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My multi-method research examines how technological and institutional shifts reconfigure HR systems and practices, reshaping the experience of work and organizational outcomes. I explore this agenda through a series of ongoing projects, each focusing on a different dimension of HR design and its implications for identity, voice, retention, job quality, and well-being.
Professional Identity Under Algorithmic Management
(Under review at Organization Science; 2025 Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings & OB Division Outstanding Practical Implications for Management Award)
This paper examines how algorithmic evaluation alters the relational foundations of professional identity. Studying technologists on Upwork and Fiverr, I show that volatile performance rankings destabilize professionals’ sense of competence and legitimacy, leading many to seek affirmation through disintermediation—covertly moving client relationships off-platform. I theorize disintermediation as an identity-stabilizing strategy, highlighting how algorithmic architectures cue divergent identity enactments across performance status.
When “Human in the Loop” Builds Commitment
(Prepared for submission to Academy of Management Journal)
This study investigates whether adding human involvement to algorithmic systems preserves fairness and commitment. Drawing on interviews and survey data from experienced freelancers, I find that augmentation strengthens commitment only when paired with credible voice infrastructures—transparent, auditable, and empowered to overturn algorithmic outcomes. By contrast, human touchpoints without remedy authority backfire as tokenistic. The findings specify a boundary condition for effective algorithmic augmentation.
Governance Modality as Differentiated HR
(In preparation for Academy of Management Journal)
This project theorizes “governance modality”—the form of HR delivery (algorithmic, relational, or hybrid)—as a core design choice under algorithmic management. Evidence from Upwork and Fiverr suggests algorithms can substitute for relational HR in retaining lower-value talent, while high-value talent is retained only when algorithmic consistency is paired with relational coaching and feedback. The contribution is to recast differentiated HR as a problem of substitution and complementarity.
AI Procurement Pathways and Job Quality
(Revise & Resubmit at Work and Occupations)
In this collaborative project, we examine how AI vendors’ marketing narratives shape adoption choices and, ultimately, job quality. Analyzing marketing materials for U.S. healthcare providers, we find vendors overwhelmingly frame AI as automation rather than augmentation, leading to job designs that reduce discretion, weaken feedback, and erode meaningfulness. We theorize this as an “efficiency paradox”: adoption optimized for throughput degrades job quality and undermines performance.
Logic–Practice Fit and Employee Well-Being
(Data collection with the American Veterinary Medical Association)
This collaborative, nationwide field experiment with 100 U.S. veterinary clinics explores how ownership structures condition the effectiveness of well-being interventions. Comparing independent practices with private equity–owned chains, we test how managerial training on culture, work-life practices, and job crafting affects employee outcomes such as burnout, satisfaction, and turnover intentions. We theorize “logic–practice fit,” showing that HR practices improve well-being only when aligned with the institutional logics of ownership.
(Pre-Ph.D.) Peer-Reviewed Publications in Public Policy & Management
Eusuf, M. A., Rana, A., & Rabi, R. I. (2022). "The Political Economy of a COVID-19 Stimulus Package in Bangladesh: The Case of Women-Owned Enterprises." International Journal of SME Development, 5, 35–55. Link
Khan, N. A., Rana, A., & Haque, M. R. (2020). "Rise of the Concepts and Indicators of Social Development: Insights from the Experience of Bangladesh." Journal of Population and Development, 2, 27–38. Link
Kamal, M., & Rana, A. (2019). "Do Internal and International Remittances Affect Households’ Expenditure and Asset Accumulation Differently? Evidence from Bangladesh." The Journal of Developing Areas, 53(2), 139–153. Link
Rana, A., & Kamal, M. (2018). "Does Clientelism Affect Income Inequality? Evidence from Panel Data." Journal of Income Distribution, 27(1), 1–24. Link
Kamal, M., Rana, A., & Wahid, A. (2018). "Economic Reform and Corruption: Evidence from Panel Data." Australian Economic Papers, 57(1), 92–106. Link
Rana, A., & Wahid, A. (2017). "Fiscal Deficit and Economic Growth in Bangladesh: A Time-Series Analysis." The American Economist, 62(1), 31–42. Link
Kamal, M., & Rana, A. (2015). "Probing the Efficacy of Social Business as the New Kind of Capitalism in Alleviating Poverty." International Journal of Economic Perspectives, 9(3), 57–65. Link
Haque, T., Haque, M. R., & Rana, A. (2013). "Holding NGOs Accountable: Reinvigorating Development Management in Bangladesh." Social Science Review, 30(2), 49–74. Link
Khan, N. U., Haque, M. R., & Rana, A. (2012). "The Role of Civil Societies in Development of Democracy in Bangladesh." Development Review, 22, 31–40. Link
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