News

Faculty Feature: Q & A with Kameron Carter

Faculty Feature: Q & A with Kameron Carter

February 17, 2020

Kameron Carter holds a Ph.D. in Management and Organizations from the University of Iowa Tippie College of Business and an M.B.A. from Longwood University.


What are your areas of expertise and research, and how did you decide to focus on these areas? 
 
“Broadly, my focus is on interpersonal interactions and individual relationships between people. There’s also an element of work design – how things like office layouts or assigned tasks can influence your satisfaction, stress levels, and performance, and what factors can make you a better, healthier worker physically, mentally, and emotionally.
 
“I’ve always liked biology, but my undergrad degree is in chemistry because it explains why things happen. That translates to HR and organization behavior, too, because on one level, you look at what the organization does. On a deeper level, you also need to understand the why and look at the actual processes of each individual doing their work to see how that impacts the whole organization.”
           
What current research projects have you been working on?
 
“I have several ongoing projects. One is a systematic review of the literature of individual relationships looking at how someone’s positive relationships – friendship ties or trust ties with coworkers – react with the negative relationships. You hear that bad experiences are more impactful than good ones, but we’re actually seeing that isn’t always the case. If you have a lot of positive ties, they tend to outweigh the negative relationships.”
 
How do society, businesses or communities benefit from your research? 
 
“You can’t have a business without people, so it’s important to understand people’s motivations, behaviors, and attitudes. If people are healthy and happy in their jobs, it helps businesses be more successful. If we understand that and can figure out ways to make them happier and more motivated, theoretically this should improve performance.”
           
What are some of your hobbies outside of work?
 
“I played golf in college and it’s still one of my favorite activities. During my college years, my team and I would come play at the Penn State courses for tournaments and it was always one of my favorite places to play. I’m a sucker for the Blue Course!”

February 17, 2020

Faculty Feature: Q & A with Kameron Carter