Amir Goldberg

Professor, Organizational Behavior

Amir Goldberg

Professor of Organizational Behavior

Professor of Sociology (by courtesy), School of Humanities and Sciences
Academic Area:

Additional Administrative Titles

Director, Stanford GSB/CEO Presidents Seminar

Research Statement

Amir Goldberg’s research lies at the intersection of cultural sociology, data science and organization studies. He is interested in understanding how social meanings emerge and solidify through social interaction, and what role network structures play in this process. The co-director of the computational culture lab, Amir uses and develops computationally intensive network- and language-based methods to study how new cultural categories take form as people and organizational actors interact.

Bio

Professor Goldberg received bachelor’s degrees in computer science and film studies from Tel Aviv University, and an MA in sociology from Goldsmith’s College, University of London. Before pursuing a PhD in sociology at Princeton University, he worked for several years as a software programmer, an IT consultant, and a technology journalist. A professor of organizational behavior at Stanford Graduate School of Business, his research projects all share an overarching theme: the desire to understand the social mechanisms that underlie how people construct meaning, and consequently pursue action. His work has been published in the American Journal of Sociology, the American Sociological Review, Management Science and the Review of Financial Studies.

Academic Degrees

  • PhD Sociology, Princeton University
  • MA Sociology, Goldsmiths College, University of London
  • BA Computer Science & Film Studies (double major), Tel Aviv University

Academic Appointments

  • At Stanford University since 2011

Awards and Honors

  • John A. and Cynthia Fry Gunn Faculty Scholar for 2021–22
  • Younger Family Faculty Scholar, 2016–17
  • MBA Class of 1969 Faculty Scholar, Stanford Graduate School of Business, 2014–15
  • Harold W. Dodds Honorific Fellowship, Princeton University

Publications

Journal Articles

Amir Goldberg, Madison Singell
Annual Review of Sociology
August 2024 Vol. 50 Pages 85–105
Abraham Oshotse, Yael Berda, Amir Goldberg
American Sociological Review
February 2024
Douglas R. Guilbeault, Austin van Loon, Katharina Lix, Amir Goldberg, Sameer B. Srivastava
Management Science
November 2023
Douglas Guilbeault, Austin van Loon, Katharina Lix, Amir Goldberg, Sameer Srivastava
Management Science
August 2023
Paul Gouvard, Amir Goldberg, Sameer Srivastava
Administrative Science Quarterly
June 2023 Vol. 68 Issue 3 Pages 781–823
Richard Lu, Jennifer A. Chatman, Amir Goldberg, Sameer B. Srivastava
Organization Science
April 2023 Vol. 35 Issue 1 Pages 71–91
Paul Vicinanza, Amir Goldberg, Sameer B. Srivastava
PNAS Nexus
January 2023 Vol. 2 Issue 1
Katharina Lix, Amir Goldberg, Sameer B. Srivastava, Melissa A. Valentine
Management Science
November 2022 Vol. 68 Issue 11 Pages 8430–8448
Anjali M. Bhatt, Amir Goldberg, Sameer B. Srivastava
Sociological Methods & Research
May 2022
Amir Goldberg
American Sociological Review
November 19, 2021
Matthew Corritore, Amir Goldberg, Sameer B. Srivastava
Administrative Science Quarterly
June 2020 Vol. 65 Issue 2 Pages 359-394
Amir Goldberg, Sarah K. Stein
American Sociological Review
October 2018 Vol. 83 Issue 5 Pages 897-932
Sameer B. Srivastava, Amir Goldberg, V. Govind Manian, Christopher Potts
Management Science
March 2018 Vol. 64 Issue 3 Pages 1348-1364
Paul DiMaggio, Amir Goldberg
European Journal of Sociology
February 21, 2018 Pages 1-39
Gabriel Doyle, Amir Goldberg, Sameer B. Srivastava, Michael C. Frank
Proceedings of the 55th Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics
August 2017
Ran Duchin, Amir Goldberg, Denis Sosyura
Review of Financial Studies
May 2017 Vol. 30 Issue 5 Pages 1696-1743
Amir Goldberg, Sameer B. Srivastava, V. Govind Manian, William Monroe, Christopher Potts
American Sociological Review
December 1, 2016 Vol. 81 Issue 6 Pages 1190-1222
Amir Goldberg, Michael T. Hannan, Balazs Kovacs
American Sociological Review
April 2016 Vol. 81 Issue 2 Pages 215-241
Amir Goldberg
Big Data & Society
December 2015 Vol. 2 Issue 2
Daniel McFarland, Kevin Lewis, Amir Goldberg
American Sociologist
2015
Amir Goldberg, Delia Baldassarri
American Journal of Sociology
July 2014 Vol. 120 Issue 1 Pages 45-95
Amir Goldberg
American Journal of Sociology
March 2011 Vol. 116 Issue 5 Pages 1397–1436

Book Chapters

Kirsten Schowalter, Amir Goldberg, Sameer B. Srivastava
Social Networks at Work
2020
Sanaz Mobasseri, Amir Goldberg, Sameer B. Srivastava
Oxford Handbook of Cognitive Sociology
2017

Working Papers

Amir Goldberg, Madison Singell September 1, 2023
Austin van Loon, Amir Goldberg, Sameer B. Srivastava 2023
Sarah K. Stein, Amir Goldberg, Sameer B. Srivastava January 2018

Academic Publications

Matthew Corritore, Amir Goldberg, Sameer Srivastava
Harvard Business Review
January 2020 Vol. 98 Issue 1 Pages 76-83

Teaching

Executive Education & Other Non-Degree Programs

Lead and implement digital transformation initiatives empowered by a deeper understanding of the technologies, opportunities, and strategies you need to succeed.
Transform marketing in your organization with strategic frameworks, customer-centric innovation, and persuasive communication and leadership skills.
Effectively diagnose and solve problems using proven frameworks for executing change in this multidisciplinary strategic management course.
Explore international management, strategy, and leadership perspectives from both sides of the Pacific Rim with NUS Business School and Stanford GSB.

Stanford Case Studies

Amir Goldberg, Robert Siegel, Dominic Mirabile
2022
Amir Goldberg, Robert Siegel, Matt Saucedo
2017
Mary Ittelson, Amir Goldberg, Sheila Melvin
2017
Mary Ittelson, Amir Goldberg, Kara Riopelle
2016
Amir Goldberg, Debra Schifrin
2016

Insights by Stanford Business

April 19, 2024
Nonconformist executives grab attention — and investments. But they’re not always a safe bet.
March 05, 2024
An AI-boosted search for prescient ideas finds they’re more likely to come from the periphery than the core.
December 12, 2023
’Tis the season for personal and professional growth.
October 25, 2023
Expert advice on how to move fast — without breaking stuff.
March 17, 2023
Research-based approaches for bringing fresh ideas to teams and organizations.
December 12, 2022
Eleven articles to help you work, lead, and collaborate better.
May 10, 2022
Five lessons in five minutes: Professor Amir Goldberg shows how machine learning can help leaders make people-related decisions inside an organization.
January 07, 2022
An analysis of thousands of Slack messages shows how groups can adjust their cognitive diversity.
November 20, 2020
How machine learning helped researchers sort through 500,000 Glassdoor reviews to weigh the benefits of workplace diversity.
November 20, 2020
Access to superabundant data has transformed the methods of scholastic inquiry — and possibly the basic tenets of inquiry itself.
July 20, 2020
Diverse corporate cultures are good, but the best encourage workers to embrace the diversity of their personal, sometimes conflicting, beliefs.
December 11, 2018
From anti-vaxxing to gun control, the propagation of beliefs and behaviors is influenced as much by the meanings we ascribe to them as by our social circles.
December 03, 2018
Viewers sought advice from IBM’s Ginni Rometty and former CIA Director David Petraeus, as well as insights from faculty about what our emails reveal about us.
December 03, 2018
Seven Stanford business professors recommend their favorite books.
November 20, 2018
Should you hire the team player or the renegade?
October 26, 2018
It’s hard to hide how you really feel in email.
February 01, 2018
Research points to another important trait that can determine the success of a new hire.
September 26, 2017
Managerial pay may be influenced by social connections as much as performance.
September 02, 2016
The most successful employees do a bit of both, striking a balance between integration and nonconformity.
May 27, 2016
A professor finds that so-called cultural leaders aren’t leading at all.
May 15, 2014
Every decision we make is deeply rooted in our social identity. A researcher explains a new, networked approach to understanding our cultural traits.
April 16, 2014
A pair of sociologists finds the answer — and uncovers political subcultures in the process.

School News

April 22, 2024
A new program opens Stanford GSB to undergraduates for the first time.
December 06, 2022
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