Barbara Z. Larson
D’Amore-McKim School of Business
Northeastern University
“Barbara Larson stands out as a scholar, teacher, and leader whose impact spans classrooms, research, and the profession. In Fall 2024, she designed and piloted innovative new courses that align with Northeastern’s experience-powered approach to learning—including one that integrated organizational behavior with AI and another experiential consulting course with Puma. Both earned enthusiastic student feedback that praised her clarity, inclusivity, and genuine investment in their success. Students consistently highlight that she makes complex ideas accessible, fosters engaging discussions, and creates a classroom culture where every voice is valued and heard.
“She was appointed a Northeastern Center for Advancing Teaching and Learning Through Research (CATLR) AI in Teaching Fellow in 2024–25, underscoring her leadership in exploring how technology can transform learning.” – School nomination
Barbara Larson, 59, is Executive Professor of Management at the D’Amore-McKim School of Business, Northeastern University, where she has been a member of faculty since 2012. She teaches in executive, graduate, and undergraduate programs, on topics including Behavioral Aspects of Digital Transformation, Innovation Behaviors, Remote/Hybrid Work, and High-Performing Teams, among others.
Larson’s research focuses on the intersection of technology and human behavior. She is author of the book Remote and Hybrid Work: What Everyone Needs to Know (Oxford University Press). Her scholarship on remote and hybrid work has been published in Harvard Business Review, Strategic Management Journal, and Academy of Management Perspectives, among other outlets.
Her work and insights have been cited by the New York Times, USA Today, The Economist, NBC, BBC, and Bloomberg. Larson’s lead-authored editorial “Critical Thinking in the Era of Generative AI,” published in Academy of Management Learning & Education, is the most downloaded editorial in the history of the journal.
Prior to her academic career, Larson worked for 15 years in international finance and operations leadership, most recently as Director of International Finance at R.R. Donnelley.
BACKGROUND
At current institution since what year? 2012
Education: DBA (Management), Harvard Business School; MBA (Finance & Operations Management), Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; and BA (Spanish) University of Virginia
List of Undergraduate courses you teach: Behavioral Aspects of Digital Transformation, Managing Change and Disruption, Organizational Behavior
TELL US ABOUT LIFE AS A BUSINESS SCHOOL PROFESSOR
I knew I wanted to be a business school professor when … I don’t think there was a precise moment, but my earliest inkling came when I was an MBA student at Wharton and stopped by the office of Prof. John Paul MacDuffie, who taught my Organizational Behavior class. I distinctly remember walking out of that meeting thinking that being a management professor must be an amazing job. But it was more than a decade later that I started to think that it could be my amazing job.
What are you currently researching and what is the most significant discovery you’ve made from it? Much of my research since 2013 has focused on the effects of virtuality on work. Lately, I’ve been involved in a few studies examining the impact of different manager behaviors on remote and hybrid workers. The most significant (and in my view, exciting) finding across these studies has been evidence that relatively straightforward managerial behaviors can overcome many of the downsides (such as isolation) that remote workers experience, without reducing the benefits of remote work. These are still early-stage findings, but they challenge the notion that return-to-office (RTO) mandates are the best path forward for employers.
If I weren’t a business school professor, I’d be … Probably an event planner. I like the combination of complex logistics and entertainment inherent in large-scale events.
What do you think makes you stand out as a professor? My passion for the topics I teach – I went from a career in finance to becoming a management professor because I realized that behavioral factors were a huge predictor of success in so many aspects of business and life. I also care greatly for my students, and do everything I can to get to know them as individuals – I think that also makes a difference.
One word that describes my first time teaching: Exciting
Here’s what I wish someone would’ve told me about being a business school professor: Meeting with students is the most rewarding part of the job. Grading always takes longer than you think it will, but the time spent giving feedback pays off in student learning.
Professor I most admire and why: There are too many professors I admire to list here. Two that have had great impact on my own development are Jordan Siegel (U Michigan) and Amy Edmondson (Harvard). Jordan was extraordinarily flexible and generous with his time and support during several challenging stages of my doctoral studies and early career. In doing so, he taught me the value of giving of yourself to your students. Amy taught me the value of modeling concepts you research and teach in your own behavior, as she established an enormous sense of psychological safety (the phenomenon for which she is most known) both in and out of the classroom.
TEACHING BUSINESS SCHOOL STUDENTS
What do you enjoy most about teaching business students? I love teaching in business school because business underpins so many aspects of our lives. I love demonstrating how management theories can be linked to real-world events, and how students can increase their own sense of agency and control by mastering the concepts. This is made easier at Northeastern, because most of my students have had full-time work experience (in our co-op program) by the time they arrive in my classroom. I particularly enjoy teaching undergraduate students because they are just starting their professional lives, and are typically very curious about why people behave the way they do.
What is most challenging? The entire higher education sector was already being disrupted by digitalization, and this disruption has increased exponentially with the public introduction of generative AI models. I think the biggest challenge that faculty face at this moment is to re-craft the role of the educator, so that we add value to AI-generated knowledge, rather than being supplanted by it. This is an exciting challenge, but a challenge nonetheless.
In one word, describe your favorite type of student: Curious/persistent
In one word, describe your least favorite type of student: No such thing. I have some least favorite types of student behavior but typically find that there are underlying reasons for these behaviors that can be overcome.
When it comes to grading, I think students would describe me as … I try to be demanding, but fair. I hope my students agree!
LIFE OUTSIDE THE CLASSROOM
What are your hobbies? I am an enthusiastic home cook, and love to have friends over at my place. I also collect cookbooks – my collection currently numbers in the 300-400 range, with some dating back to the early 20th century. I enjoy reading them as much as cooking from them, as they’re a reflection of the cultures, societies, and periods of time in which they were written. I also love to travel, when time permits.
How will you spend your summer? It will be split between teaching/research and time with my family. I often attend a couple of conferences over the summer, as that is conference season in my field.
Favorite place(s) to vacation: Cities with interesting culture, history, music, and food. Highlights include New Orleans, Copenhagen, Buenos Aires, Budapest, and Montreal.
Favorite book(s): Non-fiction: Co-Intelligence by Ethan Mollick was a great introduction to generative AI; I hope he’s writing a second edition reflecting more recent developments.
Fiction: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones shook me, and I still think of it often.
What is currently your favorite movie and/or show and what is it about the film or program that you enjoy so much? Lately, I’ve been watching the Danish series Borgen, which originally aired in 2010-13, and is sometimes referred to as Denmark’s version of The West Wing. It has been interesting to watch a political drama written about a different form of government, and in a different socio-cultural context.
My recent favorite movie is One Battle After Another, for many reasons. It is sharp and funny, and manages to parody both left- and right-wing extremism in the same film. I was also lucky to be able to watch it projected in VistaVision at the Coolidge Corner Theatre, one of only four theatres in the world capable of showing the extra-large format in which the film was originally shot. As a result, the images were spectacular, unlike anything I’ve ever seen.
What is your favorite type of music or artist(s) and why? My tastes are pretty varied, so it’s difficult to pick a favorite. I love listening to New Orleans brass bands (such as Rebirth Brass Band) and other performers from the New Orleans funk/R&B traditions, such as Trombone Shorty and John Cleary. The energy and rhythm of this music is unparalleled. I know this makes me terminally uncool, but I also love Coldplay, for their positivity, musicality, and ability to experiment without losing their identity.
THOUGHTS AND REFLECTIONS
If I had my way, the business school of the future would have much more of this … It is heartening to see more and more business schools adopting the experiential learning model that we have at Northeastern, including co-op work experiences as well as courses that have different experiential components. I hope that trend continues.
In my opinion, companies and organizations today need to do a better job at … Treating remote and hybrid work as a distinct form of operating and managing, rather than simply a number of days per week spent in the office.
I’m grateful for … There’s so much I’m grateful for. My students inspire and challenge me every day. My colleagues at the D’Amore-McKim School of Business at Northeastern are brilliant and fun to work with. And our support and administrative staff at the business school and the university are second-to-none – every time I have cooked up a new idea, they have actively helped make my teaching dreams come true. More than anything, I’m grateful for my son, Emil, who constantly motivates and inspires me, and for my partner, Arthur Gaer, who gives me unconditional love, encouragement and support.
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