Karen J. Jansen

Assistant Professor of Commerce

Office phone: 434-243-2309
e-mail: kjansen@virginia.edu

Education:

Ph.D., Strategic Human Resource Management, Texas A&M University
M.Ed., Human Resource Education, Boston University
B.S., Math/Computer Science, University of Hartford

Areas of Expertise:

Professor Jansen specializes in management, with teaching and research in the fields of organizational change and strategic human resource management. Her research broadly explores the process and impact of change on an organization's employees. Her momentum research focuses on identifying momentum triggers and how momentum trends influence individual attitudes and behavior. She is also interested in the evolution of employee fit with various aspects of the work environment. 

Professional Activities:

Professor Jansen’s research has appeared in Organizational Science; Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes; and Journal of Applied Psychology. She is on the editorial board of The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. She has current research projects with several organizations in the midst of large-scale change (e.g., culture change, lean transformation, and internal branding). Before becoming an academic, Professor Jansen worked for IBM as a systems engineer. 

Selected Publications:

"Employee Alignment with Strategic Change: A Study of Strategy-Supportive Behavior among Blue-Collar Employees," Journal of Managerial Issues, forthcoming (with M. A. Gagnon and J. M. Michael).

"Toward a Multidimensional Theory of Person-Environment Fit," Journal of Managerial Issues, 2006 (with A. Kristof-Brown).

"Marching to the Beat of a Different Drummer: Examining the Impact of Pacing Congruence," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 2005 (with A. Kristof-Brown).

"From Persistence to Pursuit: A Longitudinal Examination of Momentum during the Early Stages of Strategic Change," Organization Science, 2004.

"A Policy-Capturing Study of the Simultaneous Effects of Fit with Jobs, Groups, and Organizations," Journal of Applied Psychology, 2002 (with A. Kristof-Brown and A. Colbert).

"A Characteristic Level of Change: An Inherent Constraint to Organizational Action," International Journal of Organizational Analysis, 1996.