Cynthia A. Thompson - Zicklin School of Business

About

Cynthia Thompson, PhD, is Professor of Management and former Academic Director of the Executive MBA program. She has taught courses in Managing People and Organizations, Leadership Development, Work-life Integration, and Human Resource Management to students at all levels, including undergraduate, MBA, EMBA, and doctoral students, and has taught Organization Change & Development to Master’s degree students in Singapore. She recently developed an MBA course called, Leading Organizational Change for Environmental Sustainability. In 2018, the course won an Honorable Mention from the Page Prize for Excellence in Sustainable Business Education. She feels passionately about the need to integrate the issues surrounding climate change and environmental sustainability throughout the MBA curriculum, and she has helped faculty incorporate sustainability as a key theme in the Executive MBA curriculum.

Professor Thompson is recognized for her research on organizational work-life culture, and in particular, the extent to which various aspects of organizational culture affect employee well-being, satisfaction, and commitment. Her work has been published in over 25 journal articles and book chapters, and two of her articles were nominated for the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research. She has been interviewed in the popular press, including magazines such as Working Mother and Ladies Home Journal, newspapers such as the Daily News, AM New York, and Crain’s New York, and has been interviewed by NPR and NBC-NY about work-life issues.

In addition to her academic responsibilities, Prof. Thompson is president of WorkVision, LLC, a management consulting firm specializing in leadership development. Prior to that, she was a senior consultant at LearnTech Associates in New York City, a management consulting firm. She has also worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority, Union Carbide, and AT&T.

Publications

Beauregard, T. Alexandra, Basile, Kelly A., Thompson, Cynthia A. (2018). Organizational culture in the context of national culture. In K. M., Shockely, W. Shen, & R.C. Johnson (Eds.), The Cambridge handbook of the global work-family interface. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Shockley, K., Thompson, C. A., & Andreassi, J. K. (2013). Workplace culture and work-life integration. In D. Major & R. Burke (Eds.), Handbook of work-life integration among professionals: Challenges and opportunities. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Pub.

Richardson, K. M., & Thompson, C. A. (2012). High tech tethers and work-family conflict: A conservation of resources approach. Engineering Management Research, 1, 29-43.

Thompson, C. A. & Prottas, D. P. (2009). Elaborations on a theme: Toward understanding work-family culture. In A. Crouter & A. Booth (Eds.), Work-life policies that make a real difference for individuals, families, and organizations. Washington, D. C.: Urban Institute Press.

Thompson, C. A. (2008). Barriers to the implementation and usage of work-life policies. In S. P. Poelmans & P. Caliguiri (Eds.), Harmonizing work, family, and personal life: From policy to practice. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Andreassi, J. K., & Thompson, C. A. (2008). Work-family culture: Current research and future directions. In Korabik, K., Lero, D. S., & Whitehead, D. L. (Eds.), Handbook of work-family integration. New York City: Elsevier Press.

Thompson, C. A., Poelmans, S., Allen, T. A., & Andreassi, J. K. (2007). On the importance of coping: A model and new directions for research on work and family. In P. L. Perrewe, & D. C. Ganster (Eds.), Research in occupational stress and well being, 6, 73-113.

Andreassi, J. & Thompson, C. A. (2007) Dispositional and situational sources of control: Relative impact on work-family conflict and work-family facilitation. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 8, 722-740.

Prottas, D. J., & Thompson, C. A. (2006). Stress, satisfaction, and the work-family interface: A comparison of self-employed business owners, independents, and organizational employees. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 11, 366-378.

Thompson, C. A., & Prottas, D. J. (2006). Relationships among organizational family support, job autonomy, perceived control, and employee well-being. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 11, 100-118.

Thompson, C.A., & Beauvais, L.L., & Allen, T. (2006) Work and family from an industrial-organizational psychology perspective (pp. 283-307). In Pitt-Catsouphes, M., Kossek, E., & Sweet, S. (Eds.), The Work-family Handbook: Multi-Disciplinary Perspectives and Approaches. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Pub.

Thompson, C. A., Andreassi, J., & Prottas, D. (2005) Work-family culture: Key to reducing workforce-workplace mismatch? In Bianchi, S. M., Casper, L. M., & Berkowitz King, R. (Eds.), Workforce/Workplace Mismatch? Work, Family, Health and Well-Being (pp.117-132). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Pub., 2005.

Friedman, S. D., Thompson, C. A., Carpenter, M., & Marcel, D. (2005). Proving Leo Durocher wrong: Driving work/life change at Ernst & Young. International Journal of Leadership Education, 1, 65-92.

Jahn, E., Thompson, C.A., & Kopelman, R. (2003). Perceived organizational family support: Rationale and construct validity evidence. Community, Work, and Family, 6, 123-140. *This paper was nominated for the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research

Thompson, C.A., Beauvais, L., & Lyness, K.S. (1999) When work-family benefits are not enough…The influence of work-family culture on benefit utilization, organizational attachment, and work-family conflict. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 54, 392-415. *This paper was nominated for the Rosabeth Moss Kanter Award for Excellence in Work-Family Research

Lyness, K.L., Thompson, C.A., Francesco, A.M., & Judiesch, M. (1999). Work and pregnancy: Individual and organizational factors influencing organizational commitment, timing of maternity leave and return to work. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 11, 485-508.

Awards