Scott headshot

Scott D. Graffin

  • Department Head, Synovus Chair in Servant Leadership and Professor, Department of Management
C200A Benson Hall
sgraffin@uga.edu
Curriculum Vitae

Education

  • PhD, Strategic Management, University of Wisconsin – Madison
  • MBA, Management, University of Wisconsin – Oshkosh
  • BBA, Accounting, University of Wisconsin – Madison

Research Interests

  • Corporate Governance
  • CEO Reputation and Status
  • CEO Succession

Publications

Journal Articles

  • Boivie, S., Gentry, R., Graffin, S., Gee., IH. 2025. Do boards learn to hire? The effect of board experience with CEO replacement on CEO performance. Strategic Management Journal, 46: 2467-2491.
  • Abdulsalam, K., Christensen, D. Graffin, S., & Li, J. 2025. Do boards reward and punish CEOs based on employee satisfaction ratings? Organization Science, 36: 881-902.
  • Curran, K., ††Lee, E., Pfarrer, M., & Graffin, S. 2025. Sharing the spotlight: The benefits of having a celebrity competitor. Journal of Management, 51: 1868-1896.
  • Han, J.H, Pollock, T., & Graffin, S. 2024. Now you see me: How status and categorical proximity shape misconduct scandalization. Academy of Management Journal, 67: 208-231.
  • Oliver, A. ††, Campbell, R. ††, Graffin, S., Bundy, J. †† 2023. Media coverage of earnings announcements: How newsworthiness shapes media volume and tone. Journal of Management, 49: 1213-1245.
  • Busenbark, J., Graffin, S., Campbell, R. ††, Lee, E†. 2022. A marginal effects approach to interpreting main effects and moderation. Organizational Research Methods, 25: 147-169.
  • Campbell, R.††, Busensbark, J., Boivie, S., & Graffin, S. 2021. Retaining problems or solutions? The financial performance implications of retaining directors from an acquired firm’s board. Strategic Management Journal, 42: 1716-1733.
  • Boivie, S., Withers, M., Graffin, S., & Corley, K. 2021. Corporate directors’ implicit theories of the roles and duties of boards. Strategic Management Journal, 42: 1662-1695.
  • Graffin, S., Hubbard, T. ††, Christensen, D., & Lee, E.† 2020. The influence of CEO risk tolerance on initial pay packages. Strategic Management Journal, 41: 788-811.
  • Quigley, T. J., Hubbard, T. †, Ward, A. & Graffin, S. 2020. Still in control: Information releases and CEO stock option grants.  Academy of Management Journal, 63: 155-180.
  • Gamache, D.L, McNamara, G.M., Graffin, S.D., Kiley, J.T. ††, Haleblian, J.J., Devers, C.D. 2019. Impression offsetting as an early warning signal of CEO self-interest in acquisitions. Academy of Management Journal, 62: 1307-1332.
  • Campbell, R.†, Jeong, S., Graffin, S. 2019. Born to take risk? The effects of CEO birth order on strategic risk taking. Academy of Management Journal, 62: 1278-1306.
  • Hubbard, T.,† Christensen, D., & Graffin, S. 2017. Higher Highs and Lower Lows: The Role of Corporate Social Responsibility in CEO Dismissal. Strategic Management Journal, 38:2255-2265.
  • Quigley, T., & Graffin, S. 2017. Reaffirming the CEO effect is Significant and Much Larger than Chance: A Comment on Fitza (2014). Strategic Management Journal, 38:793-801.
  • Boivie, S., Graffin, S., Withers, M., Oliver, A.† 2016. Welcome aboard! Exploring the Effects of Directorships in the Executive Labor Market. Academy Of Management Journal , 59(5):1681-1706.
  • Graffin, S., Haleblian, J., Kiley, J.† 2016. Ready, AIM, Acquire: Impression Offsetting and Acquisitions. Academy Of Management Journal , 59:232-252.
  • Boivie, S., Graffin, S., & Gentry, R. 2016. Understanding the Direction, Magnitude, and Joint Effects of Reputation When Multiple Actors’ Reputations Collide. Academy Of Management Journal, 59:188-206.
  • Christensen, D., Dhaliwal, D., Boivie, S., & Graffin, S. 2015. Top Management Conservatism and Corporate Risk Strategies: Evidence from Managers Personal Political Orientation and Corporate Tax Avoidance. Strategic Management Journal, 36:1918-1938.
  • Graffin, S., Bundy, J.†, Porac, J., Wade, J., Quinn, D. 2013. Falls from Grace and the Hazards of High Status: The 2009 British Expense Scandal and its Impact on Parliamentary Elites. Administrative Science Quarterly, 58:313-345.
  • Graffin, S., Boivie, S., & Carpenter, M. 2013. Examining CEO Succession and the Role of Heuristics in Early-Stage CEO Evaluation. Strategic Management Journal, 34:383-403.
  • Boivie, S., Graffin, S., & Pollock, T. 2012. Time For Me to Fly: Predicting Director Exit at Large Firms. Academy Of Management Journal, 55:1334-1359.
  • Graffin, S., Carpenter, M., & Boivie, S. 2011. What’s All That (Strategic) Noise? Anticipatory Impression Management in CEO Successions. Strategic Management Journal, 32:748-770.
  • Graffin, S. & Ward, A. 2010. Certifications and Reputation: Determining the Standard of Desirability Amidst Uncertainty. Organization Science, 21:331-346.
  • Ward, A., Brown, J., & Graffin, S. 2009. Under the Spotlight: Institutional Invest and Firm Responses to the Council of Institutional Investors’ Annual Focus List. Strategic Organization, 7:107-135.
  • Graffin, S., Wade, J., Porac, J., McNamee, R. 2008. The Impact of CEO Status Diffusion on the Economic Outcomes of Other Senior Managers. Organization Science, 19:457-474.
  • Wade, J., Porac, J., Pollock, T., Graffin, S. 2006. The Burden of Celebrity: The Impact of CEO Certification Contests on CEO Pay and Performance. Academy Of Management Journal, 49:643-660.

Editorial Appointments

  • Editorial Board Member, Organization Science, 2024–present
  • Guest Editor, Special Issue, Journal of Management Studies, 2024–2025
  • Editorial Board Member, Strategic Management Journal, 2020–present
  • Editorial Board Member, Organizational Research Methods, 2017–present
  • Editorial Board Member, Academy of Management Journal, 2010–present
  • Associate Editor, Academy of Management Journal, 2013–2016
  • Editorial Board Member, Academy of Management Review, 2011–2014
  • Editorial Board Member, Academy of Management Learning and Education, 2008–2011

Awards, Honors, and Recognition

  • Outstanding Professor in the Program, Executive MBA Program, 2024
  • Outstanding Professor in the Program, Executive MBA Program, 2023
  • International Research Fellow, University of Oxford's Centre for Corporate Reputation, 2011-Current
  • Award for Scholarly Contribution, Administrative Science Quarterly, 2019
  • Research Excellence Award, Terry College of Business, 2017
  • Hugh O. Nourse Outstanding MBA Teacher Award, Terry College of Business Full-time MBA Program, 2015
  • Best Published Paper, University of Oxford's Centre for Corporate Reputation, 2014
  • Professor of the Year, Terry College of Business Evening MBA Program, 2013
  • Outstanding Teacher, Terry College of Business, 2012