Sudhir Nair

Associate Professor; Director, PhD program

Contact:: Office: BEC 431 sudhirn@uvic.ca 250-721-6414

Credentials:: BS in Electrical Engineering, Wichita State University; MBA, Case Western Reserve University; PhD in Strategic Management, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Area of expertise:: International strategy, international business, international entrepreneurship, internationalization processes, professional service firms, newcomer (migrant/immigrant) socialization processes

Biography

Dr. Sudhir Nair joined the Gustavson School of Business at UVic in 2011 where he teaches in the area of strategy and international business.

Sudhir’s research interests coalesce around international strategy. He is particularly interested in the reasons and consequences for individuals or businesses crossing organizational or geographic boundaries. He’s also interested in processes by which firms internalize new knowledge, and in particular, he has been examining the role of external management consulting service firms to better understand why firms hire professional service firms and how this interaction adds value.

Sudhir sees the idea of boundaries (both organizational and international) and the role they play of particular interest in a simultaneously globalizing and de-globalizing world that is also progressively becoming more specialized. The “when, why and how” firms seek to cross boundaries, thus becomes critical to understand how it impacts organizations and then to find ways to help these entities navigate these challenging issues. More recently, he has been researching the newcomer (immigrant and refugee) space in Canada from an interdisciplinary perspective. This work has been recognized with the Gustavson School of Business International Advisory Board’s Community Engagement Award in 2018.

Sudhir's research has been published in Journal of Service Management, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Journal of International Management, Business Horizons, and the International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets.

Prior to pursuing his PhD, Sudhir spent 15 years working in large corporations e.g., Citibank as well as with entrepreneurial entities that he founded or co-founded.

Teaching

Courses taught

Strategic Management (BCom)
Selected Topics in Management – Doing Business in India (BCom)
Global Sustainable Business (MGB)
Summer Graduate Business Studies, Global Strategy Module (Executive Programs)
The How and What of Global Strategy (Executive Programs - ISIBM)

Selected publications

Journal publications

Meyer, C. R., Cohen, D. G., & Nair, S. (2020). From Automats to Artificial Intelligence: The Automation
of Services. Journal of Service Management, 31(2), 145–161.

Kiss, A. N., Danis, W. M., Nair, S., & Suddaby, R. (2020). Accidental Tourists? A cognitive exploration
of serendipitous internationalization. International Small Business Journal, 2(38), 65–89.
https://doi.org/10.1177/0266242619884032

Guo, C., Miller, J., Woodard, M., Aydin, M. D., Silvernail, K., da Costa Lemos, A. H., & Nair, S. (2018). Self-Concept Orientation and Organizational Identification: A Mediated Relationship. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 33(4/5), 358–371. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMP-09-2017-0293

Meyer, C. R., Cohen, D. G., & Nair, S. (2017). Some Have To, And Some Want To: Why Firms Adopt A Post-Industrial Form. Journal of Management and Governance, 21(2), 533–559. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10997-016-9353-5

Nair, S., Cohen, D. G., & Meyer, C. R. (2017). The role of professional service providers during the initial stages of international entrepreneurship: A neo-institutionalist view. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business, 30(4), 526–544. http://dx.doi.org/10.1504/IJESB.2017.10003386

Woodward, M., Miller, J., Miller, D. J., Silvernail, K. D., Guo, G. G., Nair, S., & Aydin, M. A. (2016). A cross cultural examination of individual preferences for job and organizational attributes. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 3(31), 702–719. http://DOI:10.1108/JMP-09-2013-0289

Meyer, C. R., Skaggs, B. C., Nair, S., & Cohen, D. G. (2015). Customer Interaction Uncertainty, Knowledge, and Service Firm Internationalization. Journal of International Management, 20(3), 249 – 259. http://doi:10.1016/j.intman.2015.04.003

Tax, S. S., Kim, Y. "Sally", & Nair, S. (2013). Getting the Right Payoff from Customer Penalty Fees. Business Horizons, 56(3), 377–386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2013.01.012

Nair, S., & Skaggs, B. C. (2012). Performance implications of cross-listing for emerging vs. developed market firms: An institutional legitimacy approach. International Journal of Business and Emerging Markets, 3(4), 223–240. https://doi.org/10.1504/IJBEM.2012.047780

Chapters

Cohen, D. G., & Nair, S. (2017). Measuring the Middle: The Use of Social Network Analysis in Middle Management Research. In Handbook of Middle Management Strategy Process Research (pp. 346–371). Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Presentations

Nair, S. (2020). Understanding Organizational Challenges of Immigration: Local Immigrant
Partnerships in Canada. 2020 East China Normal Univ. -Univ. of Victoria Joint Workshop on
Economics and Management. Online: East China Normal University.

Meyer, C., Nair, S., & Cohen, D. G. (2019). From Automats to ATMs and Artificial Intelligence:
The Automation of Services. Managerial and Organisational Cognition (AOM Division) Annual
Conference. Cass Business School: Academy of Management - MOC Division.

Nair, S., & Moa, B. (2019). Understanding Organizational Challenges of Immigration: Local
Immigrant Partnerships in Canada. Academy of Management Annual Conference. Boston, MA, USA:
AOM.

Meyer, C. R., Cohen, D. G., & Nair, S. (2019). Organizational Field Collapse: Complex
Systems, Embeddedness and It All Goes South. European Group for Organizational Studies (EGOS)
2019 conference. Edinburgh, UK.

Nair, S. (2018). Examining Impact of Procedural Capital and Routines on Firm Performance When Engaging Consultants. Academy of Management Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL, USA.

Fitzsimmons, S. R., Brighi, C., Hajro, A., Nair, S., Stahl, G. K., & Vora, D. (2018). Migrants as Multiculturals: Sharing Separate Perspectives on One Demographic Group. Academy of International Business Annual Meeting. Minneapolis: AIB.

Nair, S. (2017). Innovation as Self-Organizing System: The Role of Academia, Business, Social Entrepreneurs and Governments in the Workings of Innovation Networks. Entrepreneurship and Collaboration Conference, University of Colorado Boulder, February 2017. Boulder, Colorado.

Meyer, C. R., Cohen, D. G., & Nair, S. (2016). Swatting at SWOT. Academy of Management Annual Meeting. Anaheim, CA, USA: Academy of Management.

Nair, S., Cohen, D. G., & Meyer, C. R. (2016). Internationalization of Services: Conceptual and Empirical Challenges. Academy of Management Annual Meeting. Academy of Management.

Woodward, M., Giacobbe-Miller, J., Guo, G. C., Silvernail, K., & Nair, S. (2015). Growing Up Poor (Or Rich): The Relation of Socioeconomic Background To Job Preference. Eastern Academy of Management International Conference. Lima, Peru.

Cohen, D. G., Meyer, C. R., & Nair, S. (2015). Mind the Gap: Social Entrepreneurs as Network Bridges in the Funding of Stem Cell Research. Academy of Management Annual Conference. Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Kiss, A., Danis, W., & Nair, S. (2015). The Role of Serendipity in International Opportunity Recognition. Academy of Management Annual Conference. Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

Awards & grants

Recognition & awards

2021 - Highly Commended Paper Award from Journal of Service Management
2018 - Gustavson Single Year Award, Gustavson School of Business, UVic
2018 - IAB Community Engaged Scholar , Gustavson School of Business Intl. Advisory Board
2015 - Gustavson Single Year Award, Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria
2014 - Gustavson Single Year Award , Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria
2013 - Award of Excellence in Teaching , Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria
2013 - Gustavson Single Year Award, Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria
2008 - Best Paper Proposal Award at Strategic Management Society Special India Conference, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing

Grants

Completed

Understanding Organizational and Institutional Challenges of Increased Immigration: The Case of Local Immigrant Partnerships in Canada, Funded by GEPRG (April 1, 2018 - March 31, 2019), awarded May 25, 2018 ($2,500.00), Completed, Spring 2019, PI Sudhir Nair (100%)
Examining Impact of Procedural Capital and Routines on Firm Performance When Engaging Consultants, Funded by UVIC ORS (August 10, 2018), awarded April 13, 2018 ($1,250.00), Completed, Summer 2018, PI Sudhir Nair (100%)
Investigation into Factors Affecting International Service Trade, Funded by International Programs Office, Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria (October 27, 2017), awarded October 27, 2017 ($2,500.00), Completed, Spring 2018, PI Sudhir Nair with CoPI Morten Rask, CoPI David Cohen, CoPI Chris Meyer
Investigation of Factors Affecting International Service Trade, Funded by UVic Gustavson Executive Programs Research Grant (April 1, 2017 - March 31, 2018), awarded April 25, 2017 ($2,500.00), Completed, Spring 2018, PI Sudhir Nair
Private Politics, Public Good: The Role of Social Entrepreneurship in the Funding of Stem Cell Research during the US Federal Embargo, Funded by GEPRG (May 27, 2014 - March 31, 2015), awarded May 27, 2014 ($2,500.00), Completed, Spring 2015, PI Sudhir Nair
Contextualizing International Entrepreneurship: The Case of India, Funded by GEPRG (June 7, 2012 - March 31, 2013), awarded June 7, 2012 ($2,500.00), Completed, Spring 2013, PI Sudhir Nair with CoPI Wade Danis

In-Progress

Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Funded by UVic Office of Research Services (April 30,
2019 - August 31, 2019), awarded April 3, 2019 ($1,250.00), Funded - In Progress, Summer 2020, PI, Sudhir Nair
Understanding Organizational and Institutional Challenges of Increased Immigration: The Case of Local Immigrant Partnerships in Canada, Funded by GEPRG (April 1, 2019 - March 31, 2020), awarded April 29, 2019 ($2,500.00), Funded - In Progress, Summer 2019, PI Sudhir Nair (100%)
Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Funded by UVic Office of Research Services (April 30, 2019 - August 31, 2019), awarded April 3, 2019 ($1,250.00), Funded - In Progress, Summer 2019, PI Sudhir Nair

Special projects

Research, Policy, and Praxis Concerns in Newcomer Settlement in Canada: An Ecosystem Perspective

This cross-disciplinary research project aims to delve into several aspects of newcomers’ experience in Canada and in other countries. The principal investigators include Sara Elias, Sudhir Nair, Yan Shen and Liana Victorino.

They are focusing on 4 main research areas, including:

entrepreneuring by newcomers
settlement work as a profession
career experiences of newcomers
process mapping the newcomer experience while receiving services at a settlement agency (e.g. Inter-cultural Association of Greater Victoria)

They are particularly interested in low-income/low-paid newcomers as they sometimes receive less focus in organizational and management research and that is an issue they believe needs to be addressed.

Some guiding research questions include:

How do low-income/low-paid newcomers create broader forms of value beyond solely economic (e.g., symbolic, artistic, social, cultural, spiritual)?
How has (is) settlement work been (being) defined as a profession and what are the concomitant issues around finding, training, and retaining settlement professionals within this profession?
How do newcomers manage their settlement journey, such as seeking jobs, navigating in, and adapting to a different working environment, and trying to thrive in their work?
How do we design a service system that supports low-income/low-paid newcomers with their settlement journey from both a functional and emotional perspective?

The group is now collaborating with the Inter-cultural Association of Greater Victoria in a joint effort to co-create knowledge that can lead to learnings for scholars, practitioners and policy makers through study and reflection. They hope this cross-disciplinary and cross-organizational collaboration will provide some specific and relevant insights into research, practice and policy making at both the organizational and societal levels.