Five Questions with Faculty: Matthew Crayne

ALBANY, N.Y (Nov. 6, 2018) – Matthew Crayne is an assistant professor of management in the University at Albany’s School of Business.

What were you doing before you came to UAlbany?

I worked as a management consultant for Price Waterhouse Coopers. I was based in New York City, where I worked in their People and Organizational practice, which is human capital strategy.

Why did you choose to switch from consulting to academia?

I thought that industry was where I really wanted to focus my time and energy, but after several years working in consulting, I felt myself really missing the deep research work that I could do in an academic setting.

Can you describe your current research?

I’m really interested in the attributions that people give to others that make them leaders, and then when leaders make mistakes, or they do something that changes those attributions, how do followers respond to them? Also, what does that mean for outcomes for the leader and outcomes for organizations in general?

What interests you about applying psychology to business?

We study in industrial-organizational psychology the application of behavioral science to the workplace. “The science behind a smarter workforce” is the slogan for our major professional body, so it’s a pretty smooth transition to bring psychology into the workplace.

What’s one thing that most people don’t know about you?

I’m a big singer. I was a big Acapella group guy when I was in college and in graduate school, and I love doing that kind of stuff. I’m trying to get into a band, so if there’s somebody with a band on-campus at Albany, I’m interested.

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