July & September 2026 DBA Vivas

July & September 2026 DBA Vivas

2026-10-08 08:55:00

2026-10-08 11:01:06

2026-06-03 16:35:28

Marie-pierre Kraus

The GEM GLOBAL DBA Community  is delighted to announce the latest DBA viva sessions, which took place at GEM in-person or online in July and September 2026Our sincere congratulations to Naida CULSHAW, Intake 2021, for successfully defending on July 3, 2026 her dissertation thesis dedicated to the theme" Becoming Differently: Indigenous Worldviews and Entrepreneurial Self-Making”Naida’s DBA explored how Indigenous-infused entrepreneurial learning environments shape not only what entrepreneurs know, but who they become, what they become responsible to, and how those shifts move into practice. Through 23 conversational interviews across three international programs, Naida developed a composting conceptualization of entrepreneurial self-making, tracing movements of re/membering, re/connecting, and re/composing. The work invites us to ask what kinds of learning containers can hold deeper transformation with care, presence, and relational accountability.A fuller public-facing account of the work is available at The Seasoned Self: https://www.theseasonedself.com/rooted-inquiry.htmlHeartfelt thanks to:Supervisor: Prof. Amanda PETICCA HARRIS, GEM Alpine Business SchoolInternal reviewer: Prof. Marcos BARROS, GEM Alpine Business SchoolExternal reviewer: Prof. Kurt SEEMANN, University of New South WalesOur sincere congratulations to Donald ARMSTRONG, Intake 2023, for successfully defending on July 9, 2026 his dissertation thesis dedicated to the theme“AI Copilots and Managerial Decision-Making: A Field Study of Cognitive Load, Adoption, and Performance in Professional Services”Donald's dissertation examines how a task's cognitive demands relate to whether managers adopt an AI copilot, how deeply they delegate reasoning to it, and whether its use is associated with improved business outcomes. Across three field studies, higher information volume was associated with greater adoption and deeper reasoning delegation. Greater linguistic complexity was associated with more cautious adoption, with less consistent patterns in reasoning delegation. Error reductions were conditional, concentrated primarily in high-volume work. Together, the findings suggest that AI use and outcomes may depend on the demands of the task.Heartfelt thanks to:Supervisor: Prof. Isabella SEEBER & Prof. Joaquin RODRIGUEZ, GEM Alpine Business SchoolInternal reviewer: Prof. Martina BATTISTI, GEM Alpine Business SchoolExternal reviewer: Prof. Dominik GUTT, RWTH Aachen UniversityOur sincere congratulations to Corina TABAN, Intake 2022, for successfully defending on July 20, 2026 her dissertation thesis dedicated to the theme“Being a Female Manager in Big Tech Companies. Towards the Qualification of a Gendered Psychological Contract” This study examines how gender shapes the psychological contract of female managers in Big Tech. Based on qualitative interviews with 20 women who stayed, considered leaving, or exited, it finds that many remain highly committed despite unequal reciprocity, stalled progression, and declining trust. Gendered norms influence perceived obligations, responses to contract breach, and decisions to stay or leave. The research calls for more gender-sensitive organizational practices to improve equity, retention, and employee experiences overall. Heartfelt thanks to:Supervisor: Prof. Severine LE LOARNE, GEM Alpine Business SchoolInternal reviewer: Prof. Stéphanie GAUTTIER, GEM Alpine Business SchoolExternal reviewer: Prof. Denise ROUSSEAU, Carnegie Mellon UniversityOur sincere congratulations to Valérie BERSET-PRICE, Intake 2023, for successfully defending on July 23, 2026 her dissertation thesis dedicated to the theme“Precarity, Financialization, and the Understanding of their Impact on Layoffs in the United States of America”This thesis examines how mergers, acquisitions, and stock buybacks normalize layoffs among US professional-managerial workers within an employer-tied welfare regime. Drawing on 27 interviews and Gioia-style analysis, it shows that workers view layoffs as routine shareholder-value tools but rarely link them to financialized strategies. It develops financialized precarity, ambivalent consent, and demoralized agency to explain insecurity and eroding institutional trust. The study offers non-generalizable but analytically rich insights for managers, boards, and policymakers on restructuring, governance, buyback regulation, and employer-independent protections. Heartfelt thanks to:Supervisor: Prof. Heather CONNOLLY, GEM Alpine Business SchoolInternal reviewer: Prof. Martina BATTISTI, GEM Alpine Business SchoolExternal reviewer: Prof. William LAZONICK, President, The Academic-Industry Research NetworkOur sincere congratulations to Tatsuki TOMITA, Intake 2021, for successfully defending on July 24, 2026 his dissertation thesis dedicated to the theme“Navigating nascent market: Business model archetypes and legitimacy-building strategies in the Carbon Dioxide Removal industry”As the carbon dioxide removal (CDR) industry develops, understanding how businesses organize themselves to commercialize emerging technologies is becoming increasingly important. Based on an analysis of 31 CDR companies, I developed five business model archetypes that provide a structured way to understand the industry’s emerging organizational landscape. The study also shows how these business model configurations shape how companies establish legitimacy, offering a framework for understanding the relationship between business model choices and legitimacy in a fast-moving industry. Heartfelt thanks to:Supervisor: Prof. Anne-lorene VERNAY, GEM Alpine Business SchoolInternal reviewer: Prof. Sylvie BLANCO, GEM Alpine Business SchoolExternal reviewer: Prof. Alexis LASZCZUK, ESSCAOur sincere congratulations to Rachel McNEIL, Intake 2022, for successfully defending on September 25, 2026 her dissertation thesis dedicated to the theme“Hail to the Stale, Pale Male: Religious Beliefs and Leadership Gender”Rachel's thesis explores how explicit and implicit religious beliefs shape gender-role perceptions and contribute to the underrepresentation of females in leadership. Drawing on 32 interviews with female and male pharmaceutical-sector employees in Northern Ireland, UK and Ireland, Systems Psychodynamic Theory, revealed how unconscious social defences were employed to support the perceived masculinity of leadership. Male dominance/female subordination, organised through moral emotions of power and fear; male superiority/female inferiority, organised through honour and shame; and female blame/male innocence, organised through guilt and the scapegoat mechanism emerged. Heartfelt thanks to:Supervisor: Prof. Dima LOUIS, EM LYONInternal reviewer: Prof. Anne ANTONI, GEM Alpine Business SchoolExternal reviewer: Prof. Michelle MIELLY, EM LYON

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