Roy Suddaby

Roy Suddaby is an adjunct professor at the Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba. He holds a PhD in Organizational Analysis from the Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta. His research focuses on processes of organizational and institutional change with a specific focus on the role of social evaluations – status, reputation, legitimacy, authenticity, identity – in enabling or inhibiting change. His most recent research in this context, funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, examines the role of authenticity and legitimacy in the emerging market for cultivated meat. Roy’s research also focuses on the role of history in enabling and inhibiting organizational and institutional change. His most recent research in this context, funded by the Canadian Institute of Health Research, examines the role of collective memory and Indigenous historical trauma in creating barriers to health care access for Indigenous individuals and communities.

Roy is a Fellow of the Academy of Management (USA), a Fellow of the Irish Academy of Management (Ireland) and a Member of the College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists of the Royal Society of Canada. He is a past Editor-in-Chief of the Academy of Management Review and is currently an Associate Editor of the Academy of Management Perspectives and the Human Resources Management Journal. He has served on over 80 Masters, DBA, and PhD committees.

Roy teaches Strategic Management, Change Management, Qualitative Research Methods, Entrepreneurship, and Organizational Theory.

“Institutional Sensemaking”. 2026. Roy Suddaby. Forthcoming in Mills, A., Thurlow, A., Hartt, C., & Mills, J. Research Handbook on Organizational Sensemaking. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.

“Historical Imagination: A Historical Institutionalist Perspective”. 2025. Roy Suddaby & Trevor Israelsen. Management & Organization History, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/17449359.2025.2595971

“Expert Memories: The Professional Construction of the Past and the Mnemonic Making of Occupations”. 2025. Diego Coraiola, Sebastien Mena, Mairi Maclean, Roy Suddaby & Daniel Muzio. Journal of Management Studies.  https://doi.org/10.1111/joms.70030

Atlas Unplugged: Re-Imagining the Premises and Prospects of Capitalism for Business and Society. 2025. Rick Delbridge, Charlene Ziestsma, Roy Suddaby, Rashedur Chowdhury and Chris Wickert. Journal of Management Studies. https://doi.org/doi:10.1111/joms.70047

Grand Challenges: An historical institutional analysis. 2025. Suddaby, R., Sharma, A., Nair, S. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, 96: 267-289. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0733-558X20250000096012

Fiction and the Entrepreneurial Imagination. 2025. William B. Gartner, Roy Suddaby, Mattias Nordqvist & Jennifer L. Schultz. Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, 27(7-8): 839-853. https://doi.org/10.1080/08985626.2025.2504570

In 2015, the United Nations identified 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a shared framework to address urgent global challenges, from poverty reduction to environmental sustainability. This scholar’s research advances knowledge and contributes to impact in the following SDG(s):