SFSU Business faculty publish research in FT50 and UTD24 top journals

We are proud to recognize Professors Ebru Ipek (Associate Professor of Management), Minu Kumar (Professor of Marketing), Chenwei Li (Professor of Management), Bing Luo (Associate Professor of Accounting), Lufei Ruan (Associate Professor of Accounting) and Kyungin Ryu (Assistant Professor of Marketing) for their recent publications in top academic research journals listed on the University of Texas at Dallas Top 24 (UTD24) and the Financial Times Top 50 (FT50) lists.

Professor Ipek's and her co-authors' study explores why workplace support for refugee employees can either help or unintentionally harm integration, depending on how well support practices align with refugees’ actual needs. Based on 53 in-depth interviews with refugees and organizational support providers, the authors identify three recurring support constellations shaped by differing perceptions of agency, challenges, and appropriate support.  Learn the research article in the Journal of Management Studies.

Professor Li's and her co-authors' research examines how perceived relative deprivation, feeling unfairly disadvantaged compared to peers, can fuel creative unethical behavior in organizations. The findings highlight relative deprivation as a key psychological pathway driving the spread of creative unethicality and underscore the need for organizations to carefully manage competitive climates. Learn more about this research in the Journal of Business Ethics.

Professor Kumar's and his co-authors' research reexamines gender differences in preferences for visual harmony and finds that such differences are driven more by social expectations than by inherent perceptual differences. Overall, the findings suggest that historically reported gender differences in visual harmony preferences reflect socially shaped expression rather than true underlying preference. Read the research article in the Journal of Marketing Communications.

Professor Luo's and her co-authors' study finds that critical audit matter (CAM) reporting improves the quality of internal controls over financial reporting by encouraging earlier identification and communication of control issues among auditors, management, and audit committees. The research further indicates that these benefits are stronger when audit committees are more effective and auditors exert greater effort. Read more about this research in the Journal of Accounting and Economics.

Professor Ruan's and her co-authors' article was accepted for publication in fall 2025 by the Review of Accounting Studies and will be published online in August 2026.  Ruan's study examines the effect of creditor protection on the choice of government procurement contract types. The research findings point to an important relation between debt contracts and government contracts. Visit the Review of Accounting Studies website in August 2026 to search for Ruan's research article.

Professor Ryu's and her co-authors' study examines how consumers form spiritually-grounded relationships with brands by applying the concept of faith as a theoretical lens. The research highlights how brands can become sources of existential meaning and long-term emotional commitment for consumers. Read more about this study in the Journal of Consumer Research.