Alison Dachner
Associate Professor
Background
Dr. Alison M. Dachner has over a decade of experience conducting research, teaching, and consulting on management and leadership topics. She is an Associate Professor of Management at the Boler College of Business at John Carroll University. Before beginning her academic career, she worked as the Director of Education for an international call center, received her M.B.A. from Cleveland State University, and earned her Ph.D. in Labor and Human Resources from The Ohio State University.
Dachner’s research examines how shifts in the modern work environment and differences among diverse populations impact employee careers, as well as the effectiveness of organizational strategies for engaging, developing, transitioning, and retaining employees and students. Her work appears in leading academic journals, including, Academy of Management Review, Human Resources Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of Management Education, and Academy of Management Annals.
She has consulted on special projects across various industries, including NASA, and is passionate about translating academic discoveries into practical, evidence-based recommendations for organizations. To help bridge the research–practice gap, she has written for broader audiences through publications in Harvard Business Review, Organizational Dynamics, and Business Horizons.
Professor Dachner has designed courses, programs, and professional development workshops for undergraduate and graduate students, fellow academics, and other working professionals. Her teaching portfolio includes: introduction to management, leadership skills, contemporary issues in management and leadership, organizational behavior, international management, strategic management, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging, instructional design & training, employee development, inclusive hiring, onboarding, exit management & offboarding. She integrates experiential and project-based learning throughout her classes and actively advances pedagogy through her role as Associate Editor for the Journal of Management Education.
She is an active member of several professional organizations, including the Academy of Management where she serves as Treasurer for the Careers Division, as well as the Management and Organizational Behavior Teaching Society, and the Society for Human Resource Management, where she obtained a professional certification (SHRM-CP).
Areas of Expertise
- Managerial and leadership skills
- organizational behavior
- instructional design & training
- employee career development
- exit management
- corporate alumni programs- alumni-organization relationships.
Research Interests
Dr. Dachner’s research examines how shifts in the modern work environment and differences among diverse populations impact employee careers, as well as the effectiveness of organizational strategies for engaging, developing, transitioning, and retaining employees and students.
Education
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Labor and Human Resources
Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Department of Management and Human Resources
Doctorate Minor: Quantitative Psychology
Masters of Business Administration (M.B.A.)
Monte Ahuja College of Business, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio
Department of Management
Bachelors of Science in Business Administration (B.S.B.A), Human Resource Management
Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio
Department of Management and Human Resources
Courses Taught
- Managing employees for a competitive advantage (MOL3301)
- Management and organizational leadership (MOL3325)
- Managing Performance, Pay and Perks (MOL3376)
- Managing Career and Talent Development (MOL4473)
- Special issues in people management and organizational leadership (MOL4495)
- Leadership and Managerial Skills (MOL5550)
Publications
*Makarius, E.E., Dachner, A.M. & Brymer, R.A. (2025). You say goodbye, I say hello:A theory of post-separation value through alumni and extended exchange relationships. Academy of Management Review, 50(2). https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2022.0242
Makarius, E.E., Dachner, A.M., Paluch, R., Pedde, J. (2024). Feel the churn: Exercising talent management practices for employee mobility. Business Horizons. 67, 55-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2023.07.003
Dachner, A.M., & Beatty, J. (2023). A selected review of exemplary diversity articles published in the Journal of Management Education, 47(5), 458-476. https://doi.org/10.1177/10525629231178798
Dachner, A.M., &Makarius, E.E. (2022). Follow the TRAILS: A path to systematically designing corporate alumni programs, Organizational Dynamics, 51(4). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2022.100897
Dachner, A.M., & Makarius, E.E. (Mar/Apr 2021). Turn Departing Employees into Loyal Alumni: A holistic approach to offboarding. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2021/03/turn-departing-employees-into-loyal-alumni
Dachner, A.M., Ellingson, J.E., Noe, R.A., & Saxton, B.M. (2019).The Future of Employee Development. Human Resource Management Review, 31(2), 100732.
Dachner, A.M., Miguel, R.F., & Patena, R. (2017). Risky business: Increasing student intellectual risk-taking in management education. Journal of Management Education, 41(3), 415-443.
Dachner, A. M., Ellingson, J.E., & Tews, M.J. (2017). Clarifying the association between personality and interpersonal citizenship behavior. SAM: Advanced Management Journal, 82, 36-47.
Dachner, A.M., &Polin, B.A. (2016). A systematic approach to educating the emerging adult learner in undergraduate management courses. Journal of Management Education, 40(2), 121-151.
Dachner, A.M., &Miguel, R.F. (2015). Job crafting: An unexplored benefit of friendships in work teams. SAM: Advanced Management Journal, 80(2), 13-21.
Dachner, A.M. &Saxton, B.M. (2015). If you don’t care, why should I?: The influence of instructor commitment on learning outcomes. Journal of Management Education, 39(5), 549-571.
Dachner, A.M., Saxton, B.M., & Noe, R.A. (2013). To infinity and beyond: Using a narrative approach to identify training needs for unknown and dynamic situations. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 24(2), 239-267.
Noe, R.A., Tews, M.J. & Dachner, A.M. (2010). Learner engagement: A new perspective for enhancing our understanding of learner motivation and workplace learning. Academy of Management Annals, 4, 279-315.
