Kang Lee has been on faculty at the Harbert College of Business for only four months, but his work has already been accepted for publication into one of the nation’s leading academic journals. Lee, assistant professor in Business Analytics, co-authored the paper “Does Organizational Image Matter? Image, Identification, and Employee Behaviors in Public and Non-Profit Organizations,” which will soon be published in the esteemed Public Administration Review. “This is something that makes me happy, but I must remain humble,” said Lee, who recently earned a PhD in Business with concentration on Business Analytics from Tennessee. “Harbert College strives to provide thought leadership through engaged scholarship,” said Joe Hanna, Associate Dean for Research and Outreach, and Regions Bank Professor. “This is done in part by faculty members who conduct high quality research and disseminate it by publishing in top level journal outlets. Not only is Dr. Lee's most recent research article acceptance a testament to his ability to positively impact thought in his discipline, it is also very valuable to Harbert College because it impacts both our research reputation and our students.”   The paper discusses how and why an organization’s image, or identity, influences employee behavior and performance. According to the study, “organizational image is positively related to employee identification, and identification has a significant influence on promoting extra role behaviors and lowering employee absenteeism.” Kang played a large role in researching statistical data for the project. “I can do the dirty work -- stay all day, collect the data and analyze it,” he said. “To consider the error terms are assumed to be correlated across the equations, I fit Arnold Zellner’s model (econometrics) in this study.” Kang collected data from the National Administration Studies Project, a survey completed in 2006. It included seven sections: motivation for taking the current job; work environment; organizational rules and procedures; civic and political activity; mentoring; job history; and demographics. The paper was co-authored by Eunju Rho, assistant professor in Public Administration and Urban Studies at the University of Akron, and Taesik Yun, Program Coordinator for the International Center at the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government.