My research interests revolve around embeddedness in organization theory. I am particularly curious about how the relational and cultural dimensions of embeddedness impact the work of organizations and the resilience of workers.

 

I am committed to employing ethnographic methods in my research. My commitment to ethnography is as personal as it is intellectual. First, as a scholar and researcher, I think ethnography, with an intensive focus on generating in-depth understandings of people’s lived experiences, is the right method to study sociomateriality and culture. Second, as a human being, I am deeply passionate about ethnography as a way of understanding our very strange yet deeply human world. I find great satisfaction in connecting to and understanding human subjects.

 

​UPCOMING PUBLICATIONS

 

Cao (upcoming, 2026). To the lighthouse: Moral injury, moral resilience, and moral courage. In Towards Greater Equality in Academia: A Collective Response. Edited by Scholz & Szulc. Edward Elgar Publishing. Gloucestershire. UK.

 

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MANUSCRIPTS UNDER REVIEW

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Cao. 'First, let’s eat cake': The material world triggers building blocks of resilience through sensemaking. Under review as of June 2026.

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MANUSCRIPTS IN PREPARATION

 

Cao & Wang. 'Do you know my son’s favorite food?': Emotional labor and sensemaking are shaped by family discourse as local expressions of embeddedness. To be submitted to Organization Studies in 2027.

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Cao. 'Maybe don’t mention Harvard': Social reproduction processes in the translation of Bourdieu’s four forms of capital in Asian societies. To be submitted to Business and Society in 2027.

 

Cao. The empathizers: Focusing on present impact as a relational mechanism among immigrant rights advocates. To be submitted to Business and Society in 2027.

 

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