asarta


Andrew Sarta

Photo of Andrew Sarta

School of Administrative Studies

Assistant Professor

Email: andrew.sarta@yorku.ca

Accepting New Graduate Students


Dr. Andrew Sarta is an Assistant Professor of Strategy at the School of Administrative Studies, York University. His research focuses on organizational adaptation and behavioural strategy within environments undergoing social or technological change and his research is published in leading journals including the Journal of Management. He seeks to understand the early stages of adaptation in traditional sectors such as financial services, where he studies the emergence of FinTech, and healthcare, where he studies innovation in organizational forms.

Andrew’s research has been featured in several management conferences including the Academy of Management, Strategic Management Society, and the European Group for Organizational Studies where he has been acknowledged with two best paper awards. He holds an Honorary Research Fellowship at the UCL School of Management in the United Kingdom and previously held research fellowships in the Innovating Across Sectors Program at UCL and in the Digital Banking Lab at Western University’s Ivey Business School. He has also held visiting fellowships at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Dr. Sarta is also an award-winning innovation expert with over 10 years of strategic management experience in industry-leading, Fortune 500 organizations.

More...

Degrees

PhD Strategy, Ivey Business School Western University

Research Interests

Business , Management, Organizational Adaptation, Managerial Attention and Cognition
  • Ontario Research Fund—Research Excellence Round - 2025-2028
  • SSHRC Insights Development Grant - 2023-2026

Current Research Projects

Adapting to Employee Financial Well-Being in the Workplace

    Summary:

    The “Financial Well-Being in the Workplace” project aims to uncover the ways in which employers influence financial well-being among their employees, which may in turn benefit employers. The project focuses on the behavior of firms toward their employees as they go through industry cycles. The particular focus is on the nature of changes to income, social security benefits, and retirement benefits offered to employees. How firms adapt to the needs of their employees’ financial well-being is an overlooked issue and can inform how specific firms might benefit from taking care of their most important resource.

    See more
    Start Date:
      Month: May   Year: 2025

    End Date:
      Month: Jul   Year: 2028

    Funders:
    Ontario Research Fund—Research Excellence Round
Imagining Augmentation Possibilities and How Organizations Adapt to the Emergence of Artificial Intelligence

    Summary:

    The primary goal of this research is to explore the age-old organizational concept of adaptation against the modern phenomenon of artificial intelligence (AI) as an augmentation tool. Organizations have a critically important role in implementing artificial intelligence into both their organizations and society. Much of the research today focuses on the development of artificial intelligence technologies and the functions that artificial intelligence technologies can perform (Heaven, 2019; von Krogh, 2018). Fewer studies explore the core objective of this proposal—understanding how some of our most cherished institutions in healthcare and financial services adapt to incorporate artificial intelligence into their organizational structures to remain relevant and beneficial for their end users. More specifically, using artificial intelligence to augment and improve services for end users is a viable yet challenging form of adaptation of importance to Canadian society.

    See more
    Start Date:
      Month: Jun   Year: 2023

    End Date:
      Month: Jul   Year: 2026

    Funders:
    SSHRC Insights Development Grant
Book Chapters

Publication
Year

Sarta, A., Aristidou, A. “Imagination or Validation: Using Futuring Techniques to Enhance AI’s Relevance in Strategy-Making”. Research Handbook on Artificial Intelligence and Decision Making in Organizations. Ed. Ioanna Constantinou, Mayur P. Joshi, and Marta Stelmaszak. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.

2024

Grace, C., Sarta, A. “Next Generation Financial Advice: Reimagining Wealth Management in the Age of Technology”. The Technological Revolution in Financial Services. Ed. Michael King and Richard Nesbitt. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

2020

Journal Articles

Publication
Year

Sarta, A., Durand, R., Vergne, J.-P. Organizational Adaptation. Journal of Management. 47(1): 43–75.

2021

Sarta, A., Vergne, J.-P., Durand, R. “Organizational Adaptation: Annotated Bibliography”. Oxford Bibliographies in Management. Ed. Ricky W. Griffin. New York: Oxford University Press.

2018

Approach to Teaching


My pedagogical approach centers around high-engagement classroom environments where discussion, experimentation, risk-taking, and experiential education are emphasized. I specialize in the case-based method as a means to place students in real-life management situations.



Upcoming Courses

Term Course Number Section Title Type
Winter 2026 AP/ADMS4900 3.0 M Management Policy Part I LECT
Winter 2026 AP/ADMS4900 3.0 P Management Policy Part I LECT
Winter 2026 AP/ENTP2920 3.0 M Innovation and creativity LECT


Dr. Andrew Sarta is an Assistant Professor of Strategy at the School of Administrative Studies, York University. His research focuses on organizational adaptation and behavioural strategy within environments undergoing social or technological change and his research is published in leading journals including the Journal of Management. He seeks to understand the early stages of adaptation in traditional sectors such as financial services, where he studies the emergence of FinTech, and healthcare, where he studies innovation in organizational forms.

Andrew’s research has been featured in several management conferences including the Academy of Management, Strategic Management Society, and the European Group for Organizational Studies where he has been acknowledged with two best paper awards. He holds an Honorary Research Fellowship at the UCL School of Management in the United Kingdom and previously held research fellowships in the Innovating Across Sectors Program at UCL and in the Digital Banking Lab at Western University’s Ivey Business School. He has also held visiting fellowships at the University of Toronto’s Dalla Lana School of Public Health. Dr. Sarta is also an award-winning innovation expert with over 10 years of strategic management experience in industry-leading, Fortune 500 organizations.

Degrees

PhD Strategy, Ivey Business School Western University

Research Interests

Business , Management, Organizational Adaptation, Managerial Attention and Cognition

Awards

  • Ontario Research Fund—Research Excellence Round - 2025-2028
  • SSHRC Insights Development Grant - 2023-2026

Current Research Projects

Adapting to Employee Financial Well-Being in the Workplace

    Summary:

    The “Financial Well-Being in the Workplace” project aims to uncover the ways in which employers influence financial well-being among their employees, which may in turn benefit employers. The project focuses on the behavior of firms toward their employees as they go through industry cycles. The particular focus is on the nature of changes to income, social security benefits, and retirement benefits offered to employees. How firms adapt to the needs of their employees’ financial well-being is an overlooked issue and can inform how specific firms might benefit from taking care of their most important resource.

    Project Type: Funded
    Start Date:
      Month: May   Year: 2025

    End Date:
      Month: Jul   Year: 2028

    Funders:
    Ontario Research Fund—Research Excellence Round
Imagining Augmentation Possibilities and How Organizations Adapt to the Emergence of Artificial Intelligence

    Summary:

    The primary goal of this research is to explore the age-old organizational concept of adaptation against the modern phenomenon of artificial intelligence (AI) as an augmentation tool. Organizations have a critically important role in implementing artificial intelligence into both their organizations and society. Much of the research today focuses on the development of artificial intelligence technologies and the functions that artificial intelligence technologies can perform (Heaven, 2019; von Krogh, 2018). Fewer studies explore the core objective of this proposal—understanding how some of our most cherished institutions in healthcare and financial services adapt to incorporate artificial intelligence into their organizational structures to remain relevant and beneficial for their end users. More specifically, using artificial intelligence to augment and improve services for end users is a viable yet challenging form of adaptation of importance to Canadian society.

    Start Date:
      Month: Jun   Year: 2023

    End Date:
      Month: Jul   Year: 2026

    Funders:
    SSHRC Insights Development Grant

All Publications


Book Chapters

Publication
Year

Sarta, A., Aristidou, A. “Imagination or Validation: Using Futuring Techniques to Enhance AI’s Relevance in Strategy-Making”. Research Handbook on Artificial Intelligence and Decision Making in Organizations. Ed. Ioanna Constantinou, Mayur P. Joshi, and Marta Stelmaszak. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.

2024

Grace, C., Sarta, A. “Next Generation Financial Advice: Reimagining Wealth Management in the Age of Technology”. The Technological Revolution in Financial Services. Ed. Michael King and Richard Nesbitt. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.

2020

Journal Articles

Publication
Year

Sarta, A., Durand, R., Vergne, J.-P. Organizational Adaptation. Journal of Management. 47(1): 43–75.

2021

Sarta, A., Vergne, J.-P., Durand, R. “Organizational Adaptation: Annotated Bibliography”. Oxford Bibliographies in Management. Ed. Ricky W. Griffin. New York: Oxford University Press.

2018

Approach to Teaching


My pedagogical approach centers around high-engagement classroom environments where discussion, experimentation, risk-taking, and experiential education are emphasized. I specialize in the case-based method as a means to place students in real-life management situations.



Upcoming Courses

Term Course Number Section Title Type
Winter 2026 AP/ADMS4900 3.0 M Management Policy Part I LECT
Winter 2026 AP/ADMS4900 3.0 P Management Policy Part I LECT
Winter 2026 AP/ENTP2920 3.0 M Innovation and creativity LECT