James Riley

James Riley is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Organizational Behavior Unit at Harvard Business School. He teaches LEAD in the MBA required curriculum.

Professor Riley is an economic sociologist. He conducts ethnographic research to produce qualitative studies on the role of status, norms, social valuations, and organizational culture within innovation-driven organizations, creative industries, and cultural markets. His fieldwork aims to identify and distill complex informal governance structures and relational mechanisms to generate observationally grounded theories of organizational actors’ strategic behavior.

Professor Riley earned a Ph.D. from MIT Sloan School of Management, an M.S. in Urbanization and Development from the London School of Economics, and a B.A. in International Relations from the University of Southern California.

Education

• Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) MIT Sloan School of Management (2013)
• MSc The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) (2008 — 2009)
• B.A. University of Southern California (2003 — 2006)
• King's College London (2005 — 2005)
• Associate of Arts - AA Pasadena City College (2001.09 — 2003.06)

Companies

• Assistant Professor Harvard Business School (2020)
• PhD Economic Sociology MIT Sloan School of Management (2013 — 2020)
• Planning & Civic Development Project Coordinator Jonathan Rose Companies (2010 — 2012)
• Research Center for Study of Science, Technology, & Policy (CSTEP) (2010 — 2010)
• Research Global Communities (2010 — 2010)
• Seasonal Research Analyst Glass, Lewis & Co. (2008 — 2008)
• Editorial Fellowship The National Interest (2007 — 2007)
• Intern U.S. Department of Commerce (2006 — 2006)

Skills

• Urban Planning
• Research
• Nonprofits

Other

Economic Development, International Relations, International Development