Aten K. Zaandam

Biography

I am a strategy scholar whose work investigates the intersection of psychological dispositions, structural governance, and strategic decisions. Grounded in my prior experience as a clinical mental health counselor, my research program advances Upper Echelons Theory and Behavioral Agency Theory by exploring how executives and external audiences interpret seemingly objective structural factors. Central to my scholarship is examining the tension between self and society, specifically identifying when leaders prioritize their own interests and when they serve others. To answer these complex questions, I leverage advanced statistical methods to bring rigorous empirical scrutiny to the behavioral processes underlying corporate strategy and purposeful leadership.

A hallmark of my research is my commitment to helping advance the field through novel theoretical developments, data accessibility, and devising new methods of analyses and data procurement. Recognizing that the field often relies on proxies for psychological traits, I have pioneered innovative approaches to directly measure executive dispositions at scale. For example, in a paper examining executive cognition, I seek to provide a large, multimodal database of video interviews. This foundational infrastructure has since been expanded to encompass entrepreneurs, engagement partners, and even board members, allowing unprecedented personal insights into otherwise unreachable populations. By synchronizing text, audio, and visual data, these methodological advancements bypass institutional filters and allow researchers to observe behavioral processes that were previously only assumed.

Applying these novel data procurement strategies, I explore how both executives and boards act as boundedly rational actors driven by complex affective states. For example, in a paper examining board evaluations, I seek to extend behavioral agency theory to the principal by utilizing verified director footage to measure how board empathy influences CEO compensation. This work reveals that boards are susceptible to cognitive dynamics where empathy can fundamentally alter the pricing of organizational actions. Looking forward, my research trajectory continues to integrate advanced technologies with my unique psychological perspective. My ongoing goal is to build comprehensive, publicly available databases that not only fuel my own theoretical insights into modern corporate governance, but also empower other scholars to explore these intricate dynamics in their own research.

Publications

Published

1. 01

   Zaandam, A.*, with Hubbard T*., & Markoczy, L.* (2026, in press). The Resource Insecurity Mindset: Why CEOs from Lower-Class Origins Are Both Greedier and More Generous. Academy of Management Journal. (All authors contributed equally).

2. 02

   Hasija, D., Zaandam, A., Stettler, E., Ellstrand, A., & Guldiken, O. A. (2026, in press). Process Model of Board Characteristics and Firm Performance: A Meta analytic Structural Equation Modeling Approach. Corporate Governance: An International Review.

3. 03

   Zaandam, A., Hasija, D., Ellstrand, A. E., & Cummings, M. E. (2021). Founder and professional CEOs' performance differences across institutions: a meta analytic study. Global Strategy Journal, 11(4), 620 655.

Under Review

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  Zaandam, A., Short, C., Yang, R., & Haleblian, J., Catch Up or Double Down? How Competitor Type Shapes External Corporate Venturing in Pharmaceutical R&D. Academy of Management Journal.

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  Zaandam, A., Hubbard T., & Short C. Introducing A Large-Scale, Multimodal Database of Executive Video Interviews. Organization Science.

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  Zaandam, A., & Hubbard, T., CEO greed and vertical integration: Going it alone or collaborating with others. Journal of Management.

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  Zaandam, A., Triana, M. & Barr-Pulliam, D. Does Partisanship Penalize Female Leaders? Auditor Evaluations in the Wake of Corporate Misstatements. Management Science.

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  Zaandam, A., & Hubbard, T., When Self-Interest Serves Others: Greed, Attention, and Resource Reallocation in Crises. Journal of Management Studies.

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  Jooyoung, K., Zaandam, A., & Triana, M. The Glass Signal: How Female Board Appointments Become Pathways to Mobility. Organization Science.

Education

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