Dr. Lauren Hajjar is an Associate Professor of Public Service and Healthcare Administration at Suffolk University’s Sawyer Business School. She specializes in organizational change, collaboration, and coordination of work, with a focus on policies, practices and processes that support high performance. Her research explores how people work together across roles, organizations, and sectors, particularly in complex environments characterized by interdependence and uncertainty. Her work spans the public, private, and nonprofit sectors, including healthcare, education, public safety, and professional sports. Through research across diverse settings, Hajjar seeks to advance organizational theory and identify insights that can inform practice across sectors. Recent projects have explored relational coordination, organizational mindfulness, and resilience, including cross-sector collaboration in rural communities and the organizational drivers of performance in professional European football clubs.
Hajjar uses quantitative and qualitative methods to examine organizational practices and outcomes, including interviews, focus groups, participant observation, case studies, relational mapping, and field-based surveys. She has presented her research at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting, the Relational Coordination Collaborative Annual Roundtable, and other national and international forums. Her recent research has been published in journals including The American Review of Public Administration, Health Care Management Review, and Learning Health Systems. Her work has received support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, National Institute of Corrections, and Sawyer Business School.
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Co-Principal Investigator, Sawyer Business School Faculty Research Grant, Drivers of Excellence: A Pilot Study Exploring Success Factors in Rural Health, 2025-2026
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Principal Investigator, Sawyer Business School Faculty Research Grant, Exploring Creeping Crises in USA and Denmark: A Comparative Pilot Study, 2024-2025
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Academic Partnership, Sawyer Business School Faculty Special Grant, Relational Coordination Collaborative 12th Annual Roundtable, Suffolk University, Boston, MA. 2022-2023
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Principal Investigator, Sawyer Business School Faculty Research Grant, High Performance Healthcare: The Role of Relational Coordination on Worker Outcomes, 2021-2022
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Co-Principal Investigator, Nellie Mae Education Foundation, Organizing for Student Success: The Role of Relational Coordination in Building a Collaborative Culture, 2018-2020
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Research Partner, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Using Readiness and Relational Interventions to Improve Police-Community Relationships in Columbia, South Carolina, 2018-2020
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Research Partner, New York Department of Education, The Bronx Collaborative School Model: Relational Mapping and Family Engagement, 2018-2019
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Research Partner, National Institute of Corrections, Transition from Jails to Communities: A Collaborative Approach, 2017-2019
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Co-Principal Investigator, Rochester City School District, Transforming Relationships to Promote Equity and Inclusion, 2017-2018
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NIH Fellowship Recipient, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 2010-2013
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Hajjar, L., Hammerschmidt, J. & Meier, N. (Accepted, 2026). Advancing Organizational Theory: Relational Drivers of Performance. Relational Coordination Collaborative Annual Roundtable. Oslo, Norway.
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Sullivan, E. & Hajjar, L. (2025). Drivers of Excellence: A Study of Cross-Sector Rural Community Collaboration. Relational Coordination Collaborative Annual Roundtable. Boston, MA.
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Meier, N., Hajjar, L., Gittell, J., Wentzer, H.S., Jebson, C., & Dakin, F.H. (July 2025). Making Relationships Visible: How to Study Relational Aspects of Organizational Change. Academy of Management Annual Meeting. Copenhagen, DK.
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Gittell, J.H., Hajjar, L., Stephens, J.P. & Jebson, C., (July 2025). Seeing the Whole Together: Relational Mapping for Theory, Research and Practice. Academy of Management Annual Meeting. Copenhagen, DK.
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Bright, D., Levine, M., Hajjar, L., et. al. (July 2025). Positive Approaches to Teaching and Learning: Resources and Insights for Management Educators. Academy of Management Annual Meeting. Copenhagen, DK.
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Hajjar, L., Best, J., Phillips, S., Olaleye, O., & Nicholson, E. (November 2024). Exploring Resilience: Relational Practices & Work Systems. Symposia Relational Coordination Collaborative Annual Roundtable. Berkeley, CA
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Gittell, J., Hajjar, L., Olaleye, W., & Stephens, J.P. (August 2024). Seeing the Whole Together: Relational Mapping for Theory, Research and Practice. Academy of Management Annual Meeting. Chicago, IL.
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Hajjar, L., et. al. (2023). Intervening to strengthen relational coordination in user-centered models of service delivery. Relational Coordination Roundtable, Baltimore, MD.
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Hajjar, L., et al. (2023). Positive Approaches to Management Education. Academy of Management Annual Meeting; Boston, MA.
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Hajjar et. al. (2022). Creating Resilient Communities Through Multi-Sectoral Collaboration. Relational Coordination Collaborative Annual Roundtable. Suffolk University, Boston, MA.
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Hajjar et. al. (2022). Relational Mapping as a Tool for Change. Professional Development Workshop. Relational Coordination Collaborative Roundtable; Suffolk University, Boston, MA.
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Graf, M., Hajjar, L., Maurer, M. & Yang, J. (2022). Use of Incident Command System to Improve Relational Capacity Among Providers. Relational Coordination Collaborative Roundtable. Boston, MA.
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Hajjar et. al (2022). Building Relational Coordination at the Systems Level for Managing Capacity During the Pandemic. Academy of Management Annual Meeting. Seattle, WA.
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Kragen, B. & Hajjar, L. (2022). Testing the Added Value of Telehealth Service Delivery: The Experience of Caregivers During COVID-19 Frontiers in Service Conference; Boston, MA.
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Hajjar, L.M. et al. (2021). Relational Coordination and Stakeholder Alignment: Integrating Theory and Methods for Systems Change. Chair of PDW Workshop at the 81st Annual Academy of Management Virtual Conference.
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Hajjar, L.M. (August 2019). Relational Organizing for Multi-Level Systems Change. Co-organizer of PDW Workshop at the Academy of Management Conference; Boston, MA.
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Hajjar, L.M. (August 2018). Understanding the Relational Dynamics of Multi-Level Systems Change. Co-organizer of PDW Workshop at the Academy of Management Conference; Chicago, IL
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Sullivan, E. & Hajjar, L. (submitted). Building Rural Health by Making Collaboration Work: A Multiple Case Study of Cross Sector Partnerships. Journal of Public Health and Management.
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Hajjar, L.M., Olaleye, O., Yang, J., McGirr, S. & Sullivan, E. (2025) Building Relational Coordination for Team Based Care. Learning Health Systems.
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Secordel, L., Hajjar, L., Perloff, J. & Mechanic, R (2024). Characteristics of Accountable Care Organizations' Preferred Skilled Nursing Facility Networks. The American Journal of Managed Care.
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Hajjar, L., Gittell, J. H., Stephens, J. P., Meier, N., & Cutcher Gershenfeld, J. (2024). Seeing the Whole Together Through Relational Mapping: A Method for Engaging in Complex Systems Change. The American Review of Public Administration, 02750740241290807.
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Hajjar, L.M., Sullivan, R., Maurer, M. & Yang, J. (2024). Lessons for Tomorrow: The Role of Relationships and Mindfulness in Sustaining Services During a Crisis. Health Care Management Review, 49(3).
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Ali, H. N., Bhardwaj, A., Dillon, E., Faraj, S., Hajjar, L., Kragen, B., & Yang, J. (2022). Relationships and Resilience in the COVID-19 Pandemic. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2022, No. 1, p. 10515). Briarcliff Manor, NY 10510: Academy of Management.
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Hajjar, L. & Kragen, B. (2021). Timely Communication Through Telehealth: Added Value for a Caregiver During COVID-19. Frontiers in Public Health. 9:755391.
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Hajjar, L., Cook, B. S., Domlyn, A., Ray, K. A., Laird, D., & Wandersman, A. (2020). Readiness and relationships are crucial for coalitions and collaboratives: Concepts and evaluation tools. New Directions for Evaluation, 2020(165), 103-122.
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Gittell, J. H., & Hajjar, L. (2019). Strengthening patient-centered care in the VHA: a relational model of change. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 34, 7-10.
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Hajjar, L. (submitted). Making Relationships Visible in Evaluation Work. American Evaluation Association 365.
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Hajjar, L., Gittell, J., Stephens, J.P., Meier, N. & Cutcher-Gershenfeld, J. Relational Mapping: Summarizing an Evidence-Based Way of ‘Seeing the Whole Together’ for Complex Systems Change. Public Management Lab e-bulletin. Esade (June 1, 2025).
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Hajjar, L., Gittell, J. H., Meier, N., & Gunn, W. (2024). Breaking Down Silos to Build Collaborative Systems. In The Heller School Social Impact Case Collection: Reimagining Capitalism through Case-Based Learning. Brandeis University Press (Teaching Case).
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Hajjar, L.M., Moore, S., & Hoffer Gittell, J. (2019). Central Office Transformation in a Major Urban School District: A Relational Capacity Strategy. Submitted to Rochester City School District, Offices of Accountability and Student Equity and Placement.
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Hajjar et. al., (2019). Organizing for Student Success: The Role of Relational Coordination in Building a Collaborative Culture. Submitted to the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.
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Hajjar, L.M., Hoffer Gittell, J., Stojicic, D., & Olaleye, O. (2018). Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Care Redesign and Relational Coordination: Analysis of Interdisciplinary Team Huddles and Physician Rounds. Submitted to BIDMC Office of Improvement and Innovation.
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Hajjar, L.M. (2016). Adoption of SPI Practices in Police Departments. Smart Policing Initiative Quarterly Newsletter Issue No. XVIII. Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance.
