When most people think about management research, they probably picture surveys, spreadsheets, or boardrooms.
Luke Hedden, assistant professor of management at the University of Miami Business School, has spent more than 160 hours trekking through the Everglades in the middle of the night alongside professional python hunters.
The unusual setting is intentional.
Hedden is not studying snakes; rather, he is studying people.
His latest research explores how workers navigate "values conflicts," situations in which two deeply held beliefs come into direct tension. For python hunters, the conflict is particularly striking. Many genuinely love snakes and have spent their lives appreciating reptiles, yet their work requires them to humanely euthanize invasive Burmese pythons to help protect Florida's fragile ecosystem.
"They're a group that really values environmental conservation and also deeply appreciates animal life," Hedden said. "Every time they catch a python, they're required to euthanize it. I became intrigued by how they manage that tension because I think it's an example of a much broader phenomenon that exists across many different occupations."
The research, co-led by Hedden and doctoral student Taylor Dutil, began with curiosity. Throughout his career, Hedden has studied occupations that are essential to society but often overlooked, including power line workers. After arriving at the University of Miami, he learned about Florida's python hunters and immediately recognized an opportunity to examine work unlike anything typically studied in management research.
"I usually look for research contexts that are really unique, but that also offer insights that can be broadly generalized to work," Hedden said. "Going out into the swamps at night and wrangling these massive snakes by hand certainly checked that box."
As Hedden immersed himself in the field, his assumptions quickly changed.
Like many outsiders, he initially expected to meet people motivated primarily by the removal of invasive snakes. Instead, he found individuals who respected the animals they pursued.
"I would have expected people who were more interested in killing them than actually interested in the animals themselves," Hedden said. "That really wasn't the case."
Some hunters keep snakes as pets. Others have spent much of their lives studying reptiles. Nearly all expressed a deep respect for the animals they encounter, even as they acknowledged that removing invasive pythons is necessary to protect native wildlife.
"If there was any other way to save this ecosystem without killing them, they would absolutely do it," Hedden said.
That paradox became the foundation of the research.
While existing management theories often suggest people resolve competing values through rational decision-making, Hedden believes the experiences of python hunters point toward something more nuanced. His ongoing research explores how emotions, physical experiences, and intentional practices may help people navigate these conflicts in ways traditional theories have largely overlooked.
"The existing perspectives tend to assume people simply rank their values and choose whichever one is most important," Hedden said. "What we're finding is that it's much more complicated than that."
Conducting the research has required far more than interviews.
After completing the necessary training and waivers, Hedden joined hunters in the field as an active participant, assisting on nighttime expeditions through the Everglades. To date, he has participated in more than 30 hunts, spending over 160 hours alongside research participants. He has even helped locate and capture pythons himself.
"I've gone from the classroom and my office to strapping on boots, putting on bug spray, and heading into the Everglades until the early hours of the morning," Hedden said. "It's been exhausting but incredibly illuminating."
That immersive approach is central to the project. Rather than relying solely on surveys or interviews, Hedden believes experiencing the work firsthand allows researchers to observe details that would otherwise remain invisible.
"When you're trying to build new theory, there's really no substitute for being there," he said. "Some of what we're learning simply couldn't emerge from a survey. You have to experience it."
Although the study remains in progress, Hedden hopes its eventual findings will extend well beyond the Everglades.
"Human beings are emotional creatures," he said. "Our feelings and even our physical reactions shape how we experience conflict at work. I hope this research helps people develop a deeper appreciation for that human side of work and how we navigate situations where our values collide."
