Peter F. Martelli, PhD

Biography

Dr. Peter Martelli’s research focuses on organizational errors and the interdisciplinary application of models, such as High Reliability Organizing (HRO), to promote system safety and reliability. He has worked on various aspects of these issues both in healthcare settings and in other industries, including wildland fire and emergency response, oil exploration, and civil and industrial infrastructure. He is an Advisory Board member and former Co-Director of the Center for Catastrophic Risk Management at the University of California-Berkeley, where he has worked globally at the cutting-edge of HRO and strategic error management.

Recent international projects include studies of patient safety in Georgia Republic, performance improvement in Ethiopia, cardiovascular disease in Guinea-Conakry, chronic kidney disease in Honduras, and several others. From 2021 to 2023, Dr. Martelli was a Fulbright U.S. Scholar to Georgia Republic, affiliated with Georgian American University.

He is a recipient of both the Dean's and the Graduate Student Association's Teaching Awards, and was the Academy of Management's Healthcare Management Division 2024 awardee for Excellence in Teaching.

Before joining Suffolk, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the VA Center for Organization, Leadership, and Management Research, an Exchange Scholar in Health Policy at Harvard University, and a research coordinator in the Scientific Policy and Quality Department at the American College of Physicians.

Honors and Recognitions

• Academy of Management Heath Care Management Division Excellence in Teaching Award (2024)
• Fulbright U.S. Scholar Award to Georgia Republic (2021-2023)
• Sawyer Business School Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching (2019)
• Dean John Brennan Award for Outstanding Instruction to Graduate Students (2016)
• Sinai and Synapses Fellowship on Religion and Science Discourse (2013-2015)

Professional Activities

Editorial/Advisory Review Board

• Guest Editor, Special Issue: HRO at 40, Safety Science
• Associate Editor, Quality Management in Health Care, 2021 - Present
• Editorial Review Board, Special Issue: Error in Organizations, AOM Discoveries

Conference leadership (Conference Chair, Track Chair)

• Planning Committee, HRO 40th Anniversary Conference
• Conference Chair, 23rd Organization Theory in Health Care Conference

Professional organization positions (Association leadership)

• Member, Teaching Committee, Healthcare Management Division, Academy of Management, 2019-Present
• Chair Elect, Global Health Management Forum, Association of University Programs in Health Administration (2023 – Present)

Executive Board positions

• Board of Advisors, UC-Berkeley Center for Catastrophic Risk Management (2014 – Present)
• Board of Advisors, Cardiovascular Health Initiative (2018 – Present)
• Board of Directors, Cambridge Roundtable on Science and Religion (2023 – Present)

Publications

Recent Intellectual Contributions

Refereed Journal Articles

Shen, G. C., Martelli, P. F., & Deresse, F. N. (2024). Layered Logic: Institutional Logics Instantiated in the Management of Kaizen in Ethiopia. Sociology of Development 10(1): 29-60.

Grabowski, M., Martelli, P. F., & Roberts, K. H. (2023). Reliability-Seeking Virtual Organizations at the Margins of Systems, Resources and Capacity. Safety Science, 168, 106327.

Hayirli, T. C., Sullivan, E. E., & Martelli, P. F. (2023). Characteristics of U.S. Hospitals Associated with Presence of Patient and Family Advisory Councils. Journal of General Internal Medicine, 38: 2225-2228.

Shen, G. C., Martelli, P. F., Knox Clarke, P., & Roberts, K. H. (2022). Health Care in Times of War. Academy of Management Perspectives, 36(2): 744-767.

Vassaur, H., & Martelli, P. F. (2021). Inter-specialty Collaboration in the Formalization of a New Foregut Subspecialty. PLOS One, 16(12): e0262019.

Alidina, S., Martelli, P. F., & Singer, S. J., & Aveling, E-L. (2021). Optimizing Patient Partnership in Primary Care Improvement: A qualitative study. Health Care Management Review, 46(2): 123-134. 

Hayirli, T. C., & Martelli, P. F. (2019). Gene Drives as a Response to Infection and Resistance. Infection and Drug Resistance, 12: 229–234.

Martelli, P. F., Rivard, P. E., & Roberts, K. H. (2018). Caveats for High Reliability in Healthcare. Journal of Health Organization and Management, 32(5): 674-690.

Martelli, P. F., & Hayirli, T. C. (2018). Three Perspectives on Evidence-Based Management: Rank, fit, variety. Management Decision, 56(10): 2085-2100.

Hill, T. E., Martelli, P. F., & Kuo, J. H. (2018). A Case for Revisiting Peer Review: Implications for professional self-regulation and quality improvement. PLoS One, 13(6): e0199961.

Book Chapters

Martelli, P. F. (2018). Organizing for Reliability in Healthcare. In R. Ramanujam & K. Roberts (Eds.), Organizing for Reliability: A Guide to Research and Practice. Palo Alto: Stanford University Press.

Martelli, P. F., Stimmler, M. K., & Roberts, K. H. (2017). Organizational Behavior. In M. Caplan (Ed.), Reference Module in Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Psychology. Amsterdam: Elsevier.

Teaching Cases

Martelli, P. F., & Sullivan, E. E. (Forthcoming). Patient Exodus at Sycamore Family Health. Health Services Management: A Case Study Approach, 12th Edition. A. S. McAlearney & A. R. Kovner (Eds.). Chicago: Health Administration Press.

Intellectual Contributions

• Peter F. Martelli's Intellectual Contributions [PDF]

Media Highlights

• AOM Insights. (2020, 14 Dec). Protecting Health Care Workers and Hospitals in War Zones.