Sandra Cha, Brandeis International Business School

Every week, a business school professor, an expert in his or her field, will define key terms on FT Lexicon, our online economics, business and finance glossary.

Sandra Cha is an assistant professor of organisational behaviour at Brandeis International Business School. She conducts research on leadership, focusing on two aspects: leading through shared values (see ‘values-based leadership’ below) and leading in the context of demographic differences (see ‘diversity management’ below).

Prof Cha’s research has appeared in publications including the Journal of Applied Psychology and Harvard Business Review. She is the principal investigator on a $99,976 grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. In collaboration with University of Michigan professor Scott DeRue she is using the grant to investigate what happens when leaders violate corporate values in ‘triple bottom line’ companies.

Prof Cha has a PhD in organisational behaviour, awarded jointly by Harvard Business School and the Harvard Psychology Department. She also earned an MA in social psychology and a BA in psychology (magna cum laude) from Harvard University.

The terms defined by Sandra Cha on FT Lexicon this week are:

Diversity management

Values-based leadership

Organisational culture

Transformational leadership

Power distance

Compiled by Emmanuelle Smith

Follow @FTLexicon on Twitter