The E. Sun Academic Award was established in 2010, to award to faculties who has publications in the top 3 journals in their own field.  This year, Professor Jung Yun Han has published her research, Unequal Bedfellows: Gender Role-based Deference in Multiplex Ties Between Korean Business Groups, in Academy of Management Journal.

Deference within two partners occurs when one partner acknowledges that the other is entitled to some privileges. Although deference is a well-known consequence of relationships between partners of unequal status, little is known on whether deference in one domain can affect interactions between the same actors in the other domains. This can happen within ‘multiplex relationships’, especially when they involve firms that have both business and personal interactions between their key decision makers.  This study helps us understand the mechanism of multiplexity, in particular, the dark side of multiplexity. Current research focuses on benefits of multiplex ties, our findings suggest that they could also be “Trojan horses” through which a partner could control operations of another. This study also helps understand the determinants of market entry and exit behaviors of companies through a sociological lens.

What a great honor to both Prof Han and GMBA!  Congratulations!