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Shawn McClean

Shawn McClean

Shawn McClean

Associate Professor of Management

James G. Harlow Jr. Chair in Business Ethics 

smcclean@ou.edu
(405) 325-2651

About McClean

Shawn McClean is an associate professor and James G. Harlow Jr. Chair in Business Ethics in the Division of Management & International Business at the University of Oklahoma. Dr. McClean earned his Ph.D. in organizational behavior and human resource management from Texas A&M University. In addition, Dr. McClean earned his B.A. in Business Administration and Master of Business Administration from Washington State University. Prior to joining Price College, he was a faculty member at the University of Wyoming.

Dr. McClean's research examines how organizations interact with employees whose lives cannot be understood solely through their formal work roles. Organizations often understand employees primarily through the demands of their formal work roles, yet employees also bring responsibilities, experiences, and personal characteristics that originate beyond the workplace. Across his work, Dr. McClean explores how these broader aspects of employees' lives shape how organizational norms and practices are interpreted and experienced, helping explain why the same workplace often produces markedly different experiences. His work has appeared in leading management journals, including the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, Personnel Psychology, Journal of Management, and the Academy of Management Annals. In addition, Dr. McClean’s work has appeared in various practitioner outlets, including Harvard Business Review.

Dr. McClean teaches organizational behavior and human resource topics at the undergraduate and MBA levels, as well as research methods at the doctoral level. His courses encourage students to recognize that many of the forces shaping employee behavior originate outside the workplace and are often invisible to managers. Through case discussions, experiential activities, and evidence-based management, he equips students to better understand and respond to the complexities of leading people in organizations.

Research Interests:

  • The work/non-work interface
  • Employee roles
  • Research Methods

Education

  • Ph.D. in organizational behavior and human resource management, Texas A&M University, 2020
  • Master of Business Administration, Washington State University, 2014
  • Bachelor of Arts in business administration, Washington State University, 2012

Selected Recent Publications

  • McClean, S. T., Koopman, J., & Chawla, N. In press. Dynamic boundary permeability theory: An episodic, threshold-based model of role transitions. Academy of Management Review.

  • Matthews, M. J., Su, R., Yonish, L., McClean, S. T., Yam, K. C., & Koopman, J. 2025. A review of artificial intelligence, algorithms, and robots through the lens of stakeholder theory. Journal of Management, 51(6), 2627-2676.

  • Tang, P. M., Klotz, A. C., McClean, S. T., Wang, Y, Song, Z., Ng, C. T. S. 2023. Who needs nature? The influence of employee speciesism on nature-based need satisfaction and subsequent work behavior. Journal of Applied Psychology, 108(11), 1737-1765. 

  • Tang, P. M., Koopman, J., McClean, S. T., Zhang, J., Li, C. H., De Cremer, D., Lu, Y., & Ng, C. T. S. 2022. When conscientious employees meet intelligent machines: An integrative approach inspired by complementarity theory and role theory. Academy of Management Journal, 65(3), 1019-1054. 

  • McClean, S. T., Yim, J., Courtright, S. H., & Dunford, B. 2021. Transformed by the family: An episodic, attachment theory perspective on family-work enrichment and transformational leadership. Journal of Applied Psychology, 106(12), 1848-1866. 


About OU's Price College of Business

The University of Oklahoma Michael F. Price College of Business has experienced significant growth over the past five years, becoming OU’s second-largest college with over 7,000 students. The college offers highly ranked undergraduate, master’s, executive and doctoral programs across six academic divisions. More information is available at price.ou.edu