Michael Jarrett

Michael Jarrett is a Professor of Management Practice in Organizational Behavior at INSEAD, where he co-directs the Strategic Execution Programme and serves as Academic Director of INSEAD's Executive Masters in Change. He also chairs the Organization Development and Change Interest Group of the Academy of Management.

His research and consulting focus on the psychological and structural dynamics that shape — and often derail — strategic change in organizations. Drawing on systems psychodynamics and process theory, he examines the hidden dynamics of top management teams, intergroup conflict, and cultural routines that can undermine organizational transformation. His current research explores the role of humor in status negotiations within senior teams, intuition and decision-making in top leadership during crisis, and the processes that determine post-merger integration outcomes.

Michael's work has been published in journals including Human Relations, The Leadership Quarterly, Organization Research Methods, Long Range Planning, and the Journal of Change Management, and has been featured in Harvard Business Review, the Financial Times, and media outlets across Asia and Europe. In both teaching and client work, he uses group experiential learning, discovery methods, and video ethnography to surface tacit organizational practices. He has received multiple Dean's Awards for outstanding teaching in executive programs.

Michael holds a PhD from Cranfield School of Management and an MSc in Economics from the University of London, and is a trained gestalt and psychodynamic group consultant. He has served as a staff member and group consultant with the Tavistock Institute and the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust, held a visiting appointment at the Wharton School, and continues as a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bath School of Management.