KAM PHUNG

Social Scientist by Training, Activist at Heart.

ABOUT ME

In my professional life, I am an Assistant Professor of Business & Society at Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business where I study and teach about the relationship between pressing societal issues and a range of business contexts (e.g., organizations, management, entrepreneurship, and innovation).

Previously, I was a SSHRC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School, Visiting Researcher at University of British Columbia’s Sauder School of Business, and Canada Vanier Scholar & Sessional Instructor at York University’s Schulich School of Business.

Beyond academia, I have contributed to building social and environmental tech start-ups and worked in a range of socio-economic development and sustainability focused consultancies and not-profits.

I grew up in a small countryside town as an uninvited guest on the unceded traditional territories of the Secwépemc and Syilx Okanagan First Nations within the province that we know today as British Columbia, Canada, but I have also lived, studied, and worked all around the world.

Education

PhD in Business Administration, Schulich School of Business - York University

Area: Organization Studies

MSc in Economics and Business Administration, Norwegian School of Economics

Major: Energy, Natural Resources, and the Environment

MSc in Sustainable Development, HEC Paris

Specialization: Social Enterprise and Poverty

BCom in International Business, Gustavson School of Business - University of Victoria

Distinction: Co-operative Education

Select Awards and Honours

Simon Fraser University

Early Career Excellence in Teaching Award, Provost and Vice-President Academic (2026)
TD Canada Trust Distinguished Teaching Award, Beedie School of Business (2025)

Academy of Management

Chair - Evaluation Committee, Best Business Ethics Paper Award (2022; 2023; 2024)
Member Evaluation Committee, Best Business Ethics Paper Award (2019; 2020; 2021)
Best Social Issues in Management Paper Award (2018)
Best Business Ethics Paper Award (2018)
Chair, Academy-wide New Doctoral Students' Consortium (2017)

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada

SSHRC Storytellers Research Communications Challenge - Top 25 Finalist (2020)
SSHRC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship - #3 Ranked National Application (2020)
SSHRC Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarhip - #1 Ranked National Application (2017)

Other Recognitions

ThinkList Next, Centre for Business, Organisation and Society
Financial Times Business School Research with Social Impact - Top 100
Dean’s Recognition for Outstanding Teaching Contribution, Schulich School of Business
Canadian Millennium Scholarship Laureate
Governor General's Bronze Medal for Academic Excellence

RESEARCH

As a researcher, my goal is to advance our understanding of what perpetuates and disrupts pressing societal issues, especially those affecting communities that have been marginalized, so we can better design effective interventions to address them.

I frequently work hand in hand and in close quarters with organizations on my projects and enthusiastically embrace an engaged approach to research.

My research has benefited from over $1 million in competitive research funding and awards administered by leading institutions, such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and Mitacs.

Insights from my research have been featured in media outlets such as CBC News, Global News, The National Post, The Financial Post, Reuters, Times Colonist, The Tyee, Vancouver Sun, Winnipeg Free Press, and Yahoo News, amongst other. It has also been shared with and presented to a diverse range of organizations across all sectors (private, public, and voluntary).

Scholarly Publications and Works

Refereed Journal Articles

Annisette, M., Stringer, C., & Phung, K. (2026). The modern slavery audit and the inherent biases of auditing. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 39(5): 831-858.

Choi, TJ. & Phung, K. (2026). When newspapers fail to deter corporate illegality: The constraining effects of economic institutions. Journal of Management Studies, 63(6): 3428-3459.

Rheinhardt Beer, A., Crosina, E., Wittman, S., Johnson, T., Phung, K., & Roberts, A. (2026). From the field to the field: Mapping the landscape of qualitative research through scholars’ personal letters. Journal of Management Inquiry, 35(2): 153-176.

Sadri, M., Piazza, A., Phung, K., & Helms, W. (2023). The disparate economic outcomes of stigma: Evidence from the arms industry. Strategic Management Journal, 44(10): 2489-2533.

Crane, A., LeBaron, G., Phung, K., Behbahani, L. & Allain, J. (2022). Confronting the business models of modern slavery. Journal of Management Inquiry, 31(3): 264-285.

Phung, K., Buchanan, S., Toubiana, M., Ruebottom, T., & Turchick-Hakak, L. (2021). When stigma doesn't transfer: Stigma deflection and occupational stratification in the sharing economy. Journal of Management Studies, 58(4): 1107-1139.

Book Chapters

Phung, K., LeBaron, G., & Crane, A. (2025). Rationalizations and institutional deflection on the ground: Combatting modern slavery in supply chains. In Markovic, Lindgreen, Maon & Sancha (Eds.), The Routledge Companion to Responsible Business: 297-310. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Phung, K. & Crane, A. (2019). The business of modern slavery: Management and organizational perspectives. In J. B. Clark, & S. Poucki (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of human trafficking and modern day slavery: 177-197. London, UK: SAGE.

Phung, K. Slavery and its links to organizations. (2018). In R. Burke, & C. Cooper (Eds.), Violence and abuse in and around organisations: 273-291. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

Reports

LeBaron, G., & Bhagat, A., Phung, K. (2026). Understanding the scale of worker driven social responsibility agreements. Re:Structure Lab: Simon Fraser University and Stanford University.

Bhagat, A., Phung, K., LeBaron, G., & Calabretta, M. (2026). Temporary foreign workers in British Columbia’s agriculture sector: Current state of affairs and suggestions for improvement. Re:Structure Lab: Simon Fraser University and Stanford University.

Bhagat, A., Phung, K., LeBaron, G., & Calabretta, M. (2025). Temporary foreign workers in British Columbia’s agriculture industry: Learning from lived experience. Simon Fraser University Breaking Barriers Research Report.

Phung, K., Greig, D., & Lewchuk, S. (2019). The straight goods: Canadian business insights on modern slavery in supply chains. Centre of Excellence in Responsible Business, SHARE, and World Vision Canada.

Media Contributions and Features

Practical Translations and Commentaries

Phung, K. (2025). How businesses deflect responsibilities for addressing modern slavery in their supply chains. The Conversation.

Phung, K. & LeBaron, G. (2023). Canada’s Modern Slavery Act is the start — not the end — of efforts to address the issue in supply chains. The Conversation.

Phung, K., Turchick-Hakak, L., Toubiana, M., Buchanan, S., & Ruebottom, T. (2022). The manipulation of Uber’s public image profoundly impacted the lives of taxi drivers. The Conversation.

LeBaron, G., Phung, K., Behbahani, L., Crane, A., & Allain, J. (2021). Business models have evolved to keep profiting from slave labour. Thomson Reuters Foundation News.

Lam, L. & Phung, K. (2021). How should Canada design policies to protect gig workers? Policy Options.

Phung, K., Turchick-Hakak, L., Toubiana, M., Buchanan, S., & Ruebottom, T. (2021). How Uber drivers avoided – and contributed to – the fate of taxi drivers. The Conversation.

Select Media Features

Featured Study and Collaboration. (2026). This deal has cut violence against women on factory floors, but many clothing brands won’t sign on. The Financial Post.

Featured Study and Collaboration. (2025). 'This is the new slavery': Migrant farm workers underpaid, abused and injured. The National Post.

Online and TV Interview. (2024). Can a Canadian ride-hailing startup compete with Uber and Lyft? CBC News - The National.

Radio Interview. (2023). Can Canada’s new law end forced labour in supply chains? CBC Radio - All in a Day with Alan Neal.

TEACHING

I primarily teach courses centered around helping business students explore a range of issues and practices related to responsibility and sustainability, but have taught broader organizational and management courses at other leading institutions.

My experiences span an array of courses, programs, levels, and learning environments (in-person and online), including large-format mandatory courses with hundreds of students to intimate elective seminars and everything in between.

At Simon Fraser University, I have created and developed curriculum in the area of business and society taught at all three campuses (Vancouver, Burnaby, and Surrey) and helped pioneer and scale online educational experiences across multiple programs.

Courses

Graduate (MBA, Executive MBA - Indigenous Business Leadership, and GDBA)

Responsible Innovation (BUS576)
Indigenous Sustainability (BUS692)
Sustainability (BUS716/735)

Undergraduate (BBA)

Business in a Sustainable Society (BUS275)
Sustainable Innovation (BUS453)
Management Practices for Sustainability (BUS489)

Instructor Resources

Reports

Phung, K. (2026). Teaching about the business of modern slavery: Insights on bringing the uncomfortable into the classroom. Re:Structure Lab: Simon Fraser University and Stanford University.

Podcast Series

Phung, K. (2026). Conversation series: Bringing the business of modern slavery into the classroom. Re:Structure Lab: Simon Fraser University and Stanford University.

CONNECT WITH ME

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