Faculty Guide

Title

Associate Professor in the Brandeis International Business School

International Business School
Psychology

Expertise

Emotionally demanding tasks at work, including necessary evils and cross-cultural code-switching

Profile

Andy Molinsky is an Associate Professor of Organizational Behavior at Brandeis University's International Business School, with a joint appointment in the Department of Psychology. He received his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and M.A. in Psychology from Harvard University. He also holds a Master's Degree in International Affairs from Columbia University and a B.A. in International Affairs from Brown University.

Professor Molinsky's research examines the challenges people face in performing emotionally demanding aspects of their jobs. Specifically, his work focuses on the difficulties entailed in adapting behavior in foreign cultural environments and on the moral and psychological challenges involved in performing "necessary evils" (causing harm for a perceived greater good) in professional work.

One of Professor Molinsky's current courses, Managing Across Cultures, is based on his research on "cross-cultural code-switching," and aims to give students the skills, opportunities, and courage to operate effectively in unfamiliar, and emotionally difficult foreign cultural situations.

Prior to entering academia, he studied in Spain and worked for an international marketing research firm in France.

Awards and Honors

Outstanding Publication in Organizational Behavior Award, Academy of Management (2009)

Runner-up, Best Paper Award for Academy of Management Review (2006)

Courses Taught

BUS	20a	Organizational Behavior in Business
BUS	219f	Fundamentals of Organizational Business
BUS	220a	Organizational Behavior
BUS	221a	Managing across Cultures
BUS	222f	Global Dexterity
PSYC	150b	Organizational Behavior

Scholarship

Molinsky, Andrew L. "A situational approach for assessing and teaching acculturation.." Journal of Management Education 34. (2010): 723-745.

Grant, A.M., Molinsky, A.L., Margolis, J.D., Schiano, W. & Kamin, M. "The performer's reactions to procedural injustice: When prosocial identity reduces prosocial behavior." Journal of Applied Social Psychology 39. 2 (2009): 319-349.

Margolis, J.D. & Molinsky, A.L.. "Navigating the bind of necessary evils: Psychological engagement and the production of interpersonally sensitive behavior.." Academy of Management Journal 51. 5 (2008): 847-872.

Molinsky, A.L. & Perunovic, W.Q.E.. "Training wheels for cultural learning: Poor language fluency and its shielding effect on the evaluation of culturally inappropriate behavior.." Journal of Language and Social Psychology. 27. 3 (2008): 284-289.

Molinsky, Andrew L. "Cross-cultural code-switching: The psychological challenges of adapting behavior in foreign cultural interactions.." Academy of Management Review 32. (2007): 622-640.

Molinsky, A.L. & Margolis, J.D.. "The emotional tightrope of downsizing: Hidden challenges for leaders and their organizations.." Organizational Dynamics 35. (2006): 145-159.

Molinsky, A.L., & Margolis, J.D.. "Necessary evils and interpersonal sensitivity in organizations.." Academy of Management Review 30. (2005): 245-268.

Molinsky, A.L., Krabbenhoft, M., Ambady, N. & Choi, Y.S.. "Cracking the Nonverbal Code: Intercultural Competence and the Diagnosis of Gestures Across Cultures." Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 36. (2005): 380-395.

Molinsky, A.L.. "Language Fluency and the Evaluation of Cultural Faux Pas: The Case of Russians Interviewing for Jobs in the United States." Social Psychology Quarterly 68. (2005): 103-120.

Molinsky, A.L.. "Sanding down the edges: Paradoxical impediments to organizational change.." The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science 35 (1999): 8-24.