Abraham B. (Rami) Shani
Professor Emeritus
Contact Information
Email: ashani@calpoly.edu
Phone: 805-756-1756
Rami is a Professor Emeritus of Organization Behavior and Organization Development and Change at the Orfalea College of Business (OCOB), California Polytechnic State University. At the OCOB he served as the Associate Dean for Faculty and Research and twice as the Management Area Department Head/Chair. He also served as a Research Professor at the School of Management, Politecnico di Milano, Milan Italy. In addition, Rami held the position of Research Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics during the 1991-2006 period. He received his Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from Case Western Reserve University in 1981. During his career Rami received many universities, national and international awards for teaching, research and research that impacts practice.
He designed and led variety of courses, seminars and executive development programs in many universities and institutions of higher education around the globe in the areas of Organization Behavior, Organization Design, Organization Change and Development and, Research Methodologies.
His research interests include organizational change and development methodologies, action research and collaborative research methodologies, learning in and by organizations, sustainability and sustainable effectiveness and, work and organization design. Rami is author, co-author or co- editor of many books, journals and articles.
Some of his published books include: “Storymaking and Organizational Transformation” (with Buganza et al, Routledge 2023); “Collaborative Inquiry for Organization Development” (with Coghlan, 2021, Elgar); “IDeaLs – Innovation and Design as Leadership: Transformation in the Digital Era” (with Press et al, Emerald, 2021); “Conducting Action Research” (with Coghlan, 2018, Sage); “Behavior in Organizations” (in its 9th edition, McGraw Hills-Irwin, 2009); and, “Learning By Design: Building Sustainable Organizations” (with Docherty, Blackwell, 2003); and, “Parallel Learning Structures: Increasing Innovation in Bureaucracies” (with Bushe, Addison Wesley, 1991. He is the co-editor of “Research in Organizational Change and Development” annual series that has published its 31th volume, 2008-2025, (Emerald); “Reconfiguring the Ecosystem for Sustainable Healthcare” (Emerald, 2014); “Collaborative Management Research” (with Guerci & Cirella, Raffaello Cortina, 2014); “Organizing for Sustainable Health Care” (Emerald, 2012); “Organizing for Sustainable Effectiveness” (Emerald, 2011); “Fundamentals of Organization Development” (4 Volumes, with Coghlan, 2010, Sage); “Creating Sustainable Work Systems” (with Docherty et al, Routledge, 2002 and 2009); “The Handbook of Collaborative Management Research” (with Pasmore et al, Sage, 2008); “Collaborative Research in Organizations: Foundations for Learning, Change and Theoretical Development” (with Adler, 2004, Sage).
Rami’s scholarly work has been published in a wide range of leading journals, such as, Academy of Management Journal, Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Human Relations, Organization Dynamics, Managerial Psychology, Journal of Organization Change, among others. He published over 250 articles and chapters. Rami served in a variety of leadership/management roles at both Cal Poly and the Academy of Management. At the Academy of Management, he served on the Organization Development and Change (OD&C) board and as president of the OD&C division. He is on the editorial board of five journals. He is the recipient of Cal Poly’s Distinguished Teaching Award and Cal Poly’s Distinguished Research Award.