People and Faculty
Sam Yul Cho
Associate Professor

Sam Yul Cho

541-737-6107

sam.cho@oregonstate.edu

People and Faculty
Sam Yul Cho
Overview
Overview
Background
Publications

Overview

Biography

Dr. Sam Yul Cho is an Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship in the Oregon State University College of Business. He earned his Ph.D. from Washington State University and holds an MBA from the Simon School of Business at University of Rochester, an M.A. in economics from Hitotsubashi University, and a B.A. in economics from Sogang University. His research focuses on CEO’s, top management teams and boards of directors. His research has been published in various journals such as the Strategic Management Journal, Research Policy, Journal of Management Studies, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, and Journal of Business Research. Prior to joining academia, he worked as a buy-side equity analyst and strategy planner in Tokyo and Seoul for five years.

Career Interests

Research areas: Corporate Governance.
Research interests: CEOs; TMTs; M&A; Entrepreneurial Firms

Background

Experience

Sam Yul Cho joined the Strategy and Entrepreneurship group in the College of Business in September 2014. He received a Ph.D. from the Washington State University, an MBA from the Simon School of Business at University of Rochester, a M.A. in economics from the Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo, and a B.A. in economics from the Sogang University in Seoul. He also worked as an equity analyst in Tokyo and strategy planner in Seoul for five years.  His research focuses on CEOs, board of directors and mergers and acquisitions.  

Service

Editorial board member for Journal of Business Venturing 2020-2023

Publications

Academic Journal
Strategy & Entrepreneurship

“Celebrity CEO, Identity Threat, and Impression Management: Impact of Celebrity Status on Corporate Social Responsibility”

In this study, we examine the impact of CEO celebrity status on the propensity of firms to
engage in corporate social responsibility (CSR). Integrating identity and impression management
theories, we argue that a firm’s engagement in CSR activities is affected by a celebrity CEO’s
impression management motive to maintain his/her identity and status as a celebrity. We then
explore three boundary conditions under which the effects of celebrity status on CSR may be
strengthened. We find that celebrity CEOs’ engagement in CSR activities as an impression
management tactic increases when uncertainty surrounding a firm’s expected performance is
high, when firm performance is low, and the competitive intensity of the industry is high. The
findings of this study provide useful insights into the specific ways by which celebrity CEOs
attempt to protect their established status and reputation. This paper contributes to various
domains of research concerning CEOs, impression management, and CSR.
Details

Gilsoo Lee Sam Yul Cho Jonathan Arthurs Eun Kyung Lee View on: Google Scholar

Academic Journal

“CEO Pay Inequity, CEO-TMT Pay Gap, and Acquisition Premiums”

This study extends previous research on the influence of CEO pay inequity on CEOs' decision-making by examining the relationship in the acquisition context. Focusing on CEOs' compensation vis-à-vis external and internal referents, we find that underpaid CEOs pay higher acquisition premiums and that overpaid CEOs pay lower premiums, although this tendency is reduced as the level of overpayment increases, creating a U-shaped relationship. We further find that the CEO-TMT pay gap moderates the relationship between CEO under-/overpayment and acquisition premiums by adjusting CEOs' perceptions of pay inequity and motivation to restore inequity through their higher or lower sense of self-importance. The findings of this study suggest that CEOs' decision-making is strongly influenced by their framing of gains and losses and the perception of pay inequity
vis-à-vis external and internal referents.
Details

elsevier Gilsoo Lee Sam Yul Cho Jonathan Arthurs Eun Kyung Lee View on: Google Scholar

Academic Journal

“The Influence of Alliance Experience on Acquisition Premiums and Post-acquisition Performance”

This paper examines the influence of acquirers’ alliance experience on acquisition outcomes. Specifically, we investigate whether or not acquirers with alliance experience pay higher acquisition premiums and achieve improved post-acquisition performance. We also investigate how the impact of acquirers’ alliance experience is contingent on the alliance portfolios of target firms. We find that acquirers with alliance experience pay higher acquisition premiums but lower acquisition premiums when their target firms possess alliance portfolios of greater size or diversity. We also find that such acquirers achieve higher post-acquisition performance when the size of alliance portfolios of target firms is larger. Overall, this study suggests that alliance experience can help acquirers develop organizational knowledge and capabilities, and thus influence acquisition outcomes.
Details

Sam Yul Cho Jonathan Arthurs View on: Google Scholar

Conference

“Impact of Bankruptcy on Rivals: How Tech Overlap and Diversification Affects Value Redistribution”

Prior research on bankruptcy proposes two potential outcomes for a bankrupt firm’s industry rivals: a contagion effect wherein rivals’ stock prices decline, and a competitive effect wherein rivals benefit from a competitor’s decline. Although empirical evidence substantiates the contagion effect, existing studies do not consistently account for the competitive effect. We develop and test theory explaining how the degree of technology overlap and diversification strategy of competitors influences the severity of the contagion effect and the expected occurrence of the competitive effect among rivals. We find that greater technology overlap among a bankrupt firm and its competitors exacerbates the contagion effect. Furthermore, competitors with higher unrelated diversification are more susceptible to contagion, while competitors with higher related diversification benefit more from a rival’s bankruptcy.
Details

Academy of Management Proceedings Jonathan Arthurs Sam Yul Cho Yohan Choi Iman Hemmatian Amol Joshi