M. Diane Burton

People/Faculty
Joseph R. Rich '80 Professor
Human Resource Studies
Director
Institute for Compensation Studies
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Contact

133 Statler Dr
170 Ives Hall Faculty Wing
Ithaca, NY 14853
United States

Tel
+1 (607) 255-8187
Websites
Cornell Department of Sociology
Overview

I am a professor in the ILR School at Cornell University. My primary appointment is in human resource studies with courtesy appointments in organizational behavior and sociology. Prior to joining the Cornell faculty in 2009, I was a faculty member at the MIT Sloan School of Management. I started my academic career at the Harvard Business School teaching leadership and organizational behavior. I earned my Ph.D. in sociology at Stanford University and served as a lecturer and researcher in organizational behavior and human resources management at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Teaching Statement 

I teach students at all levels -- from first-year students through executives. I have extensive experience teaching by the case method. I have also taught on-line and via distance learning. I earned a masters degree in education with a concentration in technology and curriculum design.

Research Statement 

I am an organizational sociologist interested in innovation and entrepreneurship. I study how management systems affect firms and individuals.

My current focus is on job creation and job quality in entrepreneurial firms. I am part of an international research team that is using Danish administrative data to study wages of employees in new firms.

I conducted a major study of high-tech start-ups in Silicon Valley known as the Stanford Project on Emerging Companies (SPEC) that included studies of of entrepreneurial teams and executive careers.

More recently I have been studying R&D teams. I am also studying leadership in the non-profit sector and employment practices in law firms.

Service Statement 

I am an active and enthusiastic contributor to two major initiatives: Entrepreneurship@Cornell and the University-wide undergraduate business minor. I served as Provost's Fellow for Public Engagement from 2016-2018 and Department Chair of the Human Resource Studies Department from 2019-2022.

Outreach Statement 

I lead the Institute for Compensation Studies and serve as a member of the advisory board for the Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies (CAHRS). I am a regular contributor to executive education and certificate programs that are run by the ILR School and have developed online courses for eCornell.

Areas of Expertise

Art, media, entertainment
Change and development
Compensation and Employee Benefits
Complex organizations
Curriculum development
Education (organizations and systems)
Employee development
Entrepreneurial firms
Executive development, education, and coaching
High Performance Work Systems
Human Resources
Human capital measurement
Human resources management
Incentives and performance
Industry Studies
Innovation
Instructional design
Leadership
Leadership development
Management coaching and development
Management development
Occupations and Professions
Organizations
Performance management
Practice and strategy
Strategic planning
Strategic tactics
Supervision
Survey Research
Systems design
Technology and work
Workplace cultures

Other expertise

High Technology, Non-Profit and Professional Services, Leadership Training and Development

Publications

Book Chapters

  • , , , & . . Beyond Productivity: Incentive Effects on Alternative Outcomes. In Research in Personnel and Human Resources Management. Emerald Publishing Limited.
  • , & . . Management Systems for Exploration and Exploitation. In Carnegie goes to California: Advancing and Celebrating the Work of James G. March. (pp. 53-77).
  • . . Status Passages. In Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology, 2nd Edition. John Wiley and Sons.
  • , , & . . BRINGING JOBS BACK IN: TOWARDS A NEW MULTI-LEVEL APPROACH TO THE STUDY OF WORK AND ORGANIZATIONS. In Research in the Sociology of Organizations. Emerald Group.
  • . . Internal Labor Markets Revisited. In Economy and Society: Essays in Honor of Michael J. Piore. MIT Press.
  • , , & . . Bringing organizational demography back in: Time, change and structure in top management team research. In Handbook of Top Management Team Research. Edward Elgar.
  • , , & . . Beyond Ownership: Rethinking Founding Team Membership. In New Firm Creation in the United States: Preliminary Explorations with the PSED II Data Set. Springer.
  • , , & . . Reconceiving the Gestation Window: Consequences of Competing Definitions of Firm Conception and Birth. In New Firm Creation in the United States: Preliminary Explorations with the PSED II Data Set. Spring.
  • , & . . Ports and Ladders: The Nature and Relevance of Internal Labor Markets In A Changing World. In Oxford Handbook on Work and Organization. Oxford University Press.
  • , , & . . Coming from Good Stock: Career Histories and New Venture Formation. In Research in the Sociology of Organizations. (pp. 229-262). JAI Press.
  • . . The Company They Keep: Founders’ Models for Organizing New Firms. In The Entrepreneurship Dynamic: Origins of Entrepreneurship and the Evolution of Industries. (pp. 13-39). Stanford University Press.

Technical Report

Journal Articles

  • , , , & . . The Organizational Design of Entrepreneurial Ventures. (DOI:10.1002/sej.1332)
  • , , & . . Introduction to a Special Issue on Entrepreneurship and Employment: Connecting Labor Market Institutions, Corporate Demography, and Human Resource Management Practices. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 1-15. (DOI:DOI: 10.1177/0019793919866409)
  • , , , & . . Do Startup Employees Earn More in the Long Run. Organization Science. (DOI:https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2020.1371)
  • , & . . Prizes, patents and the search for longitude. Explorations in Economic History, 64, 21-36. (DOI:10.1016/j.eeh.2016.09.001)
  • , , & . . Do Start-ups Pay Less?. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 17(5), 1179-1200. (DOI:10.1177/0019793917747240)
  • . . Misfit and Milestones: Structural Elaboration and Capability Reinforcement in the Evolution of Entrepreneurial Top Management Teams. Academy of Management Journal. (DOI:amj.2014.0526)
  • , , & . . A Careers Perspective on Entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 40(2), 237-247. (DOI:10.1111/etap.12230)
  • , & . . Founding the Future: The Evolution of Top Management Teams from Founding to IPO. Organization Science, 19(1), 3-24.
  • , , & . . Early Teams: The Impact of Team Demography on VC Financing and Going Public. Journal of Business Venturing, 22(2), 147-173.
  • , & . . Leaving a Legacy: Role Imprints and Successor Turnover in Young Firms. American Sociological Review, 72, 239-266.
  • , , & . . Labor Pains: Organizational Change and Employee Turnover in Young, High-Tech Firms. American Journal of Sociology, 160(4), 960-1012.
  • , , & . . Building the Iron Cage: Determinants of Managerial Intensity in the Early Years of Organizations. American Sociological Review, 64(4), 527-547.
  • , , & . . Engineering Bureaucracy: The Genesis of Formal Policies, Positions, and Structures in High-Technology Firms. Journal of Law, Economics & Organization, 15(1), 1-41.
  • , , & . . Inertia and Change in the Early Years: Employment Relations in Young, High-Technology Firms. Industrial and Corporate Change, 5(2), 503-536.
  • , , & . . The Road Taken: The Origins and Evolution of Employment Systems in High-Tech Firms. Industrial and Corporate Change, 5(2), 239-275.
  • , & . . A Quantitative History of Comparative Stratification Research. Contemporary Sociology, 21(5), 623-631.

Books

  • , , & . . The Structure of Work. Emerald Group.

Book Reviews

  • . . Review of Staircases or Treadmills by Chris Benner, Laura Leete and Manuel Pastor.
  • . . Review of Headhunters: Matchmaking in the Labor Market by William Finlay and James E. Coverdill.

Professional activities

  • Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Presented to Cornell Institute for Social Sciences. Cornell University. 2016.
  • The Changing Contours of Managerial Careers: The Case of Non-Profits. Presented to LERA. Boston. 2015.
  • Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Presented to Cornell Institute for Social Sciences. Cornell University. 2014.
  • Entrepreneurship and Employment: Job Creation, Job Quality and Career Trajectories. Presented to DRUID Society. Barcelona. 2013.
  • Driving Innovation throughout the Organization. Presented to Case Western Reserve; MIT ILP. New Orleans, LA. 2003.
  • New Models of Strategic HRM: An International Perspective. Presented to Cornell University. Seattle, WA. 2002.
  • Initiative for Studies of Technology Entrepreneurship (INSITE) Seminar. Presented to Weinert Center for Entrepreneurship, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Denver, CO. 2001.

Honors and Awards

  • Lady Davis Fellow, Lady Davis Fellowship Trust.
  • Fred Kayne (1960) Career Development Professorship, MIT Sloan School.
  • Ray Stata Outstanding Contributor, Center for Quality of Management, Cambridge, MA.
  • Michael M. Koerner ’49 Career Development Professorship, MIT Sloan School.
  • Class of 1961 Fellow, Harvard Business School, Harvard University.
  • Cilker Teaching Award, Department of Sociology, Stanford University.
  • Stanford University Fellowship, Department of Sociology, Stanford University.
  • Edith Alexander Award for Best Undergraduate Thesis, Carnegie Mellon University.
  • Vira I. Heinz Travel Study Award, Carnegie Mellon University.
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