Her research focuses on two of the central questions in organizational theory: how practices and actors are deemed either acceptable (and therefore taken for granted) or illegitimate (and thus condemned); and how definitions of legitimacy can be exploited strategically to improve firm and individual outcomes. Specifically, she focus on how the question of legitimacy is resolved through the interaction of multiple stakeholders, how the definitions of what is condemned and what is taken for granted change over time, as well as the processes through which both positive and negative consequences of such definitions are apportioned to individuals and organizations. She teaches courses in organizational behavior and leadership.