinational Corporations and the Global Context. Volume 1.
Dima Jamali, D., Karam, C.M. and Blowfield, M. (2015). Development-Oriented Corporate Social Responsibility: Locally led Initiatives in Developing Economies. Volume 2.
Sidani, Y.M., Konrad, A., and Karam, C.M. (2015). From Female Leadership Advantage to Female Leadership Deficit: Developing Country Perspective. Career Development International, 20(3), 273-92. DOI: 10.1108/CDI-01-2014-0009.
Karam, C. M., Sidani, Y. and Showail, S. (2015) Teaching Business Ethics in the Global South: Control, Resistance and Phronesis. Teaching in Higher Education. 20(3), 255-71. DOI: 10.1080/13562517.2014.1001833.
Ralston, D.A., Egri, C.P., Karam, C.M., Naoumova, I., Srinivasan, N., Casado, T., Li, Y. & Alas, R. (2014). The Triple-Bottom-Line of Corporate Responsibility: Assessing the Attitudes of Present and Future Business Leaders across the BRICs. Asia-Pacific Journal of Management, 32 (1), 145-79. DOI: 10.1007/s10490-014-9376-x.
Afiouni, F. and Karam, C.M. (2014). Structure, Agency and Notions of Career Success: A Process-oriented, Subjectively Malleable, Localized Approach.Career Development International, 19 (5), 548-71. DOI: 10.1108/CDI-01-2013-0007.
Karam, C.M. and Afiouni, F. (2014). Localizing Women’s Experiences in Academia: Multilevel Factors at Play in the Arab MENA, Int’l Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(10), 500-38. DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2013.792857.
Karam, C.M., Afiouni, F. and Nasr, N.† (2013). Walking a Tightrope or Navigating a Web: Parameters of Balance within Perceived Institutional Realities. Women’s Studies International Forum, 40, 87-100. DOI: 10.1016/j.wsif.2013.05.002.
Karam, C.M. and Jamali, D. (2013). Gendering CSR in the Middle East: An Institutional Perspective, Business Ethics Quarterly. 23(1): 31-68. DOI: 10.5840/beq20132312.
Afiouni, F. Karam, C.M., and El Hage, H. (2013). The HR value proposition model in the Arab Middle East: An Empirical Investigation of the Banking Sector, International Journal of Human Resource Management. 24:10, 1895-1932. DOI: 10.1080/09585192.2013.793555.
Karam, C.M., Ralston, D.A., Egri, C.P., Butt, A., Srinivasan, N., FU, P.P., Lee, C. H., Moon, Y.L., Li, Y., Ansari, M., Kup, C., Thanh, H. V., Pekerti, A., Hallinger, P.; Fang, Y., and Chia, H.B. (2013). Perceptions of the Ethicality of Favors at Work in Asia: An 11-Society Assessment, Asia-Pacific Journal of Management. 30(2): 373-408. DOI: 10.1007/s10490-012-9335-3.
Karam, C.M. (2011). Good Organizational Soldiers: Conflict-Related Stress Predicts Organizational Citizenship Behavior, International Journal of Conflict Management, 22:3, 300-19. DOI: 10.1108/10444061111152982. [Award].
Karam, C.M. and Kwantes, C.T. (2011). Contextualizing Organizational Citizenship Behavior: How Context May Change the Expected Relationship between Idiocentrism and Employee Behavior. Journal of International Management, 17(4), 12-26. DOI: 10.1016/j.intman.2011.05.007.
Kwantes, C.T., Karam, C.M. and Kuo, B.H. (2008). Culture’s Influence on the Perception of OCB as In-Role or Extra-Role, International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 32, 229-43. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijintrel.2008.01.007.
INVITATION TO SPEAK AS AN EXPERT SPEAKER OR DISCUSSANT
European Group for Organizational Studies (July, 2018). Invited by Meyer, R. as one of three speakers on the sub-plenary panel to address doing research in troubled times and places. Ventresca, M., de Rond, M., & Karam C.M. At the 34th EGOS Colloquium on “Surprise in and around Organizations: Journeys to the Unexpected” in Tallinn, Estonia.
Behavioral Economics and Nudge in the Arab Region Conference (May, 2018). Invited to moderate session on Applying Behavioral Insights to Financial and Social Inclusion. Nudge Regional Conference in Beirut, Lebanon.
Arab Centre for Scientific Research and Humane Studies (May 2018). Invited to speak on Women’s Economic Integration in Arab MENA, at the Inclusive Economic Growth Conference in Marrakesh, Morocco.
OXFAM Regional MENA meeting (May 2018). Invited to training country managers on Anti-Sexual Harassment organizational measures.
Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (September, 2018). Invited to address civil society staff about feminist models of economic inclusivity, done online to Palestine.
Lebanese League of Women for Business (April, 2018). Invited to provide closing speech on Women’s Economic Integration in Arab MENA, in Beirut, Lebanon.
AUB-New York Briefing, Office of the President (April, 2018). Invited to speak on Women’s Political Participation and its link to Economic Integration, in Beirut, Lebanon and NY, USA.
AUB- Isaam Fares Institute (March, 2018). Invited to speak on Anti-sexual harassment efforts in Lebanon and the recent draft laws, Beirut, Lebanon.
Clifford-Chance Conference for International Women’s Day (March 2017). Invited to speak on Women’s Economic Integration in Arab MENA, in Dubai, UAE.
Hollings Center of International Dialogue (July, 2017). Invited to speak on Women’s Economic Integration in Arab MENA as part of the Profits for Peace conference, organized by PRME B4P Working Group in Dubai, UAE.
AUB-ILO: Isaam Fares Institute (September, 2016). Invited as part of an expert consultation on Policy Options for Domestic Work in the context of Care Economy, in Beirut, Lebanon.
Lebanon Network of General Assembly of the UN Global Compact (November, 2016). Invited to address Lebanon Collaboration for the SDGs concerning Women’s Empowerment initiatives in Arab MENA, in Beirut, Lebanon.
SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION
Executive Committee, Representative at Large: Elected position at Academy of Management’s Gender and Diversity in Organizations Division (GDO, Term: 2014-2017).
SERVICE TO THE UNIVERSITY (AUB)
2018-present.
Member of Core Curriculum Committee of General Education at AUB.
Member of the Standing Committee of the Lives and Careers of Women at AUB.
Advisory Committee: Al Sabah Visiting Chair in Women and Societal Development Studies (FAS).
2016-present.
Member of the AUB Steering Committee on Refugees (AUB4Refugees).
Member of the Employee Benefits Committee. Plan B Representative.
2012-present.
Executive Board Member of the Evidence-Based Health Care Management Unit.
2016-2018.
Associate Dean of Programs.
Co-chair of the Undergraduate Curriculum and Student Affairs Committee.
Chair of the OSB Graduate Studies Committee.
Chair of the Undergraduate Curriculum and Convener Subcommittee.
Chair of the Undergraduate Curriculum Review taskforce.2017-present.
Member of the Board of Graduate Studies.
Special advising for the LEAD initiative of the Provost Office.
Steering Committee Member for the AUB-New York City Project.
Strategic Planning Consultant for AUB’s scholarship management unit-LEAD.
Special Review for Institutional Review Board.
2017.
Center of Teaching and Learning Workshop on Diversity Training for AUB faculty and Staff.
Member of organizing committee for Presidential Symposium on Women at AUB.
2016.
External Member on recruitment committee for the Faculty of Arts & Sciences English Dept.
Member of the AUB Graduate Education Task Force.
Member of the Dean search committee for the Faculty of Engineering and Architecture.
Member of the Strategic Task Force for Reviving the Humanities and Social Sciences.
Member of the Strategic Health Initiatives Committee.
Founding member of the Gender Equity Group at AUB
Organizer of the Gender Equity Group event: “Where are we now.
Member on the President appointed taskforce on the lives and careers of women at AUB.
External member on recruitment committee for the FAS Agribusiness Program.
External member on recruitment committee for the FAS Psych Dept.
SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY
Expert Consultation.
UN Women to join Strategic Consultative Group for IMAGES research
OXFAM study on women’s participation and leadership in Jordan, Lebanon and Northern Iraq
UN Women- Strategic Consultative Group (SCG) for the Int’l Men and Gender Equality Survey
Board Membership.
Steering Committee for the UN PRME Business for Peace Working Group
Executive Board Member, Arab Foundation for Freedoms and Equality (AFE).
Executive Board Member, Evidence-Based Health Care Management Unit (EHMU) of AUBMC
Advisory Board Member of the Environment and Sustainable Development Unit at AUB
Steering Committee for the UN PRME Business for Peace Working Group
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP
European Group of Organizational Studies (Member)
Academy of International Business (Member)
Academy of Management: Divisions (Member, Executive Member of GDO)
Society of Industrial Organizational Psychology (Member)
American Psychological Association (Member)
Canadian Psychological Association (Member)
KEY INTERESTS
-Building more inclusive business and management models in developing economies
-Private sector's role in building humane, inclusive and sustainable communities, with a focus on women and other marginalized groups.
-Facilitating women's career opportunities and pathways in the Arab Middle East
-Gendering Corporate Social Responsibility
Key constructs: patriarchy, cultural variations, and sociopolitical instability, power dynamics and institutions, institutional logics, HR/HRD, and influence ethics.