Pedro Monteiro
Copenhagen Business School
“Pedro Monteiro is the best professor I have had while studying International Business at Copenhagen Business School. As my Organizational Behavior teacher, his deep passion was reflected in his impressive way of engaging students. What really set Pedro apart was his ability to combine theory with interactive activities and case-studies. Outside the classroom, Pedro goes above and beyond to ensure that students are equipped for success. He is genuinely invested in students’ education, always offering advice and personalized feedback.” – Oskar Baardsen
Pedro Monteiro, 37, is Assistant Professor at Copenhagen Business School and a Malmsten Early Career Scholar at Gothenburg University.
His research centers on how organizations develop, recognize, and integrate expertise. He is especially interested in how organizational structures shape knowledge dynamics, for example, how professionals specialize, collaborate, and translate new ideas into practice. Pedro also explores how expertise in organizational theory relates to everyday understandings and theories about organizing. He frequently uses qualitative and ethnographic methods and has researched engineering firms and the public sector.
Monteiro has received multiple awards including the Louis Pondy Award, the Max Boisot Award, and the Best Paper at the Davis Conference on Qualitative Research. He was a finalist for the DSEB Education Award in 2023 at CBS, serves on the editorial boards of Organization Science and Organization Studies, and is a representative-at-large for AOM’s Organization and Management Theory Division.
Passionate about research dissemination and access to academic knowledge, Pedro co-founded the Talking About Organizations Podcast, which has brought foundational insights on organization theory and management to over a million listeners. He is also part of the Ethnography Atelier, which aims to democratize access to expertise in ethnographic and other qualitative research methods.
BACKGROUND
At current institution since what year? July 2020
Education: Ph.D. in Management; M.A. in Organizational Analysis; B.A. in Sociology.
List of Undergraduate courses you teach: Organizational Behavior
TELL US ABOUT LIFE AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR
I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when … My interest in this career emerged organically after I took courses during a study abroad program at the intersection of sociology, labor, and management. The ability to apply social sciences to everyday workplace topics fascinated me and inspired me to pursue an academic career. However, I only truly realized the transformative power of education—and found clarity in my vocation—when I began teaching, and some alums returned to share how the concepts and insights from the course remained relevant in their broader educational and career journeys.
What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it? I am examining how lay ideas about organizational theory influence investigations into technical failures, such as Boeing’s 737 MAX accidents. This research emerged from assigning reports on organizational failures to my students, which made me realize how widespread yet underexamined these lay ideas are. So far, the discoveries seem to be that investigations are often less analytically coherent than expected, acknowledging organizational causes but missing how interconnected elements contribute to incidents. Additionally, I’m expanding my research on cross-domain collaboration and peripheral experts in the context of cybersecurity.
If I weren’t a business school professor, I’d be … A pastry chef, an applied anthropologist, or a flight attendant.
What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? I have a real passion for organization theory—my specialty—and I bring that enthusiasm into the classroom through analogies to everyday things like cooking and examples from movies, news, and various cases. I also make a point of listening to and learning from my students—and I do not have any problems challenging the status quo. Research on expertise shows that adapting to context and audience is essential for competent performance (this is one of my research topics, so it’s only fair that I try to put these insights into practice). I adjust the course each time based on feedback, refining it to better fit the needs of each cohort.
One word that describes my first time teaching: Overenthusiasm. I was so excited that I packed too much information. I am still learning to manage that.
Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor: Seeing students grow into skilled professionals is a joy I only fully appreciated after becoming a teacher. I wish I had known earlier that some academics push a ‘one best way’ approach, often rooted in elitist views they strive to maintain. Thankfully, I have had mentors and colleagues who encourage me to question such norms and develop my own way of being a business professor.
Professor I most admire and why: Education, like social life, is collective. I’ve learned from many, especially my parents, who encouraged me to live actively and reflectively. Great teachers also shaped my path. In Brazil, courses with scholars like Cynthia Hamlin, Roberta Campos, and Eliane Veras first revealed the power of social sciences. Later, in Italy, Emanuela Ciuffoli showed me how academic ideas can influence business practice. During a study abroad in the USA, Paul McLean introduced me to research in organizations, and Charles Heckscher showed me a problem-centered, student-led teaching approach that still inspires me today.
My PhD advisor, Davide Nicolini, taught me to learn through practice from people of all backgrounds and to embrace failure as part of research and academic life. My postdoc mentor, Ruthanne Huising, showed me how to embody scholarship, foster learning spaces, and aspire to create (with others) the world I want to live in.
TEACHING BUSINESS SCHOOL STUDENTS
What do you enjoy most about teaching business students? I enjoy seeing how organizational theory helps students rethink the world around them. We often analyze Copenhagen Business School and their bachelor’s program, and it’s always rewarding to see how organizational analysis helps them identify the root causes of issues in their environment and potential ways to address them. Also, although I’ve been teaching for only a few years, I’ve been fortunate to see some graduates pursue further education or work in various industries who still treasure the general insights from the course.
What is most challenging? Getting students to focus on learning and embrace critical thinking rather than fixating on grades and seeking easy, ready-made answers.
In one word, describe your favorite type of student: Curious.
In one word, describe your least favorite type of student: Apathetic (but I think getting students interested in learning is an important aspect of teaching).
When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as … encouraging them to focus on more than just grades. They might also say they wish I’d provide a short and easy roadmap to achieving a top score. But the course is centered on critical thinking, and, as a teaching mentor aptly put it, I aim not to ‘steal learning from them.’ So, I offer numerous opportunities for students to practice the same analytical skills they will need to demonstrate on the final exam.
LIFE OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
What are your hobbies? Art, especially modern and contemporary, including dance and music. I’m also always on the lookout for creative pastries and good food.
How will you spend your summer? Attending conferences, working on research projects, spending time with friends and family—and searching for good ice cream!
Favorite place(s) to vacation: Anywhere near the beach.
Favorite book(s): Growing up, I enjoyed reading popular science magazines for kids, travelogues, and encyclopedias. Today, I often read narrative nonfiction and book essays, especially from The New Yorker or Piauí (the Brazilian magazine). While I don’t read much fiction, The Hour of the Star by Clarice Lispector and Death and Life of Severino by João Cabral de Melo Neto are favorites as they poetically capture the challenges of being a migrant and the resilience of those who, in the face of hardship, dare to dream. I also thoroughly enjoy the chronicles of Luís Fernando Veríssimo, whose stories provide keen and humorous social analyses of everyday life.
What is currently your favorite movie and/or show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much? I enjoy the work of Kleber Mendonça Filho, who is also from my hometown, Recife, in Brazil. His movies Bacurau and Aquarius tell stories about people who challenge the status quo and courageously enact a different world. I’ve also learned a great deal about how organizations shape various goals—ranging from Cold War politics to intimate relationships—and the multi-layered experience of being a foreigner from watching The Americans.
What is your favorite type of music or artist(s) and why? I enjoy instrumental music, particularly classical, jazz, and bossa nova. Words at work and life often surround me, so listening to something non-verbal helps me re-center. Besides Bach—who, as everyone says, seemed to have captured the architecture of the universe in his music—I appreciate Villa-Lobos and Béla Bartók for incorporating folk music into their compositions. I also admire singer-songwriters like Chico Buarque, Cazuza, and Gilberto Gil for blending music with poetic lyrics, as well as the deeply felt emotions conveyed by singers like Milton Nascimento and Elis Regina.
THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS
If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this … It would strive to put academic research insights into practice. There’s a general aspiration to make research impactful for society. So, perhaps, we should start by implementing it ourselves. I also hope we adopt a perspective that aligns more with the “logic of appropriateness” than the “logic of consequences,” as Jim March put it. This means valuing the intellectual substance of our work over external markers and recognizing the importance of accumulated knowledge rather than simply chasing trends. At the Ethnography Atelier, my colleagues and I work to honor the artisanal, collective nature of scholarship. Finally, I hope business schools—and academia as a whole—commit to fostering safer spaces where professional misconduct and harassment are not normalized. Many are already working toward this change; continuing those efforts is essential.
In my opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at … Managing expertise by fostering genuine learning, recognizing talent, and aligning individuals with tasks suited to their skills. This requires questioning superficial displays of expertise, often rewarded, and resisting the temptation of short-term, quick fixes.
I’m grateful for … My parents, family, friends, and professional colleagues. Whoever we are, we are continually made and remade by, through, and with others. I believe that social change toward progressive ideals is possible, though it can be a long process. So, I’m also thankful to those who came before me and paved the way, making it possible for someone like me—an openly gay business professor—to thrive.
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