# 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, and both a B.B.A. and an M.S. in Strategy & International Management 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, SMS Explorer, EurekAlert, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
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
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
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. "Target Startup's Organizational Structure and Acquirer's Integration-Separation Decision" — Kim, J. D. & Lee, S.
6. "Span of Control as a Dynamic Strategic Lever for Early-stage Firm Growth" — Choi, J. & Lee, S. SSRN: 4949699
7. "When Autonomy Backfires: Adverse Selection in Startup Recruitment" — Lee, S. & Hurst, R. SSRN: 5382062
8. "Sociopolitical Stance-taking and Labor Market Sorting: Evidence from Experiments" — Hurst, R. & Lee, S. SSRN: 4846170
9. "The Effect of Immigration Policy on Founding Location Choice: Evidence from Canada's Start-up Visa Program" — Lee, S. & Glennon, B. SSRN: 4560561
   - Media: The Economist, Forbes, Canada Immigration News, NBER Bulletin on Entrepreneurship

## Non-Peer Reviewed Articles

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

## Teaching Cases

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

## Interactive Websites

17. 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.
18. 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

- 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)

## Contact

- Email: saeroms@wharton.upenn.edu
- Calendly: https://calendly.com/saerom/office
- Wharton Profile: https://mgmt.wharton.upenn.edu/profile/saeroms/
- 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/