Giuseppe (Joe) Labianca

Joe Labianca's research examines organizational behavior topics from a social network perspective, including conflict, post-merger integration, turnover, innovation, collaboration, team processes, temporal processes, power and politics, positive and negative gossip, ostracism, social media, and organizational design and change. Labianca employs a wide variety of research methods, including surveys, big data analytics, experiments, and qualitative approaches. He has won numerous teaching and research awards, including the University of Kentucky’s Great Teacher Award, the Academy of Management’s Organization and Management Theory Division Best Paper Award, and the 2024 Management Information Systems Quarterly Davis Dickson Impact Award. He served as President of the Social Networks Society in 2024-25. Labianca has worked with numerous corporate and organizational partners, including most recently with the US Marine Corps, Space Force, Valvoline, and TempurSealy, where he served on its Organization Development Leadership Council for three years.

Awards, Honors, and Recognition

Research Awards

• Daniel J. Brass Fellowship, Social Networks Society, 2025.

• Davis Dickson Impact Award, Management Information Systems Quarterly, 2024. For: “What's Different About Social Media Networks? A Framework and Research Agenda (with Kane, Alavi, & Borgatti).”

• Best Paper Award, Organization and Management Theory Division, Academy of Management, 2007. For: “Career-Related Network Building Behaviors, Range Social Capital and Career Outcomes (with Shipilov, Kalnysh, & Kalnysh).”

• Runner-Up, Best Paper Award, 2006, Academy of Management Review. For: “Exploring the Social Ledger: Negative Relationships and Negative Asymmetry in Social Networks in Organizations.”

• Goizueta Business School, Emory University, Alumni Award for Excellence in Research, 2005-2006.

• A.B. Freeman School of Business, Tulane University, Outstanding Young Researcher Award, 1999-2000.

Teaching Awards

• Gatton College Teaching Excellence Award Winner, University of Kentucky, 2019.

• University of Kentucky Alumni Association Great Teacher Award Winner, 2010 (university-wide award).

• University of Kentucky Provost’s Teaching Award Finalist, 2010 (university-wide award).

• Goizueta Business School, Emory University, Evening MBA Class of 2006 Distinguished Educator Award.

• Fred Brand, Jr. Award for Outstanding Graduate Teaching, The Smeal College of Business Administration, Penn State University, 1996.

Service Awards

• Recipient, outstanding reviewer for Organizational Behavior Division, Academy of Management (twice).

• Recipient, ABCD Award, outstanding reviewer for Organization and Management Theory Division, Academy of Management (twice).

Editorial Positions

Journal Editor

• Department editor (associate editor), Decision Sciences, Theories in Decision Making department, 2020-2025; Social Technology and Social Media for Operations department, 2026-present. 
• Co-editor, Academy of Management Review, special issue on Contemporary Perspectives on Work and Working, 2013.
• Co-editor, Research in the Sociology of Organizations, volume on Contemporary Perspectives on Organizational Social Network Analysis, 2014.
• Co-editor, Organization Science, special issue on Networks and Organizational Psychology, 2015.
• Co-editor, Social Networks, special issue on Negative and Signed Tie Networks, 2020.

Editorial Boards

• Consulting editor, Journal of Applied Psychology, 2015 to present.
• Editorial board member, Organizational Psychology Review, 2011 to present. 
• Editorial board member, Organization Science, 2002 to 2023. 
• Editorial board member, Academy of Management Journal, 1999 to 2004.
• Editorial board member, Strategic Organization, 2012 to 2021.
• Member, Editorial Advisory Committee, Academy of Management Journal, 1999 to 2001.

Social Networks Society

• President, 2024-25
• Executive Committee Member, 2025-present.

Conference Organization

• Founder and Organizer: Intra-Organizational Networks (ION) Conference

Current Research 

• Social cohesiveness and ostracism in military organizations
• Newcomer socialization in teams and organizations: antecedents and consequences

Media, Industry, and Public Impact

Executive Education Experience:

• Director of the University of Kentucky’s Don and Cathy Jacobs Executive Education Center (EEC)
• Launched a joint Graduate Healthcare Certificate between the EEC, the MBA Program Office, the UK College of Public Health and the UK College of Engineering
• Grew the Healthcare Executive Leadership program; transitioned it from a custom program to an open program
• Doubled the EEC’s revenue and led it to profitability
• 2014-2016  Co-Director of the Joint University of Kentucky/University of Louisville Executive Masters of Business Administration Program
• Launched joint EMBA program August 2014 with a profitable first cohort of 20 executives

EMBA courses taught:

• University of Kentucky (2008-2021), Organizational Change Management
• Stonier Graduate School of Banking, Wharton (2006-2015), Negotiations and Conflict Management 
• Helsinki School of Economics (2007), Negotiations and Conflict Management

Industry Engagement Partners

Valvoline, TempurSealy, Fisher-Price, Mattel, Intel, Toyota, Boeing, Neogen, AT&T, Citigroup, Kaiser Permanente, Francke, Gray Construction, Urban Artists Projects (UAP), the United Methodist Church, South Carolina Power, Shearer’s Foods, Penn State University Health Services, the Ukrainian National Government, Royal Netherlands Naval College, the US Naval Academy, the US Marine Corps University, the US Space Force, the Construction Industry Institute, and the AACSB.

Served on TempurSealy International’s Organization Development Leadership Council, 2013-2015.

Professional Links

• Google Scholar
• ORCHID