Portrait of Dr Davide Ravasi

Dr Davide Ravasi

Visiting Lecturer

Bayes Business School, Faculty of Management

Contact

Visit Davide Ravasi

Room BR4056, Bunhill Row

Postal address

City St George's, University of London
Northampton Square
London
EC1V 0HB
United Kingdom

About

Overview

Davide Ravasi is Professor of Strategic and Entrepreneurial Management and Co-Director of the Bayes Business School (formerly Cass) PhD programme (Management, Marketing, and Operations Management pathway).

He is an expert in the areas of Organizational Identity and Culture, Design Management, and Qualitative Research Methods.

His research primarily examines interrelations between organizational identity, culture, and strategy in times of change, and he has served as a consultant to organizations reflecting on their own identity and core values. He has done extensive research on how design and designers contribute to strategic change and innovation. He is interested more generally in cultural-cognitive processes influencing how new objects and new practices come to be, and whether and how they are valued and adopted by individuals and organizations.

One of his latest studies examined how corporate museums enable organizations to use history, memory, and heritage as an asset for design and innovation. Based on this study, he curated an exhibition entitled Che Storie! Oggetti, miti e memorie dalle collezioni dei musei e degli archivi d‘impresa [tr. What stories! Objects, myths and memories from the collections of corporate museums and archives], Milano, Palazzo della Ragione, April-May 2013.

His research is mainly based on case studies and grounded theory and it has been published on Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, the Journal of Management Studies, Strategic Organization, and the Journal of Business Venturing among others. He is also a co-editor of the recent Oxford Handbook of Organizational Identity.

He has served as Associate Editor for the Journal of Management Studies (2010-2013) and sits on the editorial board of the Academy of Management Review, the Academy of Management Journal, the Journal of Management, the Journal of Management Studies, and Strategic Organization. He is currently serving on the Executive Committee of the Organization and Management Theory (OMT) Division of the Academy of Management.

He is Distinguished Visiting Professor at the Aalto School of Business, Helsinki, and has also been visiting the Rotterdam School of Management, Copenhagen Business School, University of Lugano, and at the International Hellenic University of Thessaloniki. Prior of joining Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), he was a Professor of Management at Bocconi University, Milano, where he also received his PhD in Business Administration and Management.

Expertise

Primary topics

  • Change Management
  • Design Thinking
  • Innovation & Creativity
  • Organization Theory
  • Organizational Culture

Industries

  • consumer goods
  • creative industries
  • fashion
  • non-profit & voluntary sector

Geographic Areas

  • Europe
  • Scandinavia

Research

My research addresses the interrelations between organizational identity, culture, and strategy in times of change, and how discursive and material artifacts influence sensemaking in organizations.

I am also interested in practices of design and design management, and how organizations manage to endow its products with symbolic value and cultural meanings through design.

Research topics

Organizational identity and culture

In the last decade, in-depth studies of change processes at Bang & Olufsen, Oticon, 3M and Alessi led me to produce a more fine-grained understanding of organizational culture and identity as multi-layered constructs and their interrelations. Collectively, these studies have stimulated an ongoing reflection aimed at reconceptualising identity processes in organization to account for its underexplored material and affective dimensions.

Identity, memory and heritage in corporate museums

Why do organizations invest time, money and efforts to collect, preserve, and display historical artifacts? My research on corporate museums explores mnemonic practices in organizations and how they influence collective identity-related processes. It also highlights how these practices bring the cultural heritage of the organization to bear on design, branding and people management.

Mapping long-term changes in organizational identity and culture

I am currently exploring new analytical methods and visual representations to account for long-term changes in organizational identity and cultural repertoires. A comparative study of identity trajectories in four non-profit organizations is helping examine interrelations between the content and structure of identity, identity work, and patterns of identity change.

History, temporal orientations, and innovation in long-lived organizations

How does the subjective experience of history and heritage influence strategy making and innovation? A study on multi-centenary Japanese firms is beginning to unravel how history act as a burden and a resource, shaping innovation in peculiar ways.

Alternative perspectives on the formation of reputation

Earlier in my career, I adopted a traditional perspective on reputation to investigate the formation of reputation in financial markets, and among the general public. These studies sensitized me to the limits of this approach and induced him to search for alternative theoretical lenses in other literatures (sensemaking, social memory) to better account to the formation of reputation in the new digital landscape.

Research students

1st supervisor

  • Saad Alsubaiei, Research Student

Publications

Books (2)

  1. Pratt, M.G., Schultz, M., Ashforth, B.E. and Ravasi, D. (2016). The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Identity. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-100370-7.
  2. Lerpold, L., Ravasi, D., van Rekom, J. and Soenen, G. (2012). Organizational identity in practice.

Chapters (16)

  1. Cattani, G., Ferriani, S., Godart, F. and Sgourev, S.V. (2020). Reflections on Style and Strategy: An interview with Davide Ravasi. Advances in Strategic Management (pp. 251–254). Emerald Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-80043-237-6.
  2. Langley, A. and Ravasi, D. (2019). Chapter 9 Visual Artefacts as Tools for Analysis and Theorizing. Research in the Sociology of Organizations (pp. 173–199). Emerald Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-78769-184-1.
  3. Cholakova, M. and Ravasi, D. (2019). Why Do Individuals Perceive and Respond to the Same Institutional Demands Differently? On the Cognitive Structural Underpinnings of Institutional Complexity. Research in the Sociology of Organizations (pp. 99–118). Emerald Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-78769-124-7.
  4. Pratt, M.G., Schultz, M., Ashforth, B.E. and Ravasi, D. (2016). Introduction: Organizational Identity. In Pratt, M.G., Schultz, M., Ashforth, B.E. and Ravasi, D. (Eds.), Oxford University Press.
  5. Ravasi, D. (2016). Organizational Identity, Culture, and Image. In Pratt, M.G., Schultz, M., Ashforth, B.E. and Ravasi, D. (Eds.), Oxford University Press.
  6. Pratt, M.G., Schultz, M., Ashforth, B.E. and Ravasi, D. (2016). Conclusion: On the Identity of Organizational Identity looking backward toward the future. In Pratt, M.G., Schultz, M., Ashforth, B.E. and Ravasi, D. (Eds.), Oxford University Press.
  7. (2015). Combining Qualitative Methods to Study Collective Cognition in Organizations. In Handbook of Qualitative Organizational Research (pp. 476–485). Routledge.
  8. Ravasi, D. and Schultz, M. (2012). Organizational culture and identity at Bang & Olufsen. Organizational Identity in Practice (pp. 103–120).
  9. Stigliani, I. and Ravasi, D. (2012). Organizational artefacts and the expression of identity in corporate museums at Alfa-Romeo, Kartell, and Piaggio. Organizational Identity in Practice (pp. 197–214).
  10. Lerpold, L., Ravasi, D., Van Rekom, J. and Soenen, G. (2012). Analyzing organizational identities: Some guidelines for practice. Organizational Identity in Practice (pp. 235–244).
  11. Gabbioneta, C., Mazzola, P. and Ravasi, D. (2011). Corporate Reputation and Stock Market Behavior. Reputation Management (pp. 215–229). Springer Berlin Heidelberg. ISBN 978-3-642-19265-4.
  12. Ravasi, D. and Canato, A. (2010). We are what we do (and how we do it): Organizational technologies and the construction of organizational identity. Research in the Sociology of Organizations (pp. 49–78). Emerald Group Publishing Limited. ISBN 978-1-84950-984-8.
  13. Ravasi, D. and Rindova, V. (2008). Symbolic Value Creation. The SAGE Handbook of New Approaches in Management and Organization (pp. 270–284). SAGE Publications Ltd.
  14. In Elsbach, K.D. and Kramer, R. (Eds.), Handbook of Qualitative Organizational Research. In Routledge.
  15. In Carroll, C. (Ed.), Corporate Reputation and the News Media. In Routledge.
  16. Ravasi, D. and Schultz, M. Organizational Identity and Culture Change. The Oxford Handbook of Organizational Change and Innovation (pp. 106–130). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-884597-3.

Journal articles (47)

  1. Ravasi, D., Svejenova, S., Kroezen, J., Sasaki, I. and Suddaby, R. (2025). Rediscovering Craft in Organization Studies: Perspectives and pathways. Organization Studies, 46(4), pp. 445–469. doi:10.1177/01708406251326739.

    [publisher’s website]

  2. Sadri, M., Aristidou, A. and Ravasi, D. (2025). Cross‐Sector Partnership Research at Theoretical Interstices: Integrating and Advancing Theory across Phases. Journal of Management Studies, 62(1), pp. 484–517. doi:10.1111/joms.13046.

    [publisher’s website]

  3. Moschieri, C., Ravasi, D. and Huy, Q. (2024). Why Do Some Multinational Firms Respond Better Than Others to the Hostility of Host Governments? Proximal Embedding and the Side Effects of Local Partnerships. Journal of Management Studies, 61(2), pp. 627–685. doi:10.1111/joms.12809.

    [publisher’s website]

  4. Gioia, D., Corley, K., Eisenhardt, K., Feldman, M., Langley, A., Lê, J. … Welch, C. (2022). A Curated Debate: On Using “Templates” in Qualitative Research. Journal of Management Inquiry, 31(3), pp. 231–252. doi:10.1177/10564926221098955.

    [publisher’s website]

  5. Radić, M., Ravasi, D. and Munir, K. (2021). Privatization: Implications of a Shift from State to Private Ownership. Journal of Management, 47(6), pp. 1596–1629. doi:10.1177/0149206320988356.

    [publisher’s website]

  6. Kroezen, J., Ravasi, D., Sasaki, I., Żebrowska, M. and Suddaby, R. (2021). Configurations of Craft: Alternative Models for Organizing Work. Academy of Management Annals, 15(2), pp. 502–536. doi:10.5465/annals.2019.0145.

    [publisher’s website]

  7. Sasaki, I., Nummela, N. and Ravasi, D. (2021). Managing cultural specificity and cultural embeddedness when internationalizing: Cultural strategies of Japanese craft firms. Journal of International Business Studies, 52(2), pp. 245–281. doi:10.1057/s41267-020-00330-0.

    [publisher’s website]

  8. Cloutier, C. and Ravasi, D. (2021). Using tables to enhance trustworthiness in qualitative research. Strategic Organization, 19(1), pp. 113–133. doi:10.1177/1476127020979329.

    [publisher’s website]

  9. Cloutier, C. and Ravasi, D. (2020). Identity Trajectories: Explaining Long-Term Patterns of Continuity and Change in Organizational Identities. Academy of Management Journal, 63(4), pp. 1196–1235. doi:10.5465/amj.2017.1051.

    [publisher’s website]

  10. Sasaki, I., Kotlar, J., Ravasi, D. and Vaara, E. (2020). Dealing with revered past: Historical identity statements and strategic change in Japanese family firms. Strategic Management Journal, 41(3), pp. 590–623. doi:10.1002/smj.3065.

    [publisher’s website]

  11. Ravasi, D., Tripsas, M. and Langley, A. (2020). Exploring the strategy-identity nexus. Strategic Organization, 18(1), pp. 5–19. doi:10.1177/1476127019900022.

    [publisher’s website]

  12. Ravasi, D., Rindova, V. and Stigliani, I. (2019). The Stuff of Legend: History, Memory, and the Temporality of Organizational Identity Construction. Academy of Management Journal, 62(5), pp. 1523–1555. doi:10.5465/amj.2016.0505.

    [publisher’s website]

  13. Sasaki, I., Ravasi, D. and Micelotta, E. (2019). Family Firms as Institutions: Cultural reproduction and status maintenance among multi-centenary shinise in Kyoto. Organization Studies, 40(6), pp. 793–831. doi:10.1177/0170840618818596.

    [publisher’s website]

  14. Etter, M., Ravasi, D. and Colleoni, E. (2019). Social Media and the Formation of Organizational Reputation. Academy of Management Review, 44(1), pp. 28–52. doi:10.5465/amr.2014.0280.

    [publisher’s website]

  15. Ravasi, D., Etter, M. and Colleoni, E. (2019). Why Would the Rise of Social Media Increase the Influence of Traditional Media on Collective Judgments? A Response to [authors] Blevins and Ragozzino. Academy of Management Review, 44(1), pp. 222–226. doi:10.5465/amr.2018.0065.
  16. Ravasi, D., Etter, M. and Colleoni, E. (2019). Why Would the Rise of Social Media Increase the Influence of Traditional Media on Collective Judgments? A Response to Blevins and Ragozzino. Academy of Management Review, 44(1), pp. 222–226. doi:10.5465/amr.2018.0065.

    [publisher’s website]

  17. Giudici, A., Reinmoeller, P. and Ravasi, D. (2018). Open-System Orchestration as a Relational Source of Sensing Capabilities: Evidence from a Venture Association. Academy of Management Journal, 61(4), pp. 1369–1402. doi:10.5465/amj.2015.0573.

    [publisher’s website]

  18. Ravasi, D., Rindova, V., Etter, M. and Cornelissen, J. (2018). The Formation of Organizational Reputation. Academy of Management Annals, 12(2), pp. 574–599. doi:10.5465/annals.2016.0124.

    [publisher’s website]

  19. Stigliani, I. and Ravasi, D. (2018). The Shaping of Form: Exploring Designers’ Use of Aesthetic Knowledge. Organization Studies. doi:10.1177/0170840618759813.
  20. Svenningsen-Berthélem, V., Boxenbaum, E. and Ravasi, D. (2018). Individual responses to multiple logics in hybrid organizing: The role of structural position. Management France, 21(4), pp. 1306–1328.
  21. Schreiter, K. and Ravasi, D. (2018). Institutional Pressures and Organizational Identity: The Case of Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau in the GDR and Beyond, 1945–1996. Business History Review, 92(3), pp. 453–481. doi:10.1017/s0007680518000776.

    [publisher’s website]

  22. Ravasi, D. (2016). Visualizing Our Way through Theory Building. Journal of Management Inquiry. doi:10.1177/1056492616680575.
  23. Dalpiaz, E., Rindova, V. and Ravasi, D. (2016). Combining Logics to Transform Organizational Agency: Blending Industry and Art at Alessi. Administrative Science Quarterly, 61(3), pp. 347–392. doi:10.1177/0001839216636103.
  24. Compagni, A., Mele, V. and Ravasi, D. (2015). How Early Implementations Influence Later Adoptions of Innovation: Social Positioning and Skill Reproduction in the Diffusion of Robotic Surgery. Academy of Management Journal, 58(1), pp. 242–278. doi:10.5465/amj.2011.1184.

    [publisher’s website]

  25. Canato, A. and Ravasi, D. (2015). Managing long-lasting cultural changes. Organizational Dynamics, 44(1), pp. 75–82. doi:10.1016/j.orgdyn.2014.11.009.

    [publisher’s website]

  26. Canato, A. and Ravasi, D. (2015). Managing long-lasting cultural changes. Organizational Dynamics, 44(1), pp. 75–82. doi:10.1016/j.orgdyn.2014.11.009.
  27. Canato, A., Ravasi, D. and Phillips, N. (2013). Coerced Practice Implementation in Cases of Low Cultural Fit: Cultural Change and Practice Adaptation During the Implementation of Six Sigma at 3M. Academy of Management Journal, 56(6), pp. 1724–1753. doi:10.5465/amj.2011.0093.

    [publisher’s website]

  28. Ravasi, D. and Canato, A. (2013). How Do I Know Who You Think You Are? A Review of Research Methods on Organizational Identity. International Journal of Management Reviews, 15(2), pp. 185–204. doi:10.1111/ijmr.12008.

    [publisher’s website]

  29. Ravasi, D. and Stigliani, I. (2012). Product Design: a Review and Research Agenda for Management Studies. International Journal of Management Reviews, 14(4), pp. 464–488. doi:10.1111/j.1468-2370.2012.00330.x.

    [publisher’s website]

  30. Stigliani, I. and Ravasi, D. (2012). Organizing Thoughts and Connecting Brains: Material Practices and the Transition from Individual to Group-Level Prospective Sensemaking. Academy of Management Journal, 55(5), pp. 1232–1259. doi:10.5465/amj.2010.0890.

    [publisher’s website]

  31. Ravasi, D., Rindova, V. and Dalpiaz, E. (2012). The cultural side of value creation. Strategic Organization, 10(3), pp. 231–239. doi:10.1177/1476127012452824.

    [publisher’s website]

  32. Ravasi, D. and Phillips, N. (2011). Strategies of alignment: Organizational identity management and strategic change at Bang & Olufsen. Strategic Organization, 9(2), pp. 103–135. doi:10.1177/1476127011403453.
  33. Kjaergaard, A., Morsing, M. and Ravasi, D. (2011). Mediating Identity: A Study of Media Influence on Organizational Identity Construction in a Celebrity Firm. Journal of Management Studies, 48(3), pp. 514–543. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6486.2010.00954.x.

    [publisher’s website]

  34. Rindova, V., Dalpiaz, E. and Ravasi, D. (2011). A Cultural Quest: A Study of Organizational Use of New Cultural Resources in Strategy Formation. Organization Science, 22(2), pp. 413–431. doi:10.1287/orsc.1100.0537.

    [publisher’s website]

  35. Dalpiaz, E., Rindova, V.P. and Ravasi, D. (2010). Where strategy meets culture: The neglected role of cultural and symbolic resources in strategy research. pp. 175–208. doi:10.1108/s0742-3322(2010)0000027010.

    [publisher’s website]

  36. van Rekom, J., Corley, K. and Ravasi, D. (2008). Extending and Advancing Theories of Organizational Identity. Corporate Reputation Review, 11(3), pp. 183–188. doi:10.1057/crr.2008.21.

    [publisher’s website]

  37. Gabbioneta, C., Ravasi, D. and Mazzola, P. (2007). Exploring the Drivers of Corporate Reputation: A Study of Italian Securities Analysts. Corporate Reputation Review, 10(2), pp. 99–123. doi:10.1057/palgrave.crr.1550048.

    [publisher’s website]

  38. Ravasi, D. and Zattoni, A. (2006). Exploring the Political Side of Board Involvement in Strategy: A Study of Mixed‐Ownership Institutions*. Journal of Management Studies, 43(8), pp. 1671–1702. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6486.2006.00659.x.

    [publisher’s website]

  39. Mazzola, P., Ravasi, D. and Gabbioneta, C. (2006). How to Build Reputation in Financial Markets. Long Range Planning, 39(4), pp. 385–407. doi:10.1016/j.lrp.2006.09.001.

    [publisher’s website]

  40. Ravasi, D. and Schultz, M. (2006). Responding to Organizational Identity Threats: Exploring the Role of Organizational Culture. Academy of Management Journal, 49(3), pp. 433–458. doi:10.5465/amj.2006.21794663.

    [publisher’s website]

  41. Ravasi, D. and Lojacono, G. (2005). Managing design and designers for strategic renewal. Long Range Planning, 38(1), pp. 51–77. doi:10.1016/j.lrp.2004.11.010.

    [publisher’s website]

  42. Ravasi, D. and Turati, C. (2005). Exploring entrepreneurial learning: a comparative study of technology development projects. Journal of Business Venturing, 20(1), pp. 137–164. doi:10.1016/j.jbusvent.2003.11.002.

    [publisher’s website]

  43. Ravasi, D. and van Rekom, J. (2003). Key Issues in Organizational Identity and Identification Theory. Corporate Reputation Review, 6(2), pp. 118–132. doi:10.1057/palgrave.crr.1540194.

    [publisher’s website]

  44. Verona, G. and Ravasi, D. (2003). Unbundling dynamic capabilities: An exploratory study of continuous product innovation. Industrial and Corporate Change, 12(3), pp. 577–606. doi:10.1093/icc/12.3.577.
  45. Ravasi, D. and Marchisio, G. (2003). . Small Business Economics, 21(4), pp. 381–395. doi:10.1023/a:1026119221991.

    [publisher’s website]

  46. Ravasi, D. (2002). Italy: Analyzing Reputation in a Cross-National Setting. Corporate Reputation Review, 4(4), pp. 354–361. doi:10.1057/palgrave.crr.1540156.

    [publisher’s website]

  47. Ravasi, D. and Verona, G. (2001). Organising the process of knowledge integration: the benefits of structural ambiguity. Scandinavian Journal of Management, 17(1), pp. 41–66. doi:10.1016/s0956-5221(00)00032-4.

    [publisher’s website]

Professional activities

Editorial activity (6)

  1. Journal of Management, Member of Editorial Board, 2011 – present.
  2. Strategic Organization, Member of Editorial Board, 2011 – present.
  3. Journal of Management Studies, Associate Editor, 2010 – 2013.
  4. Academy of Management Journal, Member of Editorial Board, 2010 – present.
  5. Academy of Management Review, Member of Editorial Board, 2005 – present.
  6. Corporate Reputation Review, Member of Editorial Board, 2004 – present.