Her current research interests include investigating the effects of various social and contextual factors on employees' creativity and examining ways to structure jobs and the work environment to support creative and innovative work. Chris has published several articles and chapters on enhancing the creative capabilities of employees and motivating them to perform more effectively. Her work has appeared in various academic journals including Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Creativity Research Journal, Leadership Quarterly, Journal of Business Venturing, Organizaional Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Research in Personnel and Human Resource Management, and Strategic Enterpreneurship Journal. She is coeditor of the Handbook of Organizational Creativity. The practitioner outlets that she has published in include the Academy of Management Executive and R&D Innovator.
Chris teaches courses in Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, Research Methods, and Human Resource Management. She has won several teaching awards including the Bradley Family Award for Faculty Teaching Excellence at GT, Voted MBA Elective Professor of the Year at GT, Outstanding Undergraduate Teacher at the University of Arizona, Business Teacher of the Year at the University of Arizona, and Outstanding PhD Student Teaching Award at the University of Illinois. Chris has been actively involved in the College's executive education courses, conducting sessions on such topics as individual and team creativity, negotiation and conflict resolution, influence, employment legislation, and other human resource management issues.
Chris has worked in human resource management at International Business Machines (IBM) and in development for the American Foundation for the Blind (AFB). Additionally, she has worked with several companies on issues such as motivation, creativity, communication, conflict management and negotiation. She also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Management, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Organizational Psychology Review, and Journal of Applied Behavioral Sciences.