Ian O. Williamson
Dean of the Paul Merage School of Business UC Irvine
- Irvine CA
Ian O. Williamson is a globally recognized expert in the area of human resource management.
Media
Social
Biography
Williamson received his PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a bachelor’s degree in business from Miami University. He has served as a faculty member at Melbourne Business School, Rutgers Business School, the Zurich Institute of Business Education, the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland and Institut Teknologi Bandung.
Williamson is a globally recognized expert in the area of human resource management. His research examines the impact of “talent pipelines” on organizational and community outcomes. Williamson has assisted executives in over 20 countries across six continents enhance firm operational and financial outcomes, improve talent recruitment and retention, enhance firm innovation and understand the impact of social issues on firm outcomes.
Williamson’s research has been published in leading academic journals (e.g. Academy of Management Journal, MIT Sloan Management Review, Organization Science, Journal of Applied Psychology) and has been covered by leading media outlets across the world. He has served on the editorial boards of the Academy of Management Journal, Academy Management Review, Academy of Management Education and Learning, Journal of Management and Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal and Journal of Management.
He is a past recipient of the Academy of Management (AOM) Education Division Best Paper Award for his research on high performing teams, the AOM Human Resource Division Best Paper Award for his research on the effect of employee mobility on firm performance and the AOM Ralph Alexander Best Dissertation Award for his research examining the top management team (TMT) selection decisions of Fortune 500 firms. He is a recipient of the AOM Best Practices Mentoring Award for his role as the founding President of the Management Faculty of Color Association (MFCA). He also received the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill Kenan-Flagler Business School Outstanding PhD Student Award.
Areas of Expertise
Accomplishments
Melbourne Business School Senior Executive MBA Teaching Award
2016
CPA Australia/ABDC Award for Outstanding Achievement in Business Education Collaboration
2016
Business/Higher Education Round Table
University of Melbourne Award for Excellence and Innovation in Indigenous Higher Education
2014
Management Education Division of the Academy of Management Best Paper Award
2013
Education
Miami University
B.S.
Management
1994
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Ph.D.
Organizational Behavior
2000
Affiliations
- Octane : Board Member
- Insper (São Paulo, Brazil) International Advisory Board : Member
- Leave No Veteran Behind : Advisory Board Member
- RAUSP Management Journal : Editorial Board Member
Links
Media Appearances
20 Irvine game changers
Irvine Spectrum online
2025-04-02
Ian O. Williamson, Dean of UC Irvine Paul Merage School of Business, s a globally recognized expert in human resource management and leadership development. … He has hosted the Future of Work event at UCI and led the launch of the school’s metaversity, a digital twin enhancing business education through immersive technology. “I believe education should empower individuals to shape their future and make meaningful contributions to their communities.”
Trump Takes Aim At B-School Faculty Diversity
Poets & Quants online
2025-03-14
“The Ph.D. Project is the most successful social impact initiative I’ve ever seen. I know this model works because I saw it play out in my own life,” says … Ian Williamson, who is dean of the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine. He continues, “This organization is addressing a big problem today: the lack of representation in business and people studying business. We believe that when you change the people in front of the classroom, you can change the people who attend the class. The ‘Role Model Effect’ is extraordinarily powerful because it’s built upon strong science around self-efficacy.”
Impact of mass layoffs in federal workforce
KNX News 97.1 FM radio
2025-03-13
The mass layoffs of federal employees have caused a lot of turmoil in Washington and across the country. The Trump administration says it’s all part of a drive to make government more efficient, cut waste … Joining us with more on the wider impact is Ian Williamson, who is the dean of the Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine, also a globally recognized expert in human resource management and organizational leadership. … “I think it’s been chaotic, but I think the bigger story – if we’re just thinking about the government’s operations – is ‘what is the end game in place?’ This doesn’t have a clear aim, if the goal is for the government to provide these services to the public,” says Williamson.
Why are CFOs gloomy about the future?
Marketplace online
2024-09-23
Ian Williamson, dean of the business school at UC Irvine, thinks the biggest issue is a structural problem with the workforce. “This has been an issue that has been looming and growing for at least a decade,” he said. “In the United States, we simply are running into a shortage of people.”
Dean Williamson Steps into Global Leadership Role as AACSB Secretary-Treasurer
Los Angeles Times online
2024-05-02
UCI Paul Merage School of Business’ Dean Williamson has been appointed Secretary-Treasurer of the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB). The role not only celebrates his longstanding commitment to business education but also positions him at the forefront of academic leadership on a global scale. … As the newly appointed Secretary-Treasurer, Williamson will play a crucial role in steering the association’s strategic financial decisions, ensuring that it remains at the helm of business education innovation.
Hustle Culture vs. Quiet Quitting: How Bosses Can Walk the Line
Success Magazine online
2024-02-20
Ian Williamson, dean of the Paul Merage School of Business at University of California, Irvine, predicts a workplace landscape in 2024 of “continued evolution toward more holistic work environments, thanks to a continued shortage of workers and a continued diversification in the workforce.” He adds, “This will increase expectations on employers to consider how they can best create inclusive environments that meet the expectations of a wide range of employees.”
Event Appearances
Illustrating DEIB as it relates to Societal Impact
AACSB Global Diversity & Inclusion Summit
2021-12-16
Leading in the era of COVID
International Conference on Management in Emerging Markets
2021-08-12
Empowering Students by Showing up in New Ways
AACSB Global Diversity & Inclusion Summit
2020-12-07
Building a More Diverse and Inclusive Business School
AACSB International Conference and Annual Meeting
2020-04-01
Social Sustainability
University of Antwerp International Week on Sustainability
2020-03-12
Articles
The Effect of HRM Practices on Employment Outcomes in Indigenous Social Enterprises
Journal of Social Entrepreneurship2021
Indigenous economic development is a critical area of focus for many communities globally. Indigenous social enterprises play an important role in enhancing economic development by providing employment opportunities for Indigenous community members.
Quadruple Helix Approach to Achieve International Product Quality for Indonesian Food SMEs
Journal of the Knowledge Economy2021
The food and beverage industry represents a promising industry for significant economic growth in developing economies. However, a critical barrier to the food and beverage industry realizing this potential in developing countries is achieving international food quality standards.
Toward a Business Resilience Framework for Startups
Sustainability2021
Covid-19 has had a significant impact on the disruption of the global economic sector, including for startup businesses. This encourages entrepreneurs to carry out a continuous innovation process to become more ambidextrous and continue to innovate in an effort to futureproof their business. The paper aims to provide a business resilience framework by exploring capability (innovation ambidexterity, dynamic capability, and technology capability), behavior (agile leadership), and knowledge (knowledge stock) in startup businesses.
Trust Consensus Within Culturally Diverse Teams: A Multistudy Investigation
Journal of Management2020
Despite tremendous progress toward understanding trust within teams, research has predominately conceptualized team trust as a shared group construct, focusing almost exclusively on trust magnitude (i.e., mean level of trust) while ignoring trust dispersion (i.e., within-team differences in trust). As a result, we know little about this critical property of team trust, its determinants, and independent impact on team outcomes.
The future of feedback: Motivating performance improvement through future-focused feedback
PloS one2020
Managerial feedback discussions often fail to produce the desired performance improvements. Three studies shed light on why performance feedback fails and how it can be made more effective. In Study 1, managers described recent performance feedback experiences in their work settings. In Studies 2 and 3, pairs of managers role-played a performance review meeting. In all studies, recipients of mixed and negative feedback doubted the accuracy of the feedback and the providers’ qualifications to give it.
