Stephen J. Sauer

Biography

Stephen Sauer is a scholar and educator whose work centers on leadership, team dynamics, entrepreneurship and diversity in management. His research has been published in Leadership Quarterly, Organization Science, Journal of Applied Psychology and Human Resource Management, and has been featured in The Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, Forbes.com and USA Today.

Sauer teaches courses in leadership, strategy, negotiations and organizational behavior at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and he has extensive experience leading executive education workshops for major corporations. He also serves as an entrepreneur in residence at Cornell’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement and Rev: Ithaca Startup Works, and is a member of the teaching team for the National Science Foundation’s I Corps program.

Sauer earned his Ph.D. in management, along with an MBA and a master’s degree in business and policy administration, all from Cornell University. He also holds a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Before transitioning to academia, he worked as an organizational change consultant and plant manager, following seven years of service as an armored cavalry officer in the U.S. Army.

Education

PhD Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University, 2008
MS Cornell University, 2007
MBA Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University, 2001
BS Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1991

Research

• Marquez Illescas, Gilberto; Sauer, Stephen; Zebedee, Allan; Zhou, Linying. "Financial Performance and Tone of Financial Disclosures: The Moderating Effect of CEO Narcissism"Accounting and Finance. 65.1 (2025): 691-712
• Wang, Shirley; Sauer, Stephen; Schryver, Thomas. "The Benefits of Early Diverse and Late Shared Task Cognition"Small Group Research. 50.3 (2019): 408-439
• Proell, Chad; Sauer, Stephen; Rodgers, Matthew. "Credit Where Credit is Due: A Field Survey of the Interactive Effects of Credit Expectations and Leaders' Credit Allocation on Employee Turnover"Human Resource Management. 55.2 (2016): 341–355
• Yong, Kevyn; Sauer, Stephen; Mannix, Elizabeth. "Conflict and Creativity in Interdisciplinary Teams"Small Group Research. 45.3 (2014): 266-289
• Spataro, Sandra; Pettit, Nathan; Sauer, Stephen; Lount, Robert. "Interactions Among Same-Status Peers: Effects of Behavioral Style and Status Level"Small Group Research. 45.3 (2014): 314-336
• Rodgers, Matthew; Sauer, Stephen; Proell, Chad. "The lion's share: The impact of credit expectations and credit allocations on commitment to leaders"Leadership Quarterly. 24.1 (2013): 80-93
• Sauer, Stephen; Desmond, Scott; Heintzelman, Martin. "Beyond the playing field: the role of athletic participation in early career success"Personnel Review. 42.6 (2013): 644-661
• Sauer, Stephen. "Taking the reins: The effects of new leader status and leadership style on team performance"Journal of Applied Psychology. 96.3 (2011): 574-587
• Sauer, Stephen; Thomas-Hunt, Melissa; Morris, Patrick. "Too Good to Be True? The Unintended Signaling Effects of Educational Prestige on External Expectations of Team Performance"Organization Science. 21.5 (2010): 1108-1120
• Cabrera, Susan; Sauer, Stephen; Thomas-Hunt, Melissa. "The Evolving Manager Stereotype: The Effects of Industry Gender Typing on Performance Expectations for Leaders and Their Teams"Psychology of Women Quarterly. 33.4 (2009): 419-428