Background

Tatiana Kostova (Ph.D. UMN) is Carolina Distinguished Professor, Buck Mickel Endowed Chair, and Professor of IB at Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina. She has been a Fulbright scholar at UCLA and WU, and Visiting Professor at WU, CUHK, HKU, Tec de Monterrey, EGADE, King's College London, and others.

Dr. Kostova’s research focuses on management of multinational companies (MNCs), including global strategy, organization theory, particularly the institutional perspective, and organizational behavior. She studies institutional and cultural embeddedness of MNCs, cross-border transfer of management practices, organizational legitimacy, social capital, agency theory, CSR, and comparative corporate governance. She has also studied OB topics including psychological ownership, multiculturalism, and dual identification. Her work has been published in top academic journals such as AMR, AMJ, and JIBS and has received notable recognitions: more than 33,500 Google Scholar citations, best dissertation awards from AOM’s IMD and AIB, top 1% most impactful scholars in Business and Economics worldwide (2019, 2023, 2025), and AOM’s IMD Eminent Scholar Award for lifetime achievement in international management. Dr Kostova has served on multiple editorial boards of top journals. She was Vice President of AIB and Chair of the IM Division of AOM. She is an AIB Fellow. 

Research

Kostova’s research focuses broadly on management of multinational companies (MNCs), including global strategy, organization theory, particularly the institutional perspective, and organizational behavior. More specifically, she studies institutional and cultural embeddedness of MNCs, cross-border transfer of management practices within MNCs, knowledge management, and organizational legitimacy and social capital as a source of competitive advantage in MNCs. She has also done research on organizational behavior topics, such as organization-based self-esteem, psychological ownership, multiculturalism, dual identification, and extra-role behavior in organizations. Her more recent work is on CSR in MNCs and global supply chains, comparative corporate governance and agency theory in MNCs, and the impact of different forms of ownership (e.g., family firms, state owned enterprises, emerging market MNCs) on firm strategy and management.

Kostova has published articles in top academic journals including Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of World Business, Journal of Management Studies, and others. In 2007, she was recognized as the “Rising Star” in economics and business by InCites for the high impact of her publications. As of December 2023, her publications have received more than 27,000 Google Scholar citations. She has been recognized multiple times as being in the top 1% or 2% of scholars in business and economics worldwide by Web of Science. In 2023, she received the Academy of Management International Management Division's Hyundai Motor Eminent Scholar Award, which recognizes lifetime achievement in international management scholarship. She is or has served on multiple editorial boards including Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of World Business, Journal of Management Studies and others and is a reviewer for many more. She has served as vice president of the Academy of International Business, and chair of the International Management Division of the Academy of Management. She is a fellow of the Academy of International Business.

Education

• Ph.D., University of Minnesota 
• M.S., Kiev State University, Ukraine