Associate Professor in Organisational Theory and Information Systems
Fellow and Director of Studies at Wolfson College
BS (The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania), BA (College of Arts and Sciences, University of Pennsylvania), MBA (Yale University), PhD (McGill University)
My research examines how different forms of radical change, such as planned restructurings, emerging technologies and new buildings, reshape knowledge work, expertise and collaboration. I engage in ethnographic fieldwork, primarily in healthcare organisations, where I study how expert work evolves under conditions of uncertainty and rapid change. My research has appeared in the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Information and Organization, and Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings. Before academia, I worked for over 15 years in strategy consulting, real estate private equity, venture funding and executive university administration.
Professional experience
Karla’s research has received multiple recognitions, including an honourable mention for the Star-Nelkin Award at the American Sociological Association, finalist for the William H Newman Award, and multiple best division paper, best paper proceedings, best dissertation paper and best theory-to-practice paper awards at the Academy of Management, Organizational Behaviour in Health Care, and the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada. Her co-authored article “Working and Organizing in the Age of the Learning Algorithm”, in Information and Organization, is among the journal’s most highly cited.
Selected publications
- Faraj, S. and Sayegh, K. (2026) “Spacing bodies: the interplay between focal and subsidiary coordinating.” Academy of Management Journal (DOI: 10.5465/amj.2024.0300) (published online Mar 2026)
- Sayegh, K., Langley, A. and Faraj, S. (2026) “Unsettling settled knowing: reconciling differences in expert practice.” Organization Science (DOI: 10.1287/orsc.2021.15859) (published online Sep 2025)
- Sayegh, K., Zhu, X. and Faraj, S. (2026) “The game of rules: how rules are negotiated to enable interprofessional coordination.” Academy of Management Proceedings, 2026(1) (DOI: 10.5465/AMPROC.2026.55bp) (published online Jul 2026)
- Sayegh, K. (2022) “Of novices and experts: settling expertise differences following a hospital merger.” Academy of Management Proceedings, 2022(1) (DOI: 10.5465/AMBPP.2022.101)
- Faraj, S., Pachidi, S. and Sayegh, K. (2018) “Working and organizing in the age of the learning algorithm.” Information and Organization, 28(1): 62-70 (DOI: 10.1016/j.infoandorg.2018.02.005)
- Faraj, S., Sayegh, K., and Rouleau, L. (2018) “Knowledge collaboration in organizations: from information processing to social knowing.” In: Galliers, R.D. and Stein, M.K. (eds.) The Routledge companion to management information systems. London: Taylor and Francis, pp.370-386.
Awards and honours
- Honourable Mention, Susan Leigh Star – Dorothy Nelkin Award, American Sociological Association, 2026
- Best Theory to Practice Paper, HCM Division, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, 2026
- Best Paper Award, Healthcare Division, Administrative Sciences Association of Canada, 2024
- Sole Finalist, William H Newman Award, AOM Annual Meeting, 2022
- Best Paper Award, HCM Division, AOM Annual Meeting, 2022
- Best Dissertation Award, HCM Division, AOM Annual Meeting, 2022
- Best Theory to Practice Paper Award, HCM Division, AOM Annual Meeting, 2018
- Best Student Paper Award, Organizational Behaviour in Healthcare Conference, 2018
- Best Conference Reviewer Award, OCIS Division, Academy of Management, 2016
- Outstanding Reviewer Award, SAP Interest Group, Academy of Management, 2015
- Paper of Merit Award, IS Division, Administrative Sciences Association of Canada, 2015
- Best Student Paper Award, IS Division, Administrative Sciences Association of Canada, 2014
News and insights
Faculty members of Cambridge Judge Business School won 2 awards and were finalists for 2 other awards at the 86th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management held 31 July-4 August in Philadelphia.
Leadership and organisational behaviour
How spatial settings affect workplace co-ordination
The effectiveness of joint work depends not only on social and procedural arrangements, but also on the embodied, taken-for-granted ways people sense, anticipate and respond to each other. Research by Karla Sayegh of Cambridge Judge Business School and Samer Faraj of McGill University examines how organisations can repair breaks in such unseen but critical ways of coordinating.
Leadership and organisational behaviour
How to reconcile differing work practices after a merger
Research by Dr Karla Sayegh develops a model to explain how groups of professionals can resolve differences in work approaches after organisations merge, through both scientific and experience-based knowledge. Professionals have deep, proven expertise so they hold tight to their ways of working. That’s why reconciling work practice differences is delicate and difficult. But it is not impossible.