I am a PhD candidate in management & organizations at the NYU Stern School of Business.
I study the future of work.
I study how changes in the way people work—often changes related to the introduction of technology—change how they think about their work, organizations, and futures.
I endeavor to produce research that contributes to our understanding of how personally, cognitively, and collectively transformative experiences can influence the ways that employees perceive their work, interact with one another, and bend the arc of the future towards new ways of working.
I hope to draw upon this and other research to equip organizations with actionable insights that aid in fostering sustainable, secure work practices in the face of technological disruption.
I conduct mixed-methods research in organizational behavior to understand employee cognition and the future of work. Currently, I study two forms of change: the collective transition to remote and hybrid work arrangements catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the introduction of AI into the work of professionals. Across these empirical contexts, I employ a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods–including interviews, surveys, and laboratory experiments–to understand employee sensemaking and adaptation in the midst of widespread and technologically informed workplace changes.
For my dissertation, I use multi-wave interview data and field surveys to study the collective transition from co-located to remote work arrangements induced by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the transition to a post-pandemic ‘new normal’ after that. This work uncovers how collective work transitions can change the way employees perceive their current jobs and organizations; prompt them to question the normative order of their work; and reshape the workplaces and organizations of the future.
In another of my projects, my co-authors and I combine a field survey, interview study, and controlled experiment to study the introduction of artificial intelligence into healthcare settings. This work sheds light on the potential for cognitive spillovers from artificial to human intelligence–where human users fashion their mental models after machine models–and the consequences of this for learning, performance, and AI use, over time.
Curriculum Vitae
EDUCATION
NYU Stern School of Business
Sep 2019 – Jun 2025 (anticipated) | Ph.D., Management & Organizations
Committee: Frances Milliken (Chair), Batia Wiesenfeld, Lisa Leslie, & Callen Anthony
Sep 2019 – Sep 2023 | M. Phil., Management & Organizational Behavior
Stanford University
Sep 2005 – Jun 2009 | B.A., Anthropological Sciences & Political Science
PUBLICATIONS
Kim, H. Y., Doyle, S., Howell, T., Kim, S., Coff, J., et al. 2021. The Effects of Felt Public Gratitude on Essential Worker Recovery Activities During COVID-19. Academy of Management Proceedings.
WORKING PAPERS
Coff, J.,* Yang, E.,* Assavabhokhin, A., & Wiesenfeld, B. M. 2024. Molded by the Ghost: How Physicians Use—and Cease Using—Predictive AI to Learn a Mental Model.
*Shared first authorship
Revise and resubmit at Academy of Management Discoveries
Coff, J., Milliken, F. J., & Lee, K. W. 2024. Awakening to New Possibilities: Employee Responses to the COVID-Induced Transition to Remote Work.
Resubmission invited at Academy of Management Discoveries
Finalist, Denny Gioia Award for Best Qualitative Paper | Academy of Management, Managerial and Organizational Cognition Division | 2024
Coff, J. When Remote Becomes Central: Prototypicality, Perceived Respect, Perceived Trust, and Organizational Identification in the Hybrid Workplace.
Qualitative data collected, quantitative analysis in progress
Coff, J. Virtualization, Organizational Attention, and the Perceiving of Weak Cues.
Finalist, 2022 Andrew W. Marshall Foundation Paper Prize
WORK IN PROGRESS
Coff, J. Modularization as a Means of Schedule Design: Why and How Workers Use Space and Time to Deconstruct, Recombine, and Reorder Work and Non-Work.
Qualitative data collected, quantitative design in progress
Coff, J. Closer for the Distance: The Mediating Role of Intentionality Attributions in the Relationship Between Proximity and High Quality Connections.
Qualitative data collected, quantitative design in progress
Leslie, L., Magee, J., Coff, J., & Flynn, E. The Unintended Consequences of Workplace Interventions.
Analysis in progress
PRESENTATIONS
Oct 2024 | Molded by the Ghost: How Physicians Use—and Cease Using—Predictive AI to Learn a Mental Model
Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Work Conference, Cornell University
Aug 2024 | Awakening to New Possibilities: Employee Responses to the COVID-Induced Transition to Remote Work
Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago
Aug 2024 | Molded by the Ghost: How Physicians Use—and Cease Using—Predictive AI to Learn a Mental Model
Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago
Jun 2024 | Awakening to New Possibilities: Employee Responses to the COVID-Induced Transition to Remote Work
PROS Conference, Cyprus
May 2024 | Molded by the Ghost: How Physicians Use—and Cease Using—Predictive AI to Learn a Mental Model
Behavioral Science & Policy Association, online
Mar 2024 | Awakening to New Possibilities: Employee Responses to the COVID-Induced Transition to Remote Work
The Digitalization of Work and Life Conference, Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. School of Business at Purdue University
Mar 2024 | Molded by the Ghost: How Physicians Use—and Cease Using—Predictive AI to Learn a Mental Model
AI in Management Conference, USC Marshall School of Business
Mar 2024 | Molded by the Ghost: How Physicians Use—and Cease Using—Predictive AI to Learn a Mental Model
ETH Zürich, Switzerland
Mar 2024 | Molded by the Ghost: How Physicians Use—and Cease Using—Predictive AI to Learn a Mental Model
Organization Science Winter Conference Doctoral Consortium, Switzerland
Jan 2024 | Awakening to New Possibilities: Employee Responses to the COVID-Induced Transition to Remote Work
Adderley Positive Research Incubator, Center for Positive Organizations at the University of Michigan
Jul 2023 | Awakening to New Possibilities: Rethinking the Effects of Remote Work
European Group for Organizational Studies Colloquium Doctoral Consortium, Italy
Nov 2022 | Awakening to New Possibilities: Employee Responses to the COVID-Induced Transition to Remote Work
Rising Scholars Conference, The University of Chicago
Aug 2022 | You Can Take It with You: Worker Adaptation to the Virtualized Organization
Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Seattle
Apr 2022 | You Can Take It with You: Worker Adaptation to the Virtualized Organization
Microsoft Future of Work Grant Awardee Presentations, NYU Stern
ORGANIZED CONFERENCES & PANELS
Aug 2024 | Professional Development Workshop | Cognition in the Rough
Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago
Organizer
Featuring: 22 faculty facilitators, 45 participants
Aug 2022 Symposium | Office Work Interrupted: Work and Organizing in the Shadow of COVID-19
Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Seattle
Organizer & Chair, with Frances Milliken & Kevin Lee
Featuring: Cynthia J. Barboza-Wilkes, Christine M. Beckman, Catherine Cramton, Ingrid Erickson, Maïlys M. George, Maggie Jack, Kevin W. Lee, Melissa Mazmanian, & Kevin R. Rockmann
Sponsor Divisions: Organizational Behavior, Managerial & Organizational Cognition, Organizational Development & Change Organizer & Chair, with Frances Milliken & Kevin Lee
Apr 2022 | East Coast Doctoral Conference
NYU Stern and Columbia Business School
Organizer, with Aastha Chadha, Brandon Freiberg, & Lucy Liu
GRANTS & AWARDS
Finalist, Denny Gioia Award for Best Qualitative Paper | Academy of Management, Managerial and Organizational Cognition | 2024
Microsoft Future of Work Fellowships | 2021-2022, 2022-2023, 2023-2024
Andrew W. Marshall Foundation Paper Prize Finalist | 2022
SCI-COMM
Nov 2023 | “Op-Ed: How working remotely can bring workers closer together.” Author, LA Times
Apr 2023 | “Worried about backdoor layoffs? Try career cushioning.” Quoted, Bloomberg
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Feb 2024 | Doctoral Consortium, Organization Science Winter Conference, Switzerland
Aug 2023 | OB Doctoral Consortium, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Boston
Jul 2023 | PhD Consortium, European Group for Organizational Studies Colloquium, Italy
Jun 2023 | Current Strategy Forum, US Naval War College
Aug 2022 | Cognition in the Rough, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Seattle
Aug 2022 | Diamonds in the Rough, Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Seattle
TEACHING & TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIPS
Management & Organizations (undergraduate) | Fall 2020, Fall 2021, Winter 2023
Leadership in Organizations (masters) | Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022, Fall 2023
Developing Managerial Skills (MBA) | Spring 2022
AI, Automation, & Platforms (Executive MBA) | Spring 2023
RESEARCH GROUPS
Aug 2023 – Present | Management & Security Network | Founder, co-organizer, & facilitator
A quarterly gathering of academics and practitioners spanning management and security studies
Mar 2022 – Present | Kind & Supportive Writing Group | Founder, organizer, & facilitator
A weekly, inter-university group of PhD students and faculty supporting one another’s writing practice
Aug 2021 – Aug 2022 | Data Analysis Support Group | Co-organizer & co-facilitator
A bi-weekly, inter-university group of PhD students and faculty supporting one another’s qualitative data analysis
PROFESSIONAL SERVICE
Aug 2024 | Moderator, “(Meta) Cognition and Decision-Making in Learning and Work”
Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago
Jun 2024 | Chair, “The Evolving Nature of Work and the Work-Life Interface”
Future of Work-shop, Center for the Future of Management at NYU Stern School of Business
Mar - Apr 2024 | Annual Meeting Best Paper Award committee member | Conflict Management Division
Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago
Jan – Apr 2024 | Annual Meeting reviewer & Best Paper Award committee member, Managerial & Organizational Cognition Division
Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago
Sep 2023 – Present | Student Representative, Future of Work and Organizations Initiative
NYU Stern School of Business
Aug 2023 – Aug 2025 | Student Representative-at-Large, Managerial & Organizational Cognition Division
Academy of Management
Jan – Feb 2023 | Annual Meeting reviewer, Managerial & Organizational Cognition Division
Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Boston
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS & RESEARCH GROUPS
Academy of Management (AOM)
Future of Work and Organizations Group, NYU Stern School of Business
Center for Positive Organizations, University of Michigan Ross School of Business
Management & Security Network (M&SN)
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
10 years of industry experience in software and sustainable energy
SELECT ROLES
Nov 2018 – Aug 2019 | Associate Director, Custom Research Energy Practice | Navigant (now Guidehouse) | Boulder, CO
Led custom research engagements in client industries including green building development, power and utilities, mining, automobile manufacturing, and computing.
Mar 2015 – May 2016 | Director, Client Solutions | Simple Energy (now Uplight) | Boulder, CO
Prospected new clients, determined account strategy, and developed a nationwide pipeline. Built and maintained channel relationships with manufacturers and service providers. Composed bid-winning proposals in collaboration with external bid partners and internal engineering, product, and finance functions.
Jan 2011 – Dec 2011 | Coordinator, Asia Pacific People Operations | Google | Singapore
Administered multinational hiring process in collaboration with People Technology Operations team to establish new offices in emerging markets in Southeast Asia.