Ayaj Rana

Welcome! I am a Ph.D. candidate at Cornell University's School of Industrial and Labor Relations (ILR), advised by Professors Adam Seth Litwin, Forrest Briscoe, JR Keller, and Michael Maffie. My research adopts a macro perspective to explore the ways technologies and institutions shape HR systems and practices, ultimately influencing how work is experienced and how organizations function. Alongside my doctoral work, I serve as a Graduate Resident Fellow at Cornell University's Alice Cook House, where I mentor resident undergraduates and support the House’s living-learning programs.

My dissertation asks: How should HR systems be designed when managerial functions are delegated to algorithms? I investigate this question through studies of professional identity, voice, and differentiated talent management as critical dimensions of HR design under algorithmic management. Methodologically, I integrate surveys and field experiments with ethnography, interviews, and archival analysis. My work has been honored with the Cornell ILR School's Benjamin Millar Award, the Academy of Management (AOM) Best Paper Award, and the AOM OB Division's Award for Outstanding Practical Implications for Management.  

Before beginning my Ph.D. at Cornell, I earned a Master of Public Policy (MPP) at Georgia State University's Andrew Young School of Policy Studies as a Fulbright student. There, I served as a Public Finance Fellow researching Georgia's tax and employment policies, and as a Georgia Innovative Economic Development Intern at Georgia Tech's Enterprise Innovation Institute, studying high-tech entrepreneurship. 

I began my academic career at the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh, where I completed both a bachelor’s and master’s in development studies before joining the Department of Development Studies as a lecturer and later assistant professor. I taught courses on public policy and institutions, public finance, and quantitative research methods, while also engaging in research and project management consulting across government, nonprofit, and for-profit organizations. 

When I’m not working, I love taking walks with my two-year-old daughter, staying engaged with U.S. and Bangladeshi politics, and unwinding through cricket, badminton, soccer, and photography.