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I am a Professor in the Management and Organization Department of the Penn State University Smeal College of Business. Prior to joining Smeal I was an Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland and the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
My research focuses on executive compensation and the social construction of entrepreneurial market environments, particularly the initial public offerings (IPO) market. I consider how social and political factors such as reputation, celebrity, social capital, impression management activities, media accounts, and the power of different actors influence IPO firm performance, survival, alliance formation activities, and executive recruitment and compensation. I am also interested in how entrepreneurs' experience and organizational resource endowments influence their strategic decision making.
My research has won the INFORMS/Organization Science Dissertation Proposal Competition and the Lou Pondy Award from the Organization and Management Theory Division of the Academy of Management, and the 2009 IDEA Thought Leader Award from the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management for the best recent entrepreneurship research. I have published articles in Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Strategic Organization,Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Journal of Business Venturing, Human Communication Research, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Organizational Dynamics, Academy of Management Executive, British Journal of Management and Corporate Reputation Review.
I am currently a member, or have been a member, of the editorial boards of the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Business Venturing, Organization Science and Strategic Organization, and I received an outstanding reviewer award from AMJ for my 2003-2004 reviewing activities. I am also currently the Chair of the Executive Committee for the College of Organization Science of INFORMS, and a Representative-at-Large on the Executive Committee of the Organization and Management Theory Division of the Academy of Management.
At Smeal I teach an undergraduate elective on managing start-ups, an MBA elective on power and influence in organizations, and doctoral seiminars on organization theory and organizational research design. I have previously taught courses on strategy at the undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA and and doctoral levels. In 2002 I won the Mabel C. Chipman Award for Teaching Excellence from the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business, and in 2000 I was named one of the Top Five MBA professors by the Wisconsin MBA Graduate Students Association.
From this page you can access downloadable versions of all of my published research, and read the abstracts for my current working papers. You can also download copies of all of my syllabi, and find links to some sites that reflect my personal and professional interests.
A downloadable version of my curriculum vitae is available in Adobe Acrobat format. You'll need the free Acrobat reader to view it.
If you have any questions about my work, please contact me.
