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Esther Leibel

Assistant Professor, Strategy

Esther Leibel

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Research Publications

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Esther Leibel is an Assistant Professor in the Strategy group at Ivey Business School. She received her PhD in Management from New York University.

Her research employs ethnographic and linguistic methods to study the socio-cognitive dynamics of social innovation, with a focus on development of sustainable local food systems and entrepreneur resource acquisition. At the organizational and field level, she asks how purpose-driven organizations develop strategies and business models to accomplish their mission. At the individual level, she examines how social entrepreneurs interact with and gain support from investors and other resource holders, acquiring financial, social, and human capital. Esther’s research has been published or is forthcoming in the Academy of Management Annals and the Strategic Management Journal and has been supported by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Strategy Research Foundation. Her dissertation received the Best Paper Award at the 19th Annual Social Entrepreneurship Conference and was a finalist for the Academy of Management’s ONE Doctoral Dissertation Award.

At Ivey, Esther teaches Power and Politics and is a member of the undergraduate Cross-Enterprise Leadership team. Previously, she has taught Strategy, Innovation and Global Competition as well as Leadership and Organizations.

Prior to joining Ivey, Esther was an Assistant Professor of Strategy and Innovation at Boston University and worked in sustainability consulting for Deloitte and Arthur D. Little.

Recent Refereed Articles

  • Leibel, E., (Forthcoming), "Curating 1,000 flowers as they bloom: Leveraging pluralistic initiatives to diffuse social innovations", Strategic Management Journal
  • Leibel, E.; Hallet, T.; Bechky, B. A., 2018, "Meaning at the Source: The Dynamics of Field Formation in Institutional Research", The Academy of Management Annals, January 12(1)

For more publications please see our Research Database

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