Ronit Kark is a Professor of Leadership and Organizational Psychology in the Department of Psychology at Bar-Ilan University. She is also a part time Distinguished Research Professor at the Business School at Exeter University, UK and an affiliated scholar at the Center for Gender in Organizations at Simmons College, Boston. She is the founder and was the first director of the Graduate Gender Program ‘Gender in the Field: Linking Feminist Theory and Practice’, at Bar-Ilan University. She received her Ph.D. from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and completed her postdoctoral studies at the University of Michigan. Her research interests include leadership and followership, positive relationships and relatedness in organizations, identity and identification processes, gender and leadership, and leading for creativity. Her work was published in leading journals including: AMR, AMA, LQ, JOOP, JOB, Organization, AMLE and JAP.
Prof. Kark is an Associate Editor at the LQ and also served on the Editorial Boards of the AMJ, AMR, AMD, Frontiers in Psychology and IJMR. She was awarded the Best Paper Prizes by the International Leadership Association (ILA, 2005) and the International Academy of Management and Business (IAMB, 2012) and the Academy of Management Annals (AMA, 2016, #2). She also received the AOM 2012 Award for her Scholarly Contributions to Advancing Women in Leadership, the 2016 award for Iconic Leaders in Social Enterprise (by ALL Ladies League - Women Economic Forum, Delhi, India) and the 2016 prize for Outstanding Researcher at BIU. She recently as runner-up for the Managerial and Organizational Cognition (MOC) Division’s Best Student-Led Paper (AOM, 2019). Her co-authored book on Creative Leadership was chosen by the Forbes Magazine Best Book Selection as one of the 10 best books on this topic in the world for 2018. She consults to organizations (private, public sector and NGOs) on leadership development and on enhancing socially responsible leadership and serves voluntarily on the advisory committees and boards of NGOs that aim to enhance social change and equity.
Nationality: Israeli
Qualifications
- Professor of Leadership and Organizational Psychology
Research interests
- Leadership
- Organizational identity and identification
- Gender in organizations
- Leadership and creativity
- Positive connections and relationships in organizations
Links
Key publications | Publications by category | Publications by year
Publications by category
Journal articles
Katz – Navon T, Kark R, Delegach M (2020). Trapped in the Middle: Challenging the Linear Approach to the Relationship between Leadership and Safety.
Academy of Management Discoveries,
6(1), 81-106.
DOI.
Kark R, Van Dijk D (2019). KEEP YOUR HEAD IN THE CLOUDS AND YOUR FEET ON THE GROUND: a MULTIFOCAL REVIEW OF LEADERSHIP-FOLLOWERSHIP SELF-REGULATORY FOCUS.
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT ANNALS,
13(2), 509-546.
Author URL.
DOI.
Zheng W, Kark R, Meister AL (2018). Paradox versus dilemma mindset: a theory of how women leaders navigate the tensions between agency and communion.
Leadership Quarterly,
29(5), 584-596.
Abstract:
Paradox versus dilemma mindset: a theory of how women leaders navigate the tensions between agency and communion
A wealth of literature documents that women leaders can face simultaneous and yet conflictual demands for both agency and communion, due to the incongruence of their leader role and gender role demands. However, we still know little about why some women cope with the tensions between agency and communion better than others and what implications are involved. Using a paradox perspective, we develop a theoretical model to explain how women leaders experience and respond to agency-communion tensions, which impacts their intrapersonal and interpersonal outcomes. Specifically, we propose that in response to experiencing tensions fueled by the dual demands for agency and communion, women leaders can adopt a paradox mindset that simultaneously embraces agency and communion, or a dilemma mindset that dichotomizes agency and communion. The paradox mindset helps women leaders build psychological resilience, identity coexistence, and leadership effectiveness, whereas those who adopt a dilemma mindset experience depleted resilience, identity separation, and lowered leadership effectiveness. Further, our model highlights individual, interpersonal, and organizational conditions that shape women's experience and stimulate a paradox mindset versus a dilemma mindset. We conclude by discussing theoretical and practical implications of our model.
Abstract.
DOI.
Epitropaki O, Kark R, Mainemelis C, Lord RG (2017). Leadership and followership identity processes: a multilevel review.
Leadership Quarterly,
28(1), 104-129.
Abstract:
Leadership and followership identity processes: a multilevel review
A growing body of leadership literature focuses on leader and follower identity dynamics, levels, processes of development and outcomes. Despite the importance of the phenomena, there has been surprisingly little effort to systematically review the widely dispersed literature on leader and follower identity. In this review we map existing studies on a multilevel framework that integrates levels-of-the self (individual, relational and collective) with the levels-of-analysis (intrapersonal, interpersonal and group) on which leader or follower identity work takes place. We also synthesize work from multiple research paradigms, such as social psychology experimental studies, narrative accounts of leaders' identity work and field studies on antecedents, outcomes, mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions. Finally, we outline implications for leadership development and call attention to key themes we see ripe for future research.
Abstract.
DOI.
Lin B, Mainemelis C, Kark R (2016). Leaders' responses to creative deviance: Differential effects on subsequent creative deviance and creative performance.
LEADERSHIP QUARTERLY,
27(4), 537-556.
Author URL.
DOI.
Mainemelis C, Kark R, Epitropaki O (2015). Creative Leadership: a Multi-Context Conceptualization.
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT ANNALS,
9(1), 393-482.
Author URL.
DOI.
Kark R, Katz-Navon T, Delegach M (2015). The dual effects of leading for safety: the mediating role of employee regulatory focus.
J Appl Psychol,
100(5), 1332-1348.
Abstract:
The dual effects of leading for safety: the mediating role of employee regulatory focus.
This study examined the underlying mechanisms through which transformational and transactional leadership influence employee safety behaviors. Linking leadership theory with self-regulatory focus (SRF) theory, we examined a model of dual effects of leadership on safety initiative and safety compliance behaviors as mediated by promotion and prevention self-regulations. We conducted an experimental study (N = 107), an online study (N = 99) and a field study (N = 798 employees and 49 managers). Results demonstrated that followers' situational promotion focus mediated the positive relationship between transformational leadership and safety initiative behaviors. Through all 3 studies, transactional active leadership was positively associated with followers' situational prevention focus, however, the association between followers' prevention focus and safety compliance behaviors was inconsistent, showing the expected mediation relationships in the experimental setting, but not in the online and field studies. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of the findings.
Abstract.
Author URL.
DOI.
Publications by year
2020
Katz – Navon T, Kark R, Delegach M (2020). Trapped in the Middle: Challenging the Linear Approach to the Relationship between Leadership and Safety.
Academy of Management Discoveries,
6(1), 81-106.
DOI.
2019
Kark R, Van Dijk D (2019). KEEP YOUR HEAD IN THE CLOUDS AND YOUR FEET ON THE GROUND: a MULTIFOCAL REVIEW OF LEADERSHIP-FOLLOWERSHIP SELF-REGULATORY FOCUS.
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT ANNALS,
13(2), 509-546.
Author URL.
DOI.
2018
Zheng W, Kark R, Meister AL (2018). Paradox versus dilemma mindset: a theory of how women leaders navigate the tensions between agency and communion.
Leadership Quarterly,
29(5), 584-596.
Abstract:
Paradox versus dilemma mindset: a theory of how women leaders navigate the tensions between agency and communion
A wealth of literature documents that women leaders can face simultaneous and yet conflictual demands for both agency and communion, due to the incongruence of their leader role and gender role demands. However, we still know little about why some women cope with the tensions between agency and communion better than others and what implications are involved. Using a paradox perspective, we develop a theoretical model to explain how women leaders experience and respond to agency-communion tensions, which impacts their intrapersonal and interpersonal outcomes. Specifically, we propose that in response to experiencing tensions fueled by the dual demands for agency and communion, women leaders can adopt a paradox mindset that simultaneously embraces agency and communion, or a dilemma mindset that dichotomizes agency and communion. The paradox mindset helps women leaders build psychological resilience, identity coexistence, and leadership effectiveness, whereas those who adopt a dilemma mindset experience depleted resilience, identity separation, and lowered leadership effectiveness. Further, our model highlights individual, interpersonal, and organizational conditions that shape women's experience and stimulate a paradox mindset versus a dilemma mindset. We conclude by discussing theoretical and practical implications of our model.
Abstract.
DOI.
2017
Epitropaki O, Kark R, Mainemelis C, Lord RG (2017). Leadership and followership identity processes: a multilevel review.
Leadership Quarterly,
28(1), 104-129.
Abstract:
Leadership and followership identity processes: a multilevel review
A growing body of leadership literature focuses on leader and follower identity dynamics, levels, processes of development and outcomes. Despite the importance of the phenomena, there has been surprisingly little effort to systematically review the widely dispersed literature on leader and follower identity. In this review we map existing studies on a multilevel framework that integrates levels-of-the self (individual, relational and collective) with the levels-of-analysis (intrapersonal, interpersonal and group) on which leader or follower identity work takes place. We also synthesize work from multiple research paradigms, such as social psychology experimental studies, narrative accounts of leaders' identity work and field studies on antecedents, outcomes, mediating mechanisms and boundary conditions. Finally, we outline implications for leadership development and call attention to key themes we see ripe for future research.
Abstract.
DOI.
2016
Lin B, Mainemelis C, Kark R (2016). Leaders' responses to creative deviance: Differential effects on subsequent creative deviance and creative performance.
LEADERSHIP QUARTERLY,
27(4), 537-556.
Author URL.
DOI.
2015
Mainemelis C, Kark R, Epitropaki O (2015). Creative Leadership: a Multi-Context Conceptualization.
ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT ANNALS,
9(1), 393-482.
Author URL.
DOI.
Kark R, Katz-Navon T, Delegach M (2015). The dual effects of leading for safety: the mediating role of employee regulatory focus.
J Appl Psychol,
100(5), 1332-1348.
Abstract:
The dual effects of leading for safety: the mediating role of employee regulatory focus.
This study examined the underlying mechanisms through which transformational and transactional leadership influence employee safety behaviors. Linking leadership theory with self-regulatory focus (SRF) theory, we examined a model of dual effects of leadership on safety initiative and safety compliance behaviors as mediated by promotion and prevention self-regulations. We conducted an experimental study (N = 107), an online study (N = 99) and a field study (N = 798 employees and 49 managers). Results demonstrated that followers' situational promotion focus mediated the positive relationship between transformational leadership and safety initiative behaviors. Through all 3 studies, transactional active leadership was positively associated with followers' situational prevention focus, however, the association between followers' prevention focus and safety compliance behaviors was inconsistent, showing the expected mediation relationships in the experimental setting, but not in the online and field studies. We discuss theoretical and practical implications of the findings.
Abstract.
Author URL.
DOI.
Awards and Honours
- Loreal Rekanati – Best PhD award for the study of Leadership and Gender (Tel Aviv University, 2001)
- Best Paper Prize, The International Leadership Association (ILA, 2005)
- Best Paper The International Academy of
- Management and Business (IAMB, 2012)
- Best paper the Academy of Management Annals (AMA, 2016, #2)
- AOM 2012 Award for Scholarly Contributions to Advancing Women in Leadership
- 2016 award for Iconic Leaders in Social Enterprise (by ALL Ladies League - Women Economic Forum, Delhi, India)
- 2016 prize for Outstanding Researcher at BIU.
- Finalist, for the Managerial and Organizational Cognition (MOC) Division’s Best Student-Led Paper (AOM, 2019).
- Her co-authored book on Creative Leadership was chosen by the Forbes Magazine Best Book Selection as one of the 10 best books on this topic in the world for 2018.
External positions
Department of Psychology, Bar Ilan University
Invited lectures
- Kark, R. (April, 2018). Keynote. Invited speaker. Leadership and Identity: Major directions - past, current and future research. PhD and Postdoc Spring School Leadership in Knowledge Organizations: Perspectives on Talent Management & Diversity TUM School of Management, Münich, Germany.
- Kark, R. (2018, April). Invited Keynote. Special Speakers Series of CGO. Men AS allies: importance, consequences and lessons learned, center for Gender in Organizations (CGO), Simmons School of Business, Boston, USA.
- Kark, R. (April, 2018). Invited Speaker. Conflict and Competition Dynamics. Collective Leadership Research Findings Workshop. Co-Lead Net. McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
- Kark, R. (May, 2018). Implicit leadership theory (ILT) Network Meeting of the USA Army Research Institute (ARI Network), Durham University Business School, UK
- Kark, R. (June, 2018). Invited Speaker. A Pondering Panel—What is Change Leadership? Moderator, Mel Fugat. Leadership and Organizational Change. Research workshop of the Israel Science Foundation (ISF). Hebrew University, Israel.
- Kark, R. (June, 2018). Special invited Symposium. The status of traditional leadership research – where is the love? New Directions in Leadership Research. (NDLR). Rotterdam, Netherland.
- Kark, R. (2018, August). Improving leadership Research: Mentoring to Develop Proposals into High Quality Publications. Academy of Management (AOM) Annual Meeting, Chicago.
- Kark, R. (2018, August). OB Research Incubator PDW. Academy of Management (AOM) Annual Meeting, Chicago.
- Kark, R. (2018, August ). Invited. Advancing Leader and Follower Identity Research: Dynamic Views and Perspectives. Caucus.
- Anisman-Razin, M. Sitkin, S. & Kark R. (October, 2018). Courage as an Every Day Phenomenon. Society of Organizational Behavior (SOB). Invited speakers. Duke University, North Carolina, USA
- Kark, R. (April, 2019). Men as allies in Gender Equity Process. Invites speaker. Invited Speaker, Faculty Seminar. INCAE Business School, Alajuela, Costa Rica.
- Kark, R. (April, 2019). Women and Gender in Organizations. Invites speaker. Israeli Embassy, San Jose, Costa Rica.
- Kark, R. (April, 2019). Invited Faculty Seminar: Keep Your Head in The Clouds and Feet on the Ground: A Multi-Level Review of Leader-Follower Self-Regulatory Focus. Invites speaker. Duke, North Carolina, USA.
- Kark, R. (April, 2019). Faculty Seminar: Head in the Clouds and Feet on the Ground: Review od Leadership-Followership SRF. Invites speaker. Duke University, School of Business and Fuca Center for Leadership, North Carolina, USA.
- Kark, R. (April, 2019). Invited Doctoral Students Workshop. Its’ not all about publications: How to publish in leading journal. Invites speaker. University of Central Florida Business School (UCF). Orlando, Florida, USA.
- Kark, R. (April, 2019). Invited Faculty Seminar: A Multi-Level Review of Leader-Follower Self-Regulatory Focus. Invites speaker. Department of Management, University of Miami Business School, Miami, Florida, USA.
- Kark, R. (May, 2019). Invited Faculty Seminar, “Keep Your Head in The Clouds and Feet on the Ground: A Multi-Level Review of Leader-Follower Self-Regulatory Focus. Invites speaker. Department of Management, Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Santiago Chile, Chile.
- Kark, R. (May, 2019). Doctoral Student Seminar, Crossing boarders and Bounderies: Building International Research Networks. Invites speaker. Department of Management, Universidad Adolfo Ibanez, Santiago Chile, Chile.
- Anisman-Razin, M. Sitkin, S. & Kark R. (June, 2019). Leadership and courageous behavior. New Directions of Leadership Research Conference (NDLR). Duke Fuka Center of Leadership, Duke University, USA.
- Kark, R. & Frenkel, M. (July, 2019). The Silver Glass: The case of women CEO bankers in Israel. Gender and Employment. Het Insatiate for competition and regulation. Conference. The Management College, Rishon Letzion, Israel.
Undergraduate Level: Organizations as Systems of Diversity, Introduction to Organizational Behavior, Learning to Lead Seminar, Emotions and Relational Practices in Organizations, Gender and Leadership Seminar.
Graduate level (MA & PhD): Management of Human Resource and Organizational Behavior, Leadership and Followership in Organizations, Gender and Leadership Seminar, Gendering Organizational Theory, From Feminist Theory to Feminist Practice and Activism, Practice Course in Organizational Psychology, Group Processes and Group Dynamics, The Theory and Practice of the Psychological Interview.
