Nishtha Langer

Lally School of Management
Associate Professor of Business Analytics
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About

Nishtha Langer is an Associate Professor of Business Analytics (with tenure) at the Lally School of Management, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. She also holds a joint appointment as the Associate Professor of Economics at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at RPI. While at RPI, she teaches graduate and undergraduate students on aligning the firms' Information Technology (IT) strategy and business strategies for sustained competitive advantage, exploring new markets, and enabling grounded management and economic principles through the use of IT and Business Analytics.

IT’s organizational and societal impact is multi-disciplinary and wide ranging. Dr. Langer is deeply influenced by the inter-disciplinary research ethic of Herb Simon in "following the problem" in analyzing the value of key IT investments and resources. Her research benefits from her rigorous academic training at Carnegie Mellon University combined with over 5 years of IT experience in India and USA. Using theory and techniques from different disciplines such as economics, operations management, marketing, analytics, and organizational behavior, she is interested in empirically analyzing how firms can use their IT capital and IT human capital most effectively. More recently, her research examines the biases in IT labor markets and the societal and business value of social media platforms such as Twitter.
 
Dr. Langer's research has been forthcoming or published at top tier journals, including Management Science, Information Systems Research (ISR), MIS Quarterly, and Journal of Management Information Systems, amongst others, and widely presented and acclaimed by both academic and industry audience. Her recent publication examining gender and promotions in the IT industry has been featured on INFORMS' Resoundingly Human podcast and elsewhere. This study was awarded a Best Publication of 2020 by the Senior Scholars Consortium, Association of Information Systems at the International Conference on Information Systems, 2021. This study also features in the Responsible Research in Business and Management (RRBM) Honor Roll (2023). 
 
Before joining RPI, Dr. Langer was an Assistant Professor of Information Systems at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad. She was also a visiting faculty at the Gies College of Business, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as well as a Visiting Research Fellow, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, Coventry, UK, while on her sabbatical. In a prior life, she worked as a Systems Analyst at Arbella Insurance, Boston, MA and as a Systems Engineer at Tata Infotech Ltd., India (now part of Tata Consultancy Services). She holds a Bachelor in Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering, University of Delhi, Delhi and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in Management (with specialization in Information Systems) from the Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University.

Dr. Langer's Google Scholar Profile can be found here and her ORC-ID is available here.

Education & Training
  • Ph.D. Information Systems, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
  • M.S. Information Systems, Tepper School of Business, Carnegie Mellon University, USA
  • B.E., First Class with Distinction, Delhi College of Engineering, Delhi, India
Other affililations: Information Technology and Web Science, Economics

Research

Many years ago, I had a chance to work on a tax project with one of the state governments in India. The client's project team showed an immense faith in the power of information technologies (IT) and how it could change things - for instance, the sordid corruption that plagues the Indian bureaucracy. That experience forever changed my perception of IT. I am a believer! Now it is up to people like me to measure what IT does.*

The global tech industry was estimated to be $ 3.2 trillion in 2019. As IT and business analytics become more integral to organizations, their effective management and use of emerges as a critical issue. My long term research agenda is focused on understanding how organizations derive value from these IT resources. My research has been nominated for and won best paper awards and has been well cited.

My research interests are motivated by real world problems and questions arising from management of technology practice at firms. Digitization drives unprecedented growth, connection, and productivity gains. Yet, there is only an imperfect understanding of the value of key IT resources – IT labor (human capital) as well as IT capital (process and technology) or how the value of organizational investments towards these key resources is realized. I believe these questions are significant not only to the academia but also to practice.

I think I betray my Carnegie Mellon roots when I say that I am inspired by Herb Simon to "follow the problem," using interdisciplinary theories and techniques. That said, my research currently follows two broad themes that represent a rich and growing field in which new and old economic, behavioral, and organizational theories and frameworks can be tested and perfected:

IT Human Capital

Call it the wisdom of old age, but I wholeheartedly believe that human capital is the biggest asset of the knowledge economy. First, as more complex and strategic IT capabilities are increasingly being sourced across organizational and geographic boundaries, I examine the role of practical intelligence in delivering these capabilities. Second, the rapid pace of technological change necessitates a constant learning curve for IT workers, where not only the task but also the context of IT work is changing in fundamental ways; I am primarily interested in understanding mechanisms such as training and peer effects through which human capital is created and how these mechanisms realize productivity and organizational goals.

As IT changes the nature of work and the composition of the workforce, I bring in fresh perspectives to IT human capital research, such as the future of work, impact of peers on IT careers, and the nuanced discrimination issues in IT labor markets. My current and ongoing focus is on understanding opportunities for women in IT and assessing the future of IT work.

Business and Societal Value of IT and IT Processes

IT is a very, very fickle artifact. As countless firms have experienced, mere acquisition of IT may not lead to the riches that IT promises. No, the way to the manna is a bit more complicated, or so I would like to believe. The second strand of my research examines how firms can fructify returns from technology investments like e-commerce and RFID as well as reconciling the dichotomous goals of client satisfaction versus profitability in strategic IT outsourcing. From a managerial standpoint, my research shows that only by understanding the consequences of this adoption on all stakeholders can a firm realize the full potential of IT investments or IT processes. It also draws attention to the efficacy of formal control mechanisms in managing strategic outsourcing IT contracts from the perspective of vendors.

In addition to my research agenda studying women in IT, my ongoing and future research focus is on understanding the effects of social media on firm and individual outcomes, given the ubiquity and importance of social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook to individuals and businesses. My current focus is on analyzing the value of crowd funded platforms for entrepreneurship and on societal change enabled by social media platforms.

Primary Research Focus
IT Human Capital
Other Focus Areas

IT Human Capital , Women in IT, IT Labor Markets, Business Value of IT

Teaching

Teaching about a dynamic subject like IT is an interesting and important part of my time here at RPI. At a more abstract level, I perceive teaching to be a collaborative effort in a knowledge exchange that benefits not only my students but also myself. In that sense, I see teaching as a platform that extends my research perspective. I have taught to undergraduates, masters, and doctoral students while here at RPI. Each one of these requires a different perspective and understanding. For both undergraduate and graduate students, my philosophy is to provoke them in thinking about how IT is an enabler of innovation and efficiency, rather than an end in itself. I use a blend of theory and cases to stimulate the learning process. I encourage class participation through in-class role-play, real-world examples, interactions with industry experts, visual aids, and stimulating discussions. I draw not only on my own professional and research experience, but also on the students’ own experience to illustrate the value of IT in today’s world.

My teaching evaluations manifest my teaching efforts; I have won the Lally Graduate Teacher of the Year Award in 2018 and the Lally Best Teacher Award in 2020 for outstanding contribution to Lally’s teaching mission.

Office Hours

Wednesdays 230-330 PM or by appointment.

Current Courses

Teaching Core IS courses (MGMT 4140 and MGMT 6140)

I teach the core IS course at both undergraduate and graduate levels, in which I acquaint the students with the critical role played by IT in enabling core firm strategy and efficient business processes. Lally’s classes tend to be small, and given such small class sizes, it can be challenging to have a stimulating learning experience. To that end, I use breakout activities and small group discussions, videos, pop quizzes, recap exercises, and other short but effective conversation starters to encourage engagement. I also introduced a number of in-class games to reinforce class learning, such as the use of Legos to help understand information systems modularity and counting the number of M&Ms in a jar to understand the wisdom of the crowds. Second, I encourage creativity and teamwork through term projects. For the undergraduates, the term project focuses on an app design that strengthens their understanding of the strategy frameworks discussed in class; In the past I have invited entrepreneurship experts from across the campus to mentor the projects and help our budding entrepreneurs navigate ideation, validation, and implementation of interesting business ideas. For the masters’ students, the term projects help understand how IT enabled platform business models and disruptive innovations change the competitive landscape. Finally, in addition to these pedagogical initiatives, I have invited guest speakers, including those from Deloitte and RPI, who help the students appreciate how course objectives are implemented in the field by strategy consultants.​

Teaching Data Analytics to Doctoral Students

I teach the core Data Analytics course to the Lally PhD students, which is offered to students in IS, strategy, marketing, finance, and accounting. This course focuses on the critical aspects of econometric analyses and identification and on understanding the underlying econometric principles that guide empirical research. I focused on identification and related econometric concepts that furthered the doctoral students' knowledge of core research methods learnt earlier. I usually have student led class discussions on the theoretical concepts and their research applications, followed by hand-on data analysis using Stata or R. I also assigned replication exercises as well a term paper that focused on overcoming data challenges.

Advising & Mentoring

Advising Doctoral Students

  • I was the primary advisor to William G. Obenauer (graduated 2019), with whom I share a common interest in research on discrimination. As an advisor, I mentored and of course, advised Billy over his dissertation, including but not limited to focusing on stellar research that targets premier peer-reviewed journals, as well as discussing dissertation committee formation, in addition to various other pro-forma obligations as an advisor. Billy successfully defended his dissertation in Spring 2019 and took up a tenure track position at Ithaca College.
  • I served on the dissertation Committee Member for Liang Zhao, Sukruth Suresh, and Chaoqun Deng, and Hilal Pataci all of these were doctoral students in the IS area. Sukruth and Chaoqun are Lally graduates who were initially placed as tenure track faculty at the School of Business, St. John Fisher College, Rochester, NY and Trulaske College of Business, University of Missouri respectively, whereas Hilal is a recent Lally PhD with an initial placement as a tenure track faculty at University of Texas at San Antonio. As a committee member, I have been involved in discussion about their dissertation, writing recommendation letters, among other advisory duties.

​Sample Student Comments

1. Undergraduate IS Core Course​

  • “Good Evening Professor, I just want to thank you for all the great support throughout the semester. I admit that I enrolled in this course as MBA requirement but after listening to your lectures, I could get a big sigh of relief. All the lectures were informative and useful. I certainly learned a lot from this class. Thanks for being kind and supportive. Wish you great success in all walks of life and good health. I would like to make a casual appointment after the semester if you are available. A big big thank you for everything.”
  • “I really enjoyed this course. The one thing I didn't like was the lack of feedback from case studies. In the future, it would be great if you or your TA could just write a sentence or two about whatever points were missed for each assignment.”
  • “I really enjoyed your course!”
  • “This is a fun class and very enjoyable.”
  • “This class was extremely enjoyable and I've learned a lot. It has peeked my interest in Technology and how it affects companies.”
  • “She does excellent work in presentations, conveying material, explaining foreign concepts, helping, and providing as many professional and academic resources as possible.”
  • “I just wanted to let you know that I truly had a wonderful time in your class as you allowed the entire class to be involved as well as let us and me especially, display our creative skills and diligent thinking processes in the final project.”
  • “Professor Langer was great and I enjoyed this course.”
  • “Hope your summer is going well! Im not sure if I told you, but I've been doing a summer internship at Mitsubishi united financial group (bank of Tokyo) in NYC. I'm doing finance and project management, but get to do a lot of IT as well with many of the projects we deal with. That being said, I thought I would let u know that I dealt with a lot of things in my internship that we learned in class! Specifically a lot of outsourcing, vendor risk analysis and enterprise systems. In addition, yesterday I was walking outside my building (Rockefeller center) and saw a big skinny tent set up (attached picture). I spoke to the vendor about the case study we did and he mentioned that he makes much of his sales by demonstrating the benefits of a big skinny wallet first hand to customers. I thought it'd be cool to share my experience with you, and thank you for a great class!”
  • “Really wonderful instructor, very clear on the main points of learning, engaging, and great use of blended learning. I learned a lot in her class and would want to take another class if she was teaching it.”
  • "This is my second course with Professor Langer and she is a great lecturer and teacher. Her jokes and upbeat attitude towards the subjects taught make the class enjoyable and entertaining. She responds to messages in a timely manner as well, making the course more streamlined. Thank you for the great work!"
  • "The professor was very knowledgeable and designed lectures to engage students to help them learn all required content. The professor also listened to students and made changes to the course when she saw fit, such as allowing for [more] time for quizzes."
  • "Prof Langer always tries to make class fun and enjoyable. Prof Langer also tries to help the students as much as possible, and is flexible whenever any issue comes up, which is greatly appreciated."
  • "Professor Langer is one of the best Professors at RPI and one of the most dedicated educators I have ever met. Her class was consistently high in quality, engaging and informative. I wish all teachers could have Professor Langer's passion, energy and incredible sense of humor. She goes out of her way to make each of her students feel valued and heard on an individual level. If anyone is getting a raise or an award this semester, please give one to Professor Langer as she has gone completely above and beyond her duties as an educator for every single class. I am personally grateful to Professor Langer because on the days where academics are completely overwhelming and life feels hopeless, her class gets me out of bed and puts a smile on my face. In one class where a few students started a conversation during lecture, Professor Langer stopped teaching briefly to comment on their discussion, crack a quick joke and relate everything back to the course content. Another teacher may have been frustrated and reprimanded the class, but Professor Langer saw it as a teaching opportunity and actually used this moment as a way to create more natural interest and student engagement in her lecture. This is truly the difference between having something taught "at you" versus having something taught "to you" and it is this rare quality that makes Professor Langer so incredibly successful as an educator."

   2. MS/MBA IS Core Course:

  • “Really good class. Thank you Prof. Langer!”
  • “enjoyed this class a lot!”
  • “Professor Langer is great, so funny, and very knowledgeable about the domain of information systems. I learned A LOT from her course, so much so that it's really changed my perspective on the topic of tech in business. Definitely by far one of my favorite classes I've ever taken...Prof. Langer is also really funny as well. I loved the discussions in class and would recommend this class to a friend.”
  • “I'm writing this email to thank you for everything this semester. Thank you for the continuous support in both of your courses. I really enjoyed your classes and I loved your teaching style. I don't think I have ever had a dull moment in either of your classes.”
  • “It has been a great semester and I really enjoyed the course. For my undergraduate degree, I also took a course with the same title, however, your class provided a very different experience. I learnt a lot through different case reviews, break-out activities and projects, which really help us think deep and be engaged in the topics. I also want to express my appreciation for your caring and your advice on personal development. I will take your advice with me and speak up more during my future career.”
  • “Thanks for a wonderful semester, Prof Langer. Truly one of my favorite classes @ RPI. Your class made me rethink the way our world has developed and will continue to evolve.”
  • “And lastly, [I am thankful to] the incredible Dr. Langer opening up my mind to IS and showing me how much educated women rock.”
  • "Prof. Langer was a great professor and even though her class was at 8AM I thoroughly enjoyed it. She made every effort to make the class interactive and enjoyable. I think I learned a lot in the class and the impacts of IT on businesses and industries."
  • "Amazing professor. Very helpful and knowledgeable"
  • "I had never taken a course with Professor Langer before, and when I read the syllabus I thought it was going to be a long semester, but she made the class so engaging that I feel like it went by too fast. She has become one of my favorite professors at RPI and I hope that I am able to take another class with her while I am here. She was great at teaching the different topics, and I didn't even mind waking up for an 8AM because I knew every class would be worth attending."
  • "Thank you for making this course interesting! I absolutely loved learning through group break out activities and through the projects."
  • "Very knowledgeable and very personable"
  • "Instructor was great and relatable!"
  • "Professor Langer was one of the best professors I have had at RPI. Her enthusiasm for the course content as well as the energy she brought to the classroom was contagious and great to be around. She made getting up for an 8am class well worth it. She was passionate to be teaching us and had fun with it as well and did a great job delivering the content in an online format."​

  3. Doctoral Data Analytics Core Course:

  • “I would like to use this opportunity to thank you for the feedbacks on my graded assignments, and especially the term project. Most of your comments are very helpful and as I move forward with the paper, I would look at addressing them. Equally, your course was a very helpful one for me and gave me a good chance to learn more about Stata, and also get familiar with identification strategies and methods. The class was also a fun one and I really did enjoy it.”
  • “It’s a pleasure to be in your class.”
  • “I really like your class. Like I said during one class I think currently IS research has not done a good job about data analysis part but as time goes they will start to have a higher demand of data analysis part. Since I have a good foundation of it due to this class I will be more ready for doing a better job of data analysis in future. Thank you for help during class.”
  • “Your course really took away my fear of econometrics.”

Recognition

Awards & Honors
  • Visiting Research Fellow, Warwick Business School, University of Warwick, UK (2024–2024).
  • Responsible Research in Business and Management Honor Roll 2023 for “Onward and Upward? An Empirical Investigation of Gender and Promotions in Information Technology Services,” ISR (2023) https://www.rrbm.network/honor-roll/.
  • A Best Publication of 2020 by the Senior Scholars Consortium, Association of Information Systems at the International Conference on Information Systems, Austin, Texas for “Onward and Upward? An Empirical Investigation of Gender and Promotions in Information Technology Services,” ISR (2021).
  • A. W. Lawrence Junior Development Fellow, Lally School of Management, RPI (2020-2021).
  • Lally School of Management 2019 Best Research Paper Award for “Impact of Formal Controls on Client Satisfaction and Profitability in Strategic Outsourcing Contracts,” JMIS (2020).
  • Honored at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Trustee Celebration of Faculty Achievement (2019).
  • Lally School of Management Graduate Teacher of the Year for 2018 and Best Teacher of the Year 2020.
  • Runner up for the Best Published Paper Award at Information Systems Research in 2014, INFORMS/ISS for “Project Managers' Practical Intelligence and Project Performance in Software Offshore Outsourcing: A Field Study,” ISR (2015).
  • Research Grant Proposal to SRITNE research grant, Indian School of Business to support research on “Peer Influence and the Choice of IT Careers,” with T. Jain (2014–15). Status: Awarded.
  • Dean’s Research Award at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India ($5000, 2012).
  • Research Grant Proposal to CyLab (http://www.cylab.cmu.edu/) Grant of $53,610 to support research on “How to Select the Best Project Managers to Improve System Quality and Reduce Business Risk in IT Outsourcing,” with Drs. S.A. Slaughter and T. Mukhopadhyay as principal investigators (2007). Status: Awarded.
  • Research Internship at Infosys Technologies, Bangalore, India (2006).
  • Selected participant at the 2006 NYU/CeDER Summer Workshop on the Economics of Information Technology, New York, NY (2006).
  • William Larimer Doctoral Fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University (2003-2006).
Presentations & Appearances

Peer Reviewed Conference Proceedings

  1. Y. Wang, N. Langer, and A. Gopal. Complexity, Competition, and Ambiguity in OLMs - Experimental Evidence on the Role of Gender. 81st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management. Virtual Meeting. July 2021.
  2. N. Langer, S. Khurana, and E. Vaast. Activating the Sisterhood: A Structural and Temporal Analysis of Sustained Connective Action in #MeTooIndia. Proceedings of the Forty-First International Conference on Information Systems, Hyderabad, India and Online. Won the Best Conference Theme Track Paper at ICIS 2020. Nominated for the Best Conference Paper Award. 
  3. Y. Wang, N. Langer, and A. Gopal. 2020. Too Risky to Bid? Women in OLMs and STEM Competitive Environments. Proceedings of the First AISWN International Research Workshop on Women, IS And Grand Challenges 2020, International Conference on Information Systems, Hyderabad, India and Online.
  4. A. Frenzel, S. Jain, S. Jia, M. Welck, N. Langer. 2020. Fighting the Real AI Danger: How to Design Virtuous AI for Virtuous Decision-making. Proceedings of the Forty-First International Conference on Information Systems, Hyderabad, India and Online.
  5. Y. Wang, N. Langer, and A. Gopal. 2019. Too Risky to Bid? Women in OLMs and STEM Competitive Environments. Proceedings of the Fortieth International Conference on Information Systems, Munich, Germany.
  6. M. Wiesche, D. Joseph, M. Ahuja, M.B. Watson, N. Langer. 2019. The Future of the IT Workforce. Proceedings of the ACM SIGMIS Computers and People Research, Nashville, TN, USA.
  7. N. Langer, D. Mani, and K. Srikanth. 2013. Client Satisfaction Versus Profitability: An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Formal Controls in Strategic Outsourcing Contracts. Proceedings of the Thirty-Fourth International Conference on Information Systems, Milan, Italy. Nominated for the Best Conference Paper Award. Also appears in Information Systems Outsourcing (2014 edition), published by Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 67-88.
  8. N. Langer, S.A. Slaughter and T. Mukhopadhyay. 2008. Project Managers' Skills and Project Success in IT Outsourcing. Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth International Conference on Information Systems, Paris, France.

Conference/Workshop Presentations

  1. T. Singh, N. Langer, and K. Arhin. Empowering Voices: The Impact of Social Media Platform Policies on Amplifying Engagement for Marginalized Groups. Twentieth Symposium on Statistical Challenges in Electronic Commerce Research, Lisbon, Portugal. June 2024.
  2. J. Sebastian, N. Langer, T. Ravichandran, and A. Fügener. Productive Human-AI Collaboration: Exploring the Role of Payouts Involved, Trust in the System, and the Risk Attitude of the Decision-Maker. Twentieth Symposium on Statistical Challenges in Electronic Commerce Research, Lisbon, Portugal. June 2024.
  3. H. Pataci, T Ravichandran, and N. Langer. Adapting to Adversity: The Impact of Data Breaches on the Disclosure of Digital Strategic Initiatives. Twentieth Symposium on Statistical Challenges in Electronic Commerce Research, Lisbon, Portugal. June 2024.
  4. H. Pataci, T Ravichandran, and N. Langer. Information Security Risk Perception and Boundary-Changing Behavior of Firms. Eighteenth Symposium on Statistical Challenges in Electronic Commerce Research, Madrid, Spain. June 2022.
  5. N. Langer, P. Rahmati, and M. Ahuja. Joan(s) of Arc in The Board Room: An Empirical Examination of How Women on Boards Propel Software Innovation in Uncertain and Turbulent Times. Workshop on Information Systems and Economics (WISE), Austin, TX, USA. December 2021.
  6. Y. Liu, Y. Lu, A. Susarla, and N. Langer. Deep Graph Representation Learning to Measure Influence Propagation on Social Media. Seventeenth Symposium on Statistical Challenges in Electronic Commerce Research, Zoom in a Locked Down World. June 2021.  
  7. Y. Wang, N. Langer, and A. Gopal. Too Risky to Bid? Women in OLMs and STEM Competitive Environments. Sixteenth Symposium on Statistical Challenges in Electronic Commerce Research, Zoom in a Locked Down World. June 2020.
  8. N. Langer, W.G. Obenauer, S.W. Kim, and S. Khurana. Leaders and Lemmings on Twitter: Examining the Role of Textual Content in Gaining Influence. Conference on the Digital Economy (CODE), Neemrana, India. December 2017.
  9. N. Langer, W.G. Obenauer, S.W. Kim, and S. Khurana. Leaders and Lemmings on Twitter: Examining the Role of Textual Content in Gaining Influence. Workshop on Information Systems and Economics (WISE), Seoul, South Korea. December 2017.
  10. N. Langer and T. Jain. Peer Influence and the Choice of IT Careers. Conference on the Digital Economy (CODE), Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India. January 2017.
  11. N. Langer and T. Jain. Peer Influence and the Choice of IT Careers. INFORMS Conference on Information Systems and Technology (CIST), INFORMS Annual Meeting, Nashville, TN. November 2016.
  12. N. Langer and T. Jain. Peer Influence and the Choice of IT Careers. Twelfth Symposium on Statistical Challenges in Electronic Commerce Research, Naxos, Greece. June 2016.
  13. N. Langer and T. Jain. Peer Influence and the Choice of IT Careers. Workshop on Information Systems and Economics, Dallas, TX. December 2015.
  14. N. Langer, R.D. Gopal, and R. Bapna. Climbing the Organizational Ladder: Investigating the Role of On-The-Job Training and Gender on Employee Promotions. Eleventh Symposium on Statistical Challenges in Electronic Commerce Research, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. June 2015.
  15. T. Jain and N. Langer. Does Who You Know Matter? Unraveling the Influence of Student Networks on Academic Performance. North American Winter Meetings of the Econometric Society, Boston, MA. January 2015.
  16. N. Langer, R.D. Gopal, and R. Bapna. Climbing the Organizational Ladder: Investigating the Role of On-The-Job Training and Gender on Employee Promotions. Information Systems Symposium, Hyderabad, India. January 2015.
  17. N. Langer and R.D. Gopal. Climbing the Organizational Ladder: Investigating the Role of On-The-Job Training and Gender on Employee Promotions. Workshop on Information Systems and Economics, Auckland, NZ. December 2014.
  18. N. Langer and A. Gopal. Productivity Improvements or Signaling? Investigating the Role of Human Capital Investments in Online Labor Markets. Tenth Symposium on Statistical Challenges in Electronic Commerce Research, Tel Aviv, Israel. June 2014.
  19. N. Langer and S.A. Slaughter. Using Text Mining to Measure the Practical Intelligence of Project Managers. Tenth Symposium on Statistical Challenges in Electronic Commerce Research, Tel Aviv, Israel. June 2014.
  20. N. Langer and A. Gopal. Productivity Improvements or Signaling? Investigating the Role of Human Capital Investments in Online Labor Markets. International Symposium of Information Systems, Manvar, India. January 2014.
  21. T. Jain and N. Langer. Does Who You Know Matter? Unraveling the Influence of Student Networks on Academic Performance. Asian Meeting of the Econometric Society (AMES), Singapore. August 2013.
  22. T. Jain and N. Langer. Does Who You Know Matter? Unraveling the Influence of Student Networks on Academic Performance. Ninth Symposium on Statistical Challenges in Electronic Commerce Research, Lisbon, Portugal. June 2013.
  23. T. Jain and N. Langer. Does Who You Know Matter? Unraveling the Influence of Student Networks on Academic Performance. International Symposium of Information Systems, Goa, India. January 2013.
  24. N. Langer, D. Mani, and K. Srikanth. Do Formal Controls Affect Client Satisfaction? An Empirical Analysis of Strategic Outsourcing contracts. International Symposium of Information Systems, Goa, India. January 2013.
  25. T. Jain and N. Langer. Does Who You Know Matter? Unraveling the Influence of Student Networks on Academic Performance. Workshop on Information Systems and Economics, Orlando, FL. December 2012.
  26. N. Langer and D. Mani. Impact of Service Quality on Customer Satisfaction. International Symposium of Information Systems, ISB, Hyderabad, India. December 2010.
  27. A. Mehra, N. Langer, R. Bapna, and R.D. Gopal. Returns to Human Capital Investments in Offshore IT Services Industry: A Firm Level Analysis. Workshop on Information Systems and Economics, St. Louis, MO. December 2010.
  28. A. Mehra, N. Langer, R. Bapna, and R.D. Gopal. Returns to Human Capital Investments in Offshore IT Services Industry: A Firm Level Analysis. Sixth Symposium on Statistical Challenges in Electronic Commerce Research, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX. June 2010.
  29. R. Bapna, N. Langer, A. Mehra, A. Gupta, R. Gopal. Assessing Returns to Training Investments in the Context of IT Services. International Symposium of Information Systems, Rajasthan, India. January 2010.
  30. R. Bapna, N. Langer, A. Mehra, A. Gupta, R. Gopal. Examining Return on Human Capital Investments in the Context of Offshore IT Workers. Workshop on Information Systems and Economics, Phoenix, AZ. December 2009.
  31. N. Langer, R. Bapna, A. Gupta, R. Gopal, A. Mehra. Does Training Improve Performance of Offshore IT Workers? INFORMS Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA. October 2009.
  32. R. Bapna, N. Langer, A. Gupta, R. Gopal, A. Mehra. Does Training Improve Performance of Offshore IT Workers. Fifth Symposium on Statistical Challenges in Electronic Commerce Research, Heinz College, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA. May 2009.
  33. N. Langer, S.A. Slaughter and T. Mukhopadhyay. How Do Project Managers’ Skills Affect Project Success in IT Outsourcing? International Symposium of Information Systems, Hyderabad, India. December 2007.
  34. N. Langer, C. Forman, S. Kekre, and B. Sun. Ushering Buyers into Electronic Channels. Workshop on Information Systems and Economics, Montreal, Canada. December 2007.
  35. N. Langer, S.A. Slaughter and T. Mukhopadhyay. Matching Project Managers to Outsourced Information Technology Projects: An Empirical Study. INFORMS Annual Meeting, Seattle, WA. November 2007.
  36. N. Langer, C. Forman, S. Kekre, and B. Sun. Ushering Buyers into Electronic Channels. Statistical Challenges in E-Commerce Research, Stamford, CT. May 2007.
  37. N. Langer, C. Forman, S. Kekre, and A. Scheller-Wolf. Assessing the Impact of RFID on Return Center Logistics. International Symposium of Information Systems, Hyderabad, India. December 2006.
  38. N. Langer, C. Forman, S. Kekre, and A. Scheller-Wolf. Assessing the Impact of RFID on Return Center Logistics. INFORMS Conference on Information Systems and Technology (CIST), INFORMS Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA. November 2006.
  39. N. Langer, C. Forman, S. Kekre, and A. Scheller-Wolf. Assessing the Impact of RFID on Return Center Logistics. Technology Management Cluster INFORMS Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh, PA. November 2006.
  40. N. Langer, C. Forman, S. Kekre, and A. Scheller-Wolf. Show Me the Money: IT Enabled Surplus Creation in Reverse Logistics. 2006 NYU/CeDER Summer Workshop on the Economics of Information Technology, New York City, NY. June 2006.

Invited Presentations

  1. N. Langer, P. Rahmati, and M. Ahuja. Joan(s) of Arc in The Board Room: An Empirical Examination of How Women on Boards Propel Software Innovation in Uncertain and Turbulent Times. Seminar presentation at Zicklin School of Business at Baruch College, City University of New York. October 2022. 
  2. N. Langer, P. Rahmati, and M. Ahuja. Joan(s) of Arc in The Board Room: An Empirical Examination of How Women on Boards Propel Software Innovation in Uncertain and Turbulent Times. Seminar presentation at Eller College of Management, University of Arizona. October 2022. 
  3. N. Langer, P. Rahmati, and M. Ahuja. Joan(s) of Arc in The Board Room: An Empirical Examination of How Women on Boards Propel Software Innovation in Uncertain and Turbulent Times. Seminar presentations at Lally School of Management, RPI. October 2022. 
  4. Y. Wang, N. Langer, and A. Gopal. Too Risky to Bid? Women in OLMs and STEM Competitive Environments. Seminar presentation at Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI. November 2019.
  5. N. Langer and T. Jain. Peer Influence and the Choice of IT Careers. Seminar presentation at Gabelli School of Business, Fordham University, New York City, NY. December 2018.
  6. N. Langer and T. Jain. Peer Influence and the Choice of IT Careers. Seminar presentation at School of Business, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA. December 2018.
  7. W.G. Obenauer, N. Langer, S.W. Kim, and S. Khurana. Leaders and Lemmings on Twitter: Examining the Role of Cognitive and Heuristic Persuasion. Technology Management Cluster INFORMS Annual Meeting, Houston, TX. October 2017.
  8. N. Langer and T. Jain. Peer Influence and the Choice of IT Careers. SOBACO Seminar Series at Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minnesota, MN. April 2016.
  9. N. Langer, R.D. Gopal. R. Bapna. Climbing the Organizational Ladder: Investigating the Role of On-The-Job Training and Gender on Employee Promotions. Sandra A. Slaughter Software Conference 2015, Scheller College of Business, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA. May 2015.
  10. N. Langer, R.D. Gopal. R. Bapna. Climbing the Organizational Ladder: Investigating the Role of On-The-Job Training and Gender on Employee Promotions. Invited presentation at RPI, UIUC, ASU, and U-Pitt. February 2015.
  11. N. Langer, R.D. Gopal. R. Bapna. Climbing the Organizational Ladder: Investigating the Role of On-The-Job Training and Gender on Employee Promotions. Invited presentation at the Price College of Business, University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK. November 2014.
  12. N. Langer S.A. Slaughter and T. Mukhopadhyay. Project Manager Attributes that Affect Project Success in IT Outsourcing. ISB Service Science Workshop, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India. July 2014.
  13. N. Langer. Nurturing Human Capital – Next Gen Imperatives. ISB Service Science Workshop, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India. September 2013.
  14. T. Jain and N. Langer. Does Who You Know Matter? Unraveling the Influence of Student Networks on Academic Performance. Invited presentation at the School of Business, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT. July 2013.
  15. T. Jain and N. Langer. Does Who You Know Matter? Unraveling the Influence of Student Networks on Academic Performance. ISB-IBM Service Science Workshop, Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India. September 2012.
  16. N. Langer, D. Mani, and N. Rajamani. Does the Aha Lead to the Manna? An Empirical Analysis of the Effect of Service Design, Efficiency, and Quality on Client Satisfaction and Loyalty in Strategic Outsourcing Contracts. Invited presentation at the Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. February 2012.
  17. N. Langer, D. Mani, and N. Rajamani. Does the Aha Lead to the Manna? An Empirical Analysis of the Effect of Service Design, Efficiency, and Quality on Client Satisfaction and Loyalty in Strategic Outsourcing Contracts. Invited presentation at the College of Management, Georgia Tech, Atlanta, GA. May 2011.
  18. N. Langer, C. Forman, S. Kekre, and B. Sun. Ushering Buyers into Electronic Channels. Invited presentation at the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad, India. December 2006.

Publications
Google Scholar
Research Gate

Journal Publications

  1. Y. Wang, N. Langer, and A. Gopal. The Effect of Gender on Willingness to Bid for Competitive and Uncertain Information Technology Work. 2024. Forthcoming at the Journal of Management Information Systems.
  2. N. Langer and T. Jain. 2024. Peer Influence and the Choice of IT Careers. Information Systems Research, 35(2), pp. 642–656.
  3. N. Langer, R.D. Gopal, and R. Bapna. 2020. Onward and Upward? An Empirical Investigation of Gender and Promotions in Information Technology Services. Information Systems Research, 31(2), pp. 383–398. Awarded a Best Publication of 2020 by the Senior Scholars Consortium, Association of Information Systems at the International Conference on Information Systems, 2021. Also features in the Responsible Research in Business and Management (RRBM) Honor Roll (2023). 
  4. W.G. Obenauer and N. Langer. 2019. Inclusion is not a Slam Dunk: A Study of Discrimination in Leadership within the Context of Athletics. The Leadership Quarterly, 30(6), 101334.
  5. T. Jain and N. Langer. 2019. Does Whom You Know Matter? Unraveling the Influence of Peers’ Network Attributes on Academic Performance. Economic Inquiry, 57(1), pp. 141–161.
  6. N. Langer and D. Mani. 2018. Impact of Formal Controls on Client Satisfaction and Profitability in Strategic Outsourcing Contracts. Journal of Management Information Systems, 35(4), pp. 998–1030 (Lead article). Winner of the Lally Research Paper Award 2019.
  7. A. Mehra, N. Langer, R. Bapna, R. Gopal. 2014. Estimating Returns to Training and Human Capital Investments for Information Technology Service Firms. MIS Quarterly, 38(3), pp. 757–771.
  8. N. Langer, S.A. Slaughter, and T. Mukhopadhyay. 2014. Project Managers' Practical Intelligence and Project Performance in Software Offshore Outsourcing: A Field Study. Information Systems Research 25(2), pp. 364–384. Runner up for the Best Published Paper Award at Information Systems Research for 2014 at INFORMS 2015.
  9. R. Bapna, N. Langer, A. Mehra, A. Gupta, and R.D. Gopal. 2013. Human Capital Investments and Employee Performance: An Analysis of IT Services Industry. Management Science, 59(3), pp. 641–658.
  10. N. Langer, C. Forman, S. Kekre, and B. Sun. 2012. Ushering Buyers into Electronic Channels. Information Systems Research, 23(4), pp. 1212–1231.
  11. N. Langer, C. Forman, S. Kekre, and A. Scheller-Wolf. 2007. Assessing the Impact of RFID on Return Center Logistics. INFORMS Journal on Applied Analytics, 37(6), pp. 68–82

Peer Reviewed Conference Proceedings

  1. M. Avital, S. Chattejee, B. Düdder, N, Langer, J.M. Leimeister, N. Levina, J. Wareham. 2024. Quantum Computing: Going Where No One Has Gone Before. Panel at the Forty-Fifth International Conference on Information Systems, Bangkok, Thailand.
  2. T. Singh, N. Langer, and K. Arhin. 2024. Empowering Voices: The Impact of Social Media Platform Policies on Amplifying Engagement for Marginalized Groups. AMCIS 2024 Proceedings. 11. Available at https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2024/soc_inclusion/social_inclusion/11.  
  3. Y. Wang, N. Langer, and A. Gopal. Complexity, Competition, and Ambiguity in OLMs - Experimental Evidence on the Role of Gender. 81st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management. Virtual Meeting July 2021. 
  4. N. Langer, S. Khurana, and E. Vaast. 2020. Activating the Sisterhood: A Structural and Temporal Analysis of Sustained Connective Action in #MeTooIndia. Proceedings of the Forty-First International Conference on Information Systems, Hyderabad, India and Online. Won the Best Conference Theme Track Paper at ICIS 2020. Nominated for the Best Conference Paper Award. NEW
  5. Y. Wang, N. Langer, and A. Gopal. 2020. Too Risky to Bid? Women in OLMs and STEM Competitive Environments. Proceedings of the First AISWN International Research Workshop on Women, IS and Grand Challenges 2020, International Conference on Information Systems, Hyderabad, India and Online.
  6. A. Frenzel, S. Jain, S. Jia, M. Welck, N. Langer. 2020. Fighting the Real AI Danger: How to Design Virtuous AI for Virtuous Decision-making. Proceedings of the Forty-First International Conference on Information Systems, Hyderabad, India and Online.
  7. Y. Wang, N. Langer, and A. Gopal. 2019. Too Risky to Bid? Women in OLMs and STEM Competitive Environments. Proceedings of the Fortieth International Conference on Information Systems, Munich, Germany.
  8. M. Wiesche, D. Joseph, M. Ahuja, M.B. Watson, N. Langer. 2019. The Future of the IT Workforce. Proceedings of the ACM SIGMIS Computers and People Research, Nashville, TN, USA.
  9. N. Langer, D. Mani, and K. Srikanth. 2013. Client Satisfaction Versus Profitability: An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Formal Controls in Strategic Outsourcing Contracts. Proceedings of the Thirty-Fourth International Conference on Information Systems, Milan, Italy. Nominated for the Best Conference Paper Award. Also appears in Information Systems Outsourcing (2014 edition), published by Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 67-88.
  10. N. Langer, S.A. Slaughter and T. Mukhopadhyay. 2008. Project Managers' Skills and Project Success in IT Outsourcing. Proceedings of the Twenty-Ninth International Conference on Information Systems, Paris, France.

The following is a selection of recent publications in Scopus. Nishtha Langer has 16 indexed publications in the subjects of Computer Science, Decision Sciences, Business, Management and Accounting.

Peer Influence and IT Career Choice
Nishtha Langer, Tarun Jain
Information Systems Research
, 35
, 2024
, pp.642-656
.
Onward and upward? An empirical investigation of gender and promotions in information technology services
Nishtha Langer, Ram D. Gopal, Ravi Bapna
Information Systems Research
, 31
, 2020
, pp.383-398
.
Activating the sisterhood: A structural and temporal analysis of sustained connective action in #metooindia
Nishtha Langer, Sandeep Khurana, Emmanuelle Vaast
International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2020 - Making Digital Inclusive: Blending the Local and the Global
, 2020
.
Fighting the real AI danger: How to design virtuous AI for virtuous decision-making
Adeline Frenzel, Shilpi Jain, Shizhen Jia, Maximilian Welck, Nishtha Langer
International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2020 - Making Digital Inclusive: Blending the Local and the Global
, 2020
.
Inclusion is not a slam dunk: A study of differential leadership outcomes in the absence of a glass cliff
William G. Obenauer, Nishtha Langer
Leadership Quarterly
, 30
, 2019
.
The future of the IT workforce
Manuel Wiesche, Damien Joseph, Manju Ahuja, Mary Beth Watson-Manheim, Nishtha Langer
SIGMIS-CPR 2019 - Proceedings of the 2019 Computers and People Research Conference
, 2019
, pp.12-13
.
Too risky to bid? Women in OLMs and STEM competitive environments
Yifei Wang, Nishtha Langer, Anandasivam Gopal
40th International Conference on Information Systems, ICIS 2019
, 2019
.
DOES WHOM YOU KNOW MATTER? UNRAVELING THE INFLUENCE OF PEERS' NETWORK ATTRIBUTES ON ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE
Tarun Jain, Nishtha Langer
Economic Inquiry
, 57
, 2019
, pp.141-161
.
Impact of Formal Controls on Client Satisfaction and Profitability in Strategic Outsourcing Contracts
Nishtha Langer, Deepa Mani
Journal of Management Information Systems
, 35
, 2018
, pp.998-1030
.
Estimating returns to training in the knowledge economy: A firm-level analysis of small and medium enterprises
Amit Mehra, Nishtha Langer, Ravi Bapna, Ram Gopal
MIS Quarterly: Management Information Systems
, 38
, 2014
, pp.757-771
.

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In the Media

Outreach/Media/Opinion Pieces​

Personal

My Life and Opinions (ala Tristram Shandy):

I am a self-confessed perfectionist, with a touch of the eccentric. I love being that way, so that no one can predict me... The one thing that makes me unique from everyone else is my DNA. What? Yours too? Well! Oh!

I was born in New Delhi, the capital of the wonderful country that is India. My first job was writing a student column for a leading Indian English daily. A mere Rs. 350 (about $4.50), but there is something to be said about seeing your name and what you have created in print... Aha!

I Love:

  • Reading, Writing, and 'Rithmetic.
  • Indian, Italian, and Mexican food. Eating with chopsticks.
  • Watching movies, listening to music, reading PGW. Dabbling in pseudo-philosophy.

What Do I Like to Do When Not Doing Research?

Reading:

And:

  • I am a sucker for sci-fi films (think BTTF, Star Trek, E.T.). And movies about genius people (Good Will Hunting, even A Beautiful Mind, don't judge me!).
  • I do like well made and not too predictable rom-coms (Breakfast at Tiffany's, Roman Holiday, My Fair Lady).
  • But I think I am truly in love with Atticus Finch!
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