A post-doctoral year at the University of Maryland, hosted by Ben Schneider (organizational climate) and Ed Locke (goal setting). The guiding idea: the people make the place. Could goals affect performance in the absence of feedback, or of goal acceptance?

Sabbaticals at the University of Illinois (with Chuck Hulin, Harry Triandis, Fred Kanfer, and Chris Earley) and the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland (with Ed Locke and Gary Latham). This period produced the two-step model of participation and goal acceptance, and the Erez–Latham dispute (Journal of Applied Psychology, 1988).

A sabbatical in the Department of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley, with Shelly Zedeck, asking how culture influences work behavior. This led to the Cultural Self-Representation Model and the book Culture, Self-Identity, and Work (Erez & Earley, 1993). A fourth sabbatical (1994–1995) at the School of Business Administration, University of Washington, with Tom Lee and Terry Mitchell, turned to the study of turnover behavior.

The move from cross-cultural to global organizational behavior. The dynamic, multi-level model of culture (Erez & Gati, 2004) asked whether a global culture exists and how it influences work behavior, and whether people can develop a global identity. Collaborators included Soon Ang, Rockstuhl, Anat Rafaeli, Cynthia Lee, Zeynep Aycan, and Michele Gelfand.

Founding and chairing the Knowledge Center for Innovation. How can a sustainable competitive advantage be maintained in the global context? This chapter follows the journey of the idea and the role of organizational culture.