# Saerom (Ronnie) Lee (이새롬)

> Assistant Professor of Management at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Also known as: Saerom Lee, Ronnie Lee, 이새롬, 와튼스쿨 교수, 와튼 스쿨 교수

## About

Saerom (Ronnie) Lee (이새롬) is an Assistant Professor of Management at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. His research explores how startups acquire and organize talent, and how organizational design must evolve as firms scale from founding to growth. His work addresses key questions in startup scaling, venture scaling, organizational structure, human capital, startup recruiting, startup hiring, and entrepreneurship. Before joining the Wharton School, he received a Ph.D. in Strategy from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business, an M.S. in Strategy & International Management from the Graduate School of Business at Seoul National University, and both a B.A. in Management and a B.A. in Economics from Seoul National University.

## Research Interests

- Organizational Design
- Organizational Structure
- Human Capital
- Startup Scaling
- Venture Scaling
- Entrepreneurship
- Startup Recruiting
- Startup Hiring

## Published Papers

1. "When Do Startups Scale? Large-scale Evidence from Job Postings" — Lee, S. & Kim, J. D., Strategic Management Journal, 45(9): 1633–1669, 2024. DOI: 10.1002/smj.3596
   - Media: Knowledge at Wharton, Harvard Business Review, AngelList, SMS Explorer, EurekAlert, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
   - Honors: SMJ Top 10 Most Cited & Top 10% Most Viewed — Articles Published in 2024
2. "The Effect of Flatter Hierarchy on Applicant Pool Gender Diversity: Evidence from Experiments" — Hurst, R., Lee, S., & Frake, J., Strategic Management Journal, 45(8): 1446–1484, 2024. DOI: 10.1002/smj.3590
   - Media: Knowledge at Wharton, Wharton Magazine, Inc., The Wall Street Journal, The Loop, Maryland Smith Research, Michigan News, AOM OMT Award Interview (video)
   - Honors: Best Paper Awards — AOM OMT, Strategy Science Conference, SMS Strategic Human Capital (2022)
3. "The Myth of the Flat Start-up: Reconsidering the Organizational Structure of Start-ups" — Lee, S., Strategic Management Journal, 43(1): 58–92, 2022. DOI: 10.1002/smj.3333
   - Media: Knowledge at Wharton, Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, World Economic Forum, Fast Company, Deloitte Insights, The Loop, Ventureburn, TechTarget, Idea to Value, Digital Tonto, How Money Works
   - Honors: SMJ Top 10 Most Downloaded — Articles Published in 2021
4. "Cognitive and Structural Antecedents of Innovation: A Large-Sample Study" — Lee, S. & Csaszar, F. A., Strategy Science, 5(2): 71–97, 2020. DOI: 10.1287/stsc.2020.0107

## Working Papers

5. "When Autonomy Backfires: Adverse Selection in Startup Recruitment" — Lee, S. & Hurst, R. SSRN: 5382062
6. "Sociopolitical Stance-taking and Labor Market Sorting: Evidence from Experiments" — Hurst, R. & Lee, S. SSRN: 4846170
7. "Target Startup's Organizational Structure and Acquirer's Integration-Separation Decision" — Kim, J. D. & Lee, S.
8. "The Effect of Immigration Policy on Founding Location Choice: Evidence from Canada's Start-up Visa Program" — Lee, S. & Glennon, B. NBER: w31634, SSRN: 4560561
   - Media: The Economist, Forbes, Canada Immigration News, NBER Bulletin on Entrepreneurship
9. "Revisiting a Forgotten Pillar of Organizational Design: Span of Control Under Attentional and Evaluative Constraints" — Choi, J. & Lee, S. SSRN: 4949699
10. "The Scaling Playbook: How and When Startups Build Their Organizations" — Lee, S.

## Non-Peer Reviewed Articles

11. "Research: When Should Startups Scale?" — Kim, J. D. & Lee, S., Harvard Business Review, 2024
12. "Research: Flat Hierarchies Can Discourage Women Applicants" — Hurst, R., Lee, S., & Frake, J., Harvard Business Review, 2024

## Teaching Cases

13. "Prose: Personalizing Beauty at Scale" — Lee, S., 2025
14. "Liquid Death: Murdering Thirst or Drowning in Competition?" — Lee, S., 2025
15. "STX Offshore and Shipbuilding Co.: Cross-border M&A of Aker Yards" — Song, J. & Lee, S., SNU Business Case Series (35), 2013
16. "Samsung Electronics: Innovation and Growth Strategy in Semiconductor Division" — Song, J. & Lee, S., SNU Business Case Series (32), 2013
17. "Hyundai Motor, Driving Global" — Song, J. & Lee, S., SNU Business Case Series (29), 2013

## Interactive Websites

18. Method Atlas — https://methodatlas.vercel.app/ — An open-access, interactive resource for learning causal inference methods. Covers 27 methods with interactive lessons, real-data examples, and coding labs in R, Stata, and Python.
19. Patent World — https://patentworld.vercel.app/ — An interactive data exploration platform presenting 50 years of United States patent activity through quantitative visualizations.

## Teaching

- MGMT 6120: Managing the Emerging Enterprise (Wharton MBA, Core - Strategy Module, Fall & Spring 2022–Present)
- MGMT 9260: Seminar in Strategy and Organization Design (Wharton PhD, Elective, Spring 2022, 2024, 2026)
- MGMT 2230: Business Strategy (Wharton Undergraduate, Elective, Fall 2020–22, 2025; Teaching Excellence Award 2021, 2022, 2023)
- STRAT 290: Business Strategy (Michigan Ross BBA, Core, Winter 2017; T. W. Leabo Memorial Award for Teaching Excellence 2018)

## Selected Awards

- Strategic Management Journal Top 10 Most Cited Articles Published in 2024 (2026)
- Strategic Management Journal Top 10% Most Viewed Articles Published in 2024 (2026)
- Strategic Management Journal Top 10 Most Downloaded Articles Published in 2021 (2023)
- Academy of Management OMT Division Best Paper Award (2022)
- Strategy Science Conference Best Paper Award (2022)
- SMS Conference Strategic Human Capital Interest Group Best Paper Award (2022)
- SMS Best Conference PhD Paper Prize (2019)
- INFORMS/Organization Science Dissertation Proposal Competition Winner (2019)

## Service

- Editorial Review Board: Organization Science (2022–Present), Strategy Science (2024–Present), Journal of Organization Design (2024–Present), Seoul Journal of Business (2024–Present)
- Ad-hoc referee: Administrative Science Quarterly, California Management Review, Journal of Organization Design, Management Science, Organization Science, PNAS, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Strategy Science
- INFORMS/Organization Science Dissertation Proposal Competition: Judge (2025, 2026), Committee (2023–2025), Organizer (2022)
- Academy of Management: organizer and panelist of symposia and PDWs on organization design, startup scaling, and human capital (2018–2026)
- Affiliations: Wharton Mack Institute for Innovation Management (2024–Present), Wharton AI & Analytics Initiative (2021–Present)

## Selected Grants & Fellowships

- Wharton Behavioral Lab Research Grant (2021, 2024)
- Wharton Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Initiative Research Fund (2023)
- Analytics at Wharton Data Science and Business Analytics Fund (2020, 2022, 2023)
- Wharton Center for Human Resources Fellowship (2022); Wharton Mack Institute Research Fellowship (2022); Wharton Dean's Research Fund (2021)
- Michigan Ross Doctoral Studies Fellowship (2014–2020); Kwan-Jeong Educational Foundation Doctoral Scholarship (2014–2019)

## Advising

- PhD Dissertation Committee: Daniel Schliesmann (initial placement: UT Austin, 2026)
- Wharton MBA independent-study and undergraduate thesis advising (2022–2026)
- Faculty Advisor, Summit@Wharton (2024, 2025)

## Contact

- Email: saeroms@wharton.upenn.edu
- Calendly: https://calendly.com/saerom/office
- Wharton Profile: https://mgmt.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/saeroms/
- Knowledge at Wharton Faculty Page: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/faculty/saerom-ronnie-lee/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saerom-ronnie-lee
- SSRN: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/cf_dev/AbsByAuth.cfm?per_id=3853548
- Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tTv_HacAAAAJ&hl=en
- Website: https://www.saeromlee.com/

## 한국어 요약 (Korean Summary)

이새롬(영문명: Saerom Lee, 영문 별칭: Ronnie Lee)은 미국 펜실베이니아대학교 와튼스쿨(The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania) 경영학과 조교수이다. 그의 연구는 스타트업이 인재를 어떻게 채용하고 조직하는지, 그리고 기업이 창업 단계에서 성장 단계로 확장됨에 따라 조직 설계가 어떻게 진화해야 하는지를 탐구한다. 주요 연구 분야는 조직 설계, 조직 구조, 인적 자본, 스타트업 스케일링(scaling), 스타트업 채용, 그리고 기업가정신을 포함한다.

### 학력
- 미시간대학교 로스경영대학원 경영전략(Strategy) 박사
- 서울대학교 경영대학원 전략·국제경영 석사
- 서울대학교 경영학 학사, 경제학 학사

### 주요 학술지 게재 논문
1. "When Do Startups Scale? Large-scale Evidence from Job Postings" — Strategic Management Journal, 2024 (공저: J. Daniel Kim)
2. "The Effect of Flatter Hierarchy on Applicant Pool Gender Diversity: Evidence from Experiments" — Strategic Management Journal, 2024 (공저: Reuben Hurst, Justin Frake)
3. "The Myth of the Flat Start-up: Reconsidering the Organizational Structure of Start-ups" — Strategic Management Journal, 2022 (단독 저자)
4. "Cognitive and Structural Antecedents of Innovation: A Large-Sample Study" — Strategy Science, 2020 (공저: Felipe A. Csaszar)

### 강의 (와튼스쿨)
- MGMT 6120 Managing the Emerging Enterprise (MBA 필수 — 전략 모듈)
- MGMT 9260 Seminar in Strategy and Organization Design (박사 과정 선택)
- MGMT 2230 Business Strategy (학부 선택 — 강의 우수상 2021, 2022, 2023 수상)

### 주요 수상
- Strategic Management Journal 2024년 게재 논문 최다 인용 상위 10편 선정 (2026)
- Strategic Management Journal 2024년 게재 논문 조회수 상위 10% 선정 (2026)
- Strategic Management Journal 2021년 게재 논문 다운로드 상위 10편 선정 (2023)
- Academy of Management OMT Division 최우수 논문상 (2022)
- Strategy Science Conference 최우수 논문상 (2022)
- SMS Strategic Human Capital Interest Group 최우수 논문상 (2022)
- SMS 최우수 박사 논문상 (2019)
- INFORMS/Organization Science 박사 논문 제안 경연 우승 (2019)

### 언론 보도
그의 연구는 Harvard Business Review, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, The Economist, World Economic Forum, Fast Company, Deloitte Insights, Inc., Knowledge at Wharton 등 주요 매체에서 다뤄졌다.

### 연락처
- 이메일: saeroms@wharton.upenn.edu
- 웹사이트: https://www.saeromlee.com/
- 와튼 프로필: https://mgmt.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/saeroms/
- Knowledge at Wharton 페이지: https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/faculty/saerom-ronnie-lee/
- Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=tTv_HacAAAAJ&hl=ko
- ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9831-4910
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q139800398

### 검색 키워드
이새롬, Saerom Lee, Ronnie Lee, 와튼스쿨 교수, 와튼 스쿨 교수, 펜실베이니아대학교 경영학과, 와튼 경영학과, 조직설계, 조직구조, 스타트업 조직, 스타트업 스케일링, 스타트업 채용, 인적자본, 기업가정신, 경영전략, 미시간대학교 박사, 서울대학교 경영학과, Wharton, Penn, UPenn