Dean’s Chair and Associate Professor Sam Yam is fast gaining recognition as one of the world’s brightest researchers in organisational behaviour. Earlier this year, Sam was awarded the Janet Taylor Spence Award for Transformative Early Career Contributions by the Association for Psychological Science (APS) and the Distinguished Early Career Contributions – Science Award from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology (SIOP).
Sam has been with NUS Business School for more than six years, researching and teaching leadership, business ethics, and the future of work. Besides teaching the undergraduates, MSc students, and PhD students, Sam is the Assistant Dean (Faculty Development), where he mentors new faculty. He is also set to take up the Head of the Department of Management & Organisation position in April 2022.
Sam completed his Bachelor’s, Masters of Science, and PhD in Organisational Behaviour at the University of Washington. BIZBeat speaks with Sam about his approach to research and life at NUS.
Q: Your recent two awards are the latest of a long list of accolades. What’s your secret?
Three reasons. First, I have the fortune of having mentors to guide me throughout my career. Provost’s Chair and Professor Remus Ilies has guided me from the start, giving me valuable advice and feedback on my manuscripts. My mentors at the University of Washington have trained me well and provided tremendous support throughout my PhD studies.
Second, there are no shortcuts, and you just have to work every day. During my days as a PhD student, I would look forward to public holidays to park for free at the campus and work (and I was often not the only one in the PhD office)!
Third, I must also acknowledge the support of NUS. I’m fortunate because NUS values the development of junior faculty and allocates time and financial resources for them to conduct research. The funding for research at NUS is more than what public universities in the US would offer.
Q: We also noticed your research subjects are diverse and in the least expected areas. Please tell us more about your projects.
I take an open and experimental approach to research, taking on studies in unlikely places. One example, I am leading a team of colleagues on a study with Mandai Wildlife Group on animal interaction at the workplace and its impact on employees. There’s another research with the support of Singapore’s Ministry of Education on the effects of cannabis consumption on workplace behaviour. Right now, I am in Kyoto to study the new robot priest as part of my research on the role of robots in organisations.
How do I come across these opportunities? To put it simply, I like to talk, converse with people from all walks of life, from taxi drivers to researchers from fields different from mine, getting research ideas.
In 2018 I did a research presentation at Kobe University, and that connected me with the research community there. They found out about my interest in robots at the workplace and introduced me to the general manager of Henna Hotel and Kodaiji masters. Both organisations are deploying robots in unique areas. Both were featured in my study Robots at work: People prefer—and forgive—service robots with perceived feelings in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
The opportunity with Mandai Wildlife Group came from research assistant Carisa Lam, who was an animal trainer at the Group’s Singapore Zoo. Carisa joined my research team less than about 2 years ago, and this project is her first with us. We spoke with zookeepers and animal trainers qualitatively and then collected quantitative survey data. Overall, it has been an enjoyable experience to see people interact with animals at work.
Q: These projects seemed to be based on the area of ethics. Why do you like ethics and why is it important in the workplace?
I have always had an interest in philosophy and politics. During my PhD studies, I completed a minor in philosophy with a focus on ethics. Often in business schools, we tend to focus on the bottom lines, but we fail to appreciate how most people deeply care about ethical events over and above company annual statements.
Q: What would you say to young researchers who are looking to join NUS?
We are always looking for ways to improve how we can guide our junior faculty. As Assistant Dean (Faculty Development), my job is to ensure a structure to give advice and offer constructive feedback to young faculty during their early years on their research and career path. It used to be a much more informal process, so faculty who tend to be more introverted might miss out on getting guidance.