I am a Professor of Management at the George Mason University Costello College of Business, where my research involves studying working relationships in organizations, including how relationships are generated, maintained, and dissolve. I’m particularly interested in how organizations cultivate relationships given the increasing use of remote work. 

I teach and consult in the areas of relational leadership, cultivating high quality relationships, training middle and top-level managers, and negotiation and conflict management.

My research has been covered by Harvard Business Review, Time, The New York Times, NPR, Forbes, and the Financial Times.  I am the immediate past editor-in-chief at Academy of Management Discoveries where I wrote about the importance of exploratory research, the importance of academic writing, and the Academy of Management journals.

I am the lead author of Negotiation: Moving from Conflict to Agreement (Sage, 2021).

Kevin W. Rockmann

Professor of Management
Costello College of Business
George Mason University

Affiliate Faculty -
Center for Innovative Leadership
Johns Hopkins Carey Business School

Areas of expertise

• High Quality Relationships at Work

• Negotiation and Conflict Resolution

• Remote Work

• Manager and Leader Development

• Building Effective Teams

Research

Rockmann, K.W. & Bartel, C.A (2025). Interpersonal relationships in organizations: Building better pipes and looking through prisms. Annual Review of Organizational Psychology and Organizational Behavior, forthcoming

Methot, J., Rockmann, K.W., & Rosado-Solomon, E (2024). Longing for the past: The dual effects of daily nostalgia on employee performance. Journal of Management, forthcoming.

Rockmann, K.W. & Vough, H. (2024). Using quotes to present claims: Practices for the writing stages of qualitative research. Organizational Research Methods, forthcoming.

Bartel, C. & Rockmann, K.W. (2024). The Disease of Indifference: How Relational Systems Provide the Attentional Infrastructure for Organizational Resilience. Strategic Organization, 22(1): 18-48.

George, M., Wittman, S., & Rockmann, K.W. (2021). Transitioning the study of role transitions: Four challenges for management researchers. Academy of Management Annals. 16 (1): 102-133.

Cooper, D.*, Rockmann, K.W.*, Moteabbed, S., & Thatcher, S.M.B. (2020). Integrator or gremlin? Identity partnerships and team newcomer socialization. Academy of Management Review, 46(1): 128-146. *denotes each author contributed equally.

Rockmann, K.W. & Northcraft, G.B. (2018). The dilemma portfolio: A strategy to advance the study of social dilemmas in organizations. Academy of Management Annals. 12(2): 494-509

Rockmann, K.W., & Ballinger, G.B. (2017). Intrinsic Motivation and Organizational Identification Among On-Demand Workers. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102: 1305-1316.

Burris, E., Rockmann, K.W., & Kimmons, Y. (2017) The Value of Voice (to Managers): Employee Identification and the Content of Voice. Academy of Management Journal, 60: 2099-2125.

Rockmann, K.W., & Pratt, M.G. (2015). Contagious offsite work and the lonely office: The unintended consequences of distributed work. Academy of Management Discoveries, 1: 150-164.  

Dane, E., Rockmann, K.W., & Pratt, M.G. (2012). When should I trust my gut? Linking domain expertise to intuitive decision-making effectiveness.  Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 119: 187-194.

Rockmann, K.W., & Pratt, M.G.  (2011). Rethinking telecommuting and the distributed work organization.  Academy of Management: Best Paper Proceedings.

Ballinger, G.A., & Rockmann, K.W (2010). Chutes versus ladders: A punctuated-equilibrium perspective on social exchange relationships.  Academy of Management Review, 35, 373-391.  

McCarter, M.M., Rockmann, K.W., & Northcraft, G.B. (2010). Is it even worth it? The effect of outcome variance in public goods dilemmas.   Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes,111, 1-12.

Rockmann, K.W., & Northcraft, G.B. (2008) To be or not to be trusted: The influence of media richness on defection and deception. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 107, 106-122. 

Pratt, M.G., Rockmann, K.W., & Kaufmann, J. (2006) Constructing professional identity: The role of work and identity learning cycles in the customization of identity among medical residents. Academy of Management Journal, 49, 235-262.

BIOGRAPHY

I am a Professor of Management at the George Mason University Costello School of Business. At GMU I serve as the OB coordinator for the PhD Program and I am the past director of the PhD Program and the MBA Program. I also served as an Associate Dean overseeing both graduate and undergraduate programs.

My research and teaching focuses on how managers and organizations facilitate not only the management of individuals but the management of the connections between individuals. It is in these dyadic ties that much of work is completed, including task work, creative work, and citizenship work. My work has been published in premier academic journals and edited volumes in the fields of management and organizational psychology as well as in leading practice-oriented publications and editorials. My research has been featured in many popular media outlets and recognized with scholarly awards from a variety of national and international organizations.

I teach courses on leadership, negotiation, and organizational behavior in a range of formats and settings, from 1/2 day introduction courses to 3 day leadership building seminars to full MBA in person and on-line courses. I am the lead author on the textbook Negotiation: Moving from Conflict to Agreement, which was published by Sage in 2021. I also speak and consult regularly for organizations on topics regarding leadership, negotiation, relationship management, and management teaching pedagogy. I have traveled to Latin America multiple times (Chile, Argentia, Peru) leading our MBA global residency.

Prior to joining George Mason, I earned my PhD in organizational behavior and BS in business administration (high honors) from the University of Illinois Gies Business School.

media Coverage

3 Strategies to Promote healthy working relationships

Dr. Rockmann and Dr. Caroline Bartel provide commentary in Harvard Business Review about how to structure systems of healthy relationships in organizations.

Why Return to Office Mandates are hypocritical

Dr. Rockmann writes in Fast Company about the current debates on return to office policies, including how many company leaders are creating rules that they themselves don’t follow.

Remote work and company culture

Dr. Rockmann leverages his own research on remote work to provide insight at BBC on how to overcome isolation and loneliness in today’s organizations.

Consulting

I frequently consult and teach in our executive education programs in the following areas. To contact me about possible collaborations, please fill out the inquiry form.

• Negotiation and Conflict Management: How to capture value by shifting from a convincing to an understanding mindset

• Relational Leadership: How to structure your organization and unit by paying attention to people and the connections between them

• Transitioning to Management: How to shift from an expert / worker to a manager of experts and workers

• Analytics: How to lead analytically and help your organization take an analytical approach to managing people

• Academic Topics: Exploratory and impactful research in business, Building graduate business programs, Using VR in business courses, Qualitative research methods, Mentoring faculty