Kam Phung

PhD Candidate, Business Administration
Area of Study: Organization Studies
Anticipated Graduating Year: 2021

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Educational Background

Thesis Topic

Interactions and technology mobilization: An ethnography at the intersection of blockchain and climate action

Research Interests – Work in Progress

Kam’s research focuses on the disruption and perpetuation of large-scale societal challenges in and around organizations, from large corporations to startups to social movement organizations to new forms of organizing. He is particularly interested in the social, cultural, and political dimensions of technology, innovation, and change in the context of social and environmental issues and has a research portfolio comprised of projects examining issues such as climate change, modern slavery and forced labour, and stigma and marginalization, which he studies from organizational and entrepreneurial viewpoints. He predominantly deploys qualitative research methods involving on the ground direct interactions with organizations and their members and stakeholders to develop deep and novel insights into the issues at hand with the potential to unearth theoretical contributions and meaningful practical implications for society.

Kam is a member of the Academy of Management (AOM), European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS), and Antislavery Early Research Association. As an active member of AOM, Kam has served as the Social Media Manager for the Social Issues in Management (SIM) Division (2017-present), Chair of the All-Academy New Doctoral Students’ Consortium (2017), Member of the SIM Division’s “Best Business Ethics Paper” evaluation committee (2019 and 2020), and Co-organizer of the Organizational Stigma professional development workshop (2019 and 2020). He is also an adhoc reviewer for leading journals including: Journal of Management Studies, Human Relations, California Management Review, Journal of Business Ethics, and Business & Society.

Kam has been invited to present his research at industry and government engagements, including federal policy consultations and workshops for national trade associations. He also has experience building social, environmental, and financial technology startups, as well as diverse experience with sustainability-focused consulting/auditing firms and not-profit organizations around the world.

Kam teaches ORGS 2200 – Organizations and their environments at Schulich and has guest lectured at the Sauder School of Business – University of British Columbia, where he was a Visiting Researcher affiliated with the W. Maurice Young Centre for Entrepreneurship and Venture Capital Research.

Awards and Honours

Refereed Publications

Crane, A., LeBaron, G., Phung, K., Behbahani, L. & Allain, J. (Forthcoming). Confronting the business models of modern slavery. Journal of Management Inquiry. https://doi.org/10.1177/1056492621994904.

Phung, K., Buchanan, S., Toubiana, M., Ruebottom, T., & Turchick‐Hakak, L. (Forthcoming). When stigma doesn’t transfer: Stigma deflection and occupational stratification in the sharing economy. Journal of Management Studies. https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.12574.

Phung, K. Slavery and its links to organizations. (2018). In R. Burke, & C. Cooper (Eds.), Violence and abuse in and around organisations: 273-291. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Phung, K., & Crane, A. (2018). The business of modern slavery: Management and organizational perspectives. In J. B. Clark, & S. Poucki (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of human trafficking and modern day slavery: 177-197. London, UK: SAGE.

Refereed Conference Papers

Phung, K. (2020). Organizing for the climate emergency: Organizational underpinnings of climate action. 80th Academy of Management Meeting. Aug 7-11: Virtual. [Organized Showcase Symposium – Top 10%]

Phung, K. & Lu, C. (2020). Decentralized organization theory: Distributed trust and blockchain. 80th Academy of Management Meeting. Aug 7-11: Virtual. [Organized Symposium]

Sadri, M., Helms, W. Phung, K., & Piazza, A. (2020). Unpacking stigmatization: Labeling, audience heterogeneity, and market-based sanctioning. 80th Academy of Management Meeting. Aug 7-11: Virtual.

Caruana, R., Crane, A., & Phung, K.(2019). Advancing research on modern slavery and business: New theoretical and empirical directions. 79th Academy of Management Meeting. Aug 9-13: Boston, USA. [Organized Showcase Symposium – Top 10%]

Helms, W., Patterson, K., & Phung, K. (2019). Ideological passion and the empowering sanctioning work of stigmatized actors. 35th European Group for Organizational Studies Colloquium. Jul 4-6: Edinburgh, UK.

Phung, K. & Lyons, B. (2019). You cite Goffman (1963) too? Exploring avenues for cross-level dialogue and research on stigma. 79th Academy of Management Meeting. Aug 9-13: Boston, USA. [Organized Showcase Symposium – Top 10%]

Phung, K., Toubiana, M., Buchanan, S., Ruebottom, T., & Turchick Hakak, L. (2019). When stigma doesn’t stick: Occupational stratification in the sharing economy. 10th Oxford Reputation Symposium. Aug 28-30: Oxford, UK.

Crane, A., LeBaron, G., Phung, K., Behbahani, L. & Allain, J. (2018). Innovations in the business models of modern slavery: The dark side of business model innovation. 78th Academy of Management Meeting. Aug 10-14: Chicago, USA. [Best Paper – Top 10%]

Helms, W., Patterson, K., & Phung, K. (2018). This isn’t for everyone: The origins of defiance and the preservation of stigmatized practices. 34th European Group for Organizational Studies Colloquium. Jul 5-7: Tallinn, Estonia.

Phung, K., Toubiana, M., Buchanan, S., Ruebottom, T., & Turchick Hakak, L. (2018). Uber’ing away stigma: The impact of technology of stigmatized occupations. 34th European Group for Organizational Studies Colloquium. Jul 5-7, 2018: Tallinn, Estonia.

Crane, A., Phung, K., LeBaron, G., Allain, J., & Behbahani, L. (2017). The dark side of creativity: Innovation in the business models of modern slavery. 28th International Association for Business and Society Meeting. Jun 29-Jul 2: Amsterdam, The Netherlands.