Edward J. Podolski

I am Professor of Finance and Head of the Finance Department at RMIT’s School of Economics, Finance and Marketing. I also serve as an Associate Editor for the finance division of the Australian Journal of Management. Previously, I was Associate Professor at Deakin Business School, where I held leadership roles including Director of Research (Finance) and HDR Director for the Faculty of Business and Law.

My research examines how organizational structures and governance shape a firm’s ability to generate value, with a particular focus on the conditions that enable—or inhibit—corporate innovation. I study how shareholders influence executive strategic decisions, how managerial behavioral tendencies affect resource allocation, and how organizations can design mechanisms that harness these tendencies to support breakthrough thinking and long-run value creation. Much of my work explores why some firms consistently innovate while others stagnate, and how differences in culture, incentives, and decision-making systems contribute to these outcomes. Beyond firms, I am also interested in how organizational design affects performance in institutions fundamental to a healthy civil society, including voluntary and member-based associations.

My contributions to academia are recognized through publications in prestigious international journals, such as The Accounting Review, Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Journal of Corporate Finance, Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Financial Markets, Journal of Empirical Finance, and Critical Finance Review. My work has also garnered attention in leading media outlets, including Bloomberg, Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and ABC Radio National, highlighting its relevance and impact beyond the academic sphere.

Beyond my professional endeavors in finance, I harbor interests in European and Asian history as well as political science, with a particular interest in the institutional features that help explain historical events and social trajectories. My leisure activities include following Formula 1, hiking, and traveling.