Yo-Jud Cheng

Yo-Jud Cheng

Assistant Professor of Business Administration

Office

FOB 186

Phone

+1-434-924-6788

Email

ChengY@darden.virginia.edu

Academic Area

Strategy, Ethics & Entrepreneurship

Areas of Expertise

Corporate Governance, Strategic Leadership, Top Management Teams

Education: B.A., Wellesley College; D.B.A. Harvard Business School

Yo-Jud Cheng is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Strategy, Ethics and Entrepreneurship area at Darden. Cheng's research focuses on corporate governance and top executives in public companies. Her work employs a broad variety of data sources - including interviews, surveys, employee ratings, and archival data - to analyze the internal operations and group dynamics of boards and top management teams. Her research uncovers new insights into the ways board directors and executives shape firm strategy, governance, and performance.

Cheng's research has been published in peer-reviewed academic journals such as Strategic Management Journal and Management Science, and in practitioner-oriented outlets including Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review. Her research has been featured by the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Fortune, and CNBC. Cheng teaches the core Strategy course and an elective on Strategic Corporate Governance in the full-time MBA program.

Prior to joining Darden, Cheng earned a Bachelor of Arts (in Economics) from Wellesley College and a Doctorate in Business Administration (in Strategy) from Harvard Business School. She previously worked as an economic consultant in Menlo Park, CA.

Yo-Jud Cheng's Ideas to Action Posts

See All

Darden Ideas to Action: Most Read Stories of 2022

Leadership & Management

Why WeWork Didn’t Work as Planned: 4 Lessons on Corporate Governance

Leadership & Management

Spotlight on Spotify: Scandal, Governance and the Potential for Prevention

Business, Ethics & Society

Selected Publications

Shelby Gai, J. Yo-Jud Cheng, and Andy Wu, "Board Design and Governance Failures at Peer Firms," Strategic Management Journal, forthcoming.

J. Yo-Jud Cheng, Boris Groysberg, Paul Healy, and Rajesh Vijayaraghavan, "Directors' Perceptions of Board Effectiveness and Internal Operations," Management Science, forthcoming.

Boris Groysberg, Jeremiah Lee, Jesse Price, and J. Yo-Jud Cheng (2018), "The Leader's Guide to Corporate Culture," Harvard Business Review, 96(1): 44-57.

 

Other Publications

J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Boris Groysberg (June 18, 2021), "Research: What Inclusive Companies Have in Common," Harvard Business Review. Available at https://hbr.org/2021/06/research-what-inclusive-companies-have-in-common

J. Yo-Jud Cheng, Cassandra Frangos, and Boris Groysberg (March 12, 2021), "Is Your C-Suite Equipped to Lead a Digital Transformation?" Harvard Business Review. Available at https://hbr.org/2021/03/is-your-c-suite-equipped-to-lead-a-digital-transformation

J. Yo-Jud Cheng, Boris Groysberg, and Paul Healy (August 13, 2020), "Why Do Boards Have So Few Black Directors?" Harvard Business Review. Available at https://hbr.org/2020/08/why-do-boards-have-so-few-black-directors

  • Excerpt in "Idea Watch" (2020), Harvard Business Review, 98(6): 29.

J. Yo-Jud Cheng, Boris Groysberg, and Paul Healy (May 4, 2020), "Your CEO Succession Plan Can't Wait," Harvard Business Review. Available at https://hbr.org/2020/05/your-ceo-succession-plan-cant-wait

J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Boris Groysberg (January 22, 2020), "Gender Diversity at the Board Level Can Mean Innovation Success," MIT Sloan Management Review. Available at https://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/gender-diversity-at-the-board-level-can-mean-innovation-success/

J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Boris Grosyberg (January 8, 2020), "How Corporate Cultures Differ Around the World," Harvard Business Review. Available https://hbr.org/2020/01/how-corporate-cultures-differ-around-the-world

J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Boris Groysberg (September 21, 2018), "Innovation Should Be a Top Priority for Boards. So Why Isn't It?" Harvard Business Review. Available at https://hbr.org/2018/09/innovation-should-be-a-top-priority-for-boards-so-why-isnt-it

David Collis, Bharat Anand, and J. Yo-Jud Cheng (2018). "The United States in Contemporary Perspectives: Evolving Forms, Strategy, and Performance," in Business Groups in the West: Origins, Evolution, and Resilience. Eds. Asli M. Colpan and Takashi Hikino, New York: Oxford University Press, 402-431.

J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Boris Groysberg (February 22, 2017). "Why Boards Aren't Dealing with Cyberthreats," Harvard Business Review. Available at https://hbr.org/2017/02/why-boards-arent-dealing-with-cyberthreats

J. Yo-Jud Cheng and Boris Groysberg (August 23, 2016). "7 Charts Show How Political Affiliation Shapes U.S. Boards," Harvard Business Review. Available at https://hbr.org/2016/08/7-charts-show-how-political-affiliation-shapes-u-s-boards

Boris Groysberg, J. Yo-Jud Cheng, Spencer Stuart, WomenCorporateDirectors (WCD) Foundation, and Deborah Bell (April 20, 2016), "2016 Global Board of Directors Survey." Available at https://www.spencerstuart.com/research-and-insight/2016-global-board-of-directors-survey

Boris Groysberg and J. Yo-Jud Cheng (February 16, 2016), "The Political Issues Board Directors Care Most About," Harvard Business Review. Available at https://hbr.org/2016/02/the-political-issues-board-directors-care-most-about

 

Case Studies

Advancing knowledge through research that shapes business, Darden professors are recognized thought leaders in their fields. They are not only master case method teachers, they also author many of the cases used in Darden classrooms and around the world.

Yo-Jud Cheng's cases are available in the Darden Business Publishing website.