Jeffrey D. Ford

Jeffrey Ford is a professor of management.  He joined Fisher after serving on the faculties of the Institute of Management and Labor Research at Rutgers University and the Kelly School of Business at Indiana University.  Prior to receiving his PhD in Organizational Behavior from The Ohio State University, Jeff received an MBA from Ohio State and a BS from the University of Maryland.

Dr. Ford teaches courses in the Undergraduate, MBA, EMBA, and MHRM programs on management, leadership, and organization change for which he has been awarded “Outstanding Faculty Member for the MHRM Program” by students in 2007 and 2008 and “Outstanding Working Professional MBA Elective Professor” in 2009.  He has also been nominated for the Pace Setter award in teaching.

Dr. Ford’s research has been published in top multi-disciplinary management journals including the Academy of Management Review, the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Organizational Change Management, theJournal of Applied Behavioral Science, Organizational Dynamics, and theHarvard Business Review.  He is a charter inductee into the Academy of Management Journals Hall of Fame and his research has received several awards and recognitions. In 2012, a co-authored paper entitled “Resistance to Change: The Rest of the Story” received the Emerald Citations of Excellence award, recognizing its impact as among the top 50 papers published in over 300 management journals in the year 2008.  His article “The Role of Conversations in Producing Intentional Change in Organizations” was Awarded Best Published Paper by the Organizational Communication Division of the Academy of Management in 1995.  He has also received and been a finalist for the best paper award from the ODC Division of the Academy of Management.  His book The Four Conversations: Daily Communication that Gets Results was awarded Best Management Book of 2009 by 800 CEO READ and rated the #5 Best Business Book of 2009 by Toronto’s The Globe and Mail. 

In addition to service to his department, Jeff has served the university as the Chair of the Faculty Rules Committee, and as a member of the Faculty Senate Steering Committee and Faculty Council.  He is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Change Management and on the editorial board of the Academy of Management Discoveries Journal.  Among his service to professional societies, he has served a 5-year leadership role for the Academy of Management’s ODC Division from 2009-2014.

Areas of Expertise

• Organizational change
• Reengineering
• Project management
• Management communication
• Role of communication in organizations
• Leadership
• Organization infrastructure
• Network theory
• Integrity in communications

Ford, J.D. and L.W. Ford, “The Leadership of Change: A View from Recent Empirical Evidence.” In W. Pasmore, R. Woodman, and A. Shani (Eds.) Research in Organization Change and Development Vol. 20, (2012), pp.1-36.

Ford, J. D., Ford, L. W. (2010). Stop Blaming Resistance and Start Using it.Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 39, Issue 1, 24-36.

Ford, J.D. and L.W. Ford.  The Four Conversations: Daily Communication that Gets Results. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler (August, 2009).

Ford, J.D. and L.W. Ford, “Resistance to Change – A Reexamination and Extension.”  In W. Pasmore, R. Woodman, and A. Shani (Eds.) Research in Organization Change and Development, Vol. 17, (2009), p. 211-239

Ford, J. D. Decoding Resistance to Change. Harvard Business Review, Vol. 87, Issue 4, 2009, 99-103.

Ford, J.D. and L.W. Ford. “Conversational Profiles: A Tool for Altering the Conversational Patterns of Change Managers,” Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 44 (2008), 445-467.

Ford, J.D., Ford, L.W., and D’Amelio, Angelo. “Resistance to Change: The Rest of the Story,” Academy of Management Review, 33 (2008), 362-377. Recipient of Emerald Citations of Excellence Award.

Ford, J.D. and W. Pasmore. “Vision: Friend or Foe During Change?” Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 42 (2006), 172-177.

Ford, J.D. and L.W. Ford. Deadline Busting: How to be a Star Performer in Your Organization.  New York: iUniverse, 2005.

Boje, D., Oswick, C., and Ford, J.  “Language and Organization: The Doing of Discourse,” Academy of Management Review, 29 (2004), 571-577.

Ford J.D., Ford, L.W., and McNamara, R.  “Resistance and the Background Conversations of Change,” Journal of Organizational Change Management, 15 (2002), 105-121.

Ford, J.D. and L.W. Ford. “Conversations and the Authoring of Change.”Management and Language: The Manager as a Practical Author, David Holman and Richard Thorpe (Eds), Sage Publishing, pp. 141-156, 2002.

Ford, J.D. “Organizational Change as Shifting Conversations,” Journal of Organizational Change Management, 12 (1999), 480-504.

Ford, J.D. “Conversations and the Epidemiology of Change.” In W. Pasmore and R. Woodman (Eds.) Research in Organizational Change and Development, Vol. 12 (1999), 480-500.

Ford, J.D. and L.W. Ford. “Getting Caught in Our Point of View: A Response to Carini et al.,” Academy of Management Review, 20 (1995), 785-787.

Ford, J.D. and L.W. Ford. “The Role of Conversations in Producing Intentional Change in Organizations,” Academy of Management Review, 20 (1995), 541-570.  Awarded Best Published Paper by the Organizational Communication Division of the Academy of Management, 1995.

Ford, J.D. and L.W. Ford. “Logics of Identity, Contradiction, and Attraction in Change,” Academy of Management Review, 19 (1994), 756-785.

Ford, J.D.  “Management Education: Shifting Our Assumptions,” Journal of Management Education, 18 (1994), 212-226.

Ford, J.D. and R.W. Backoff. "Organization Change In and Out of Dualities and Paradox." In R. Quinn and K. Cameron (Eds.), Paradox and Transformation: Towards A Theory of Change in Organization and Management, Boston, Ma.: Ballinger Publishing, 1988.

Ford, J.D. and D.A. Baucus. "Organization Adaptation to Performance Downturns: An Interpretation Based Perspective," Academy of Management Review, 12 (1987), 366-380.

Ford, J.D.  "The Effects of Casual Attributions on Decision Makers' Responses to Performance Downturns," Academy of Management Review, 10 (1985), 770-786.

Ford, J.D. and W.H. Hagerty.  "Decision Makers' Beliefs About the Causes and Effects of Structure: An Exploratory Study," Academy of Management Journal, 27 (l984), 271-291.

Ford, J.D. and D.A. Schellenberg.  "Conceptual Issues of Linkage in the Assessment of Organizational Performance," Academy of Management Review, 7 (l982), 49-58.

Ford, J.D.  "Departmental Context and Formal Structure as Constraints on Leader Behavior," Academy of Management Journal, 24 (l981), 274-288.

Ford, J.D.  "The Administrative Component in Growing and Declining Organizations: A Longitudinal Analysis," Academy of Management Journal, 23 (l980), 6l5-630.

Ford, J.D.  "The Occurrence of Structural Hysteresis in Declining Organizations,"Academy of Management Review, 5 (l980), 589-598.

Bobbitt, H.R., Jr. and J.D. Ford. "Decision Maker Choice as a Determinant of Organization Structure," Academy of Management Review, 5 (l980), l3-23.

Ford, J.D. and E.A. Ellis, III.  "A Reexamination of Group Influence on Member Brand Preferences," Journal of Marketing Research, 17 (l980), l25-132.

Ford, J.D.  "Institutional Versus Questionnaire Measures of Organization Structure: A Reexamination," Academy of Management Journal, 22 (l979), 60l-610.

Ford, J.D. and J.W. Slocum, Jr.  "Size, Technology, Environment and the Structure of Organizations," Academy of Management Review, 2 (l977), 561-575.

Mawhinney, T.C. and J.D. Ford.  "The Path Goal Theory of Leader Effectiveness: An Operant Interpretation," Academy of Management Review, 2 (l977), 398-451.