I study how organizational practices affect innovative activity. Specifically, I study how organizations can make selection decisions and facilitate social networks to facilitate the development of innovative ideas. I am particularly interested in how the opportunity to innovate can be democratized and made more inclusive. My research is motivated by understanding how organizations can be managed to develop innovative solutions to important problems. While my primary focus is entrepreneurship, I also study organizations and the management of innovative talent more generally. Across these research streams I pay particular attention to how underrepresented innovators and entrepreneurs, such as women, minorities and those from low-income countries, can be provided the resources they need to develop their ideas. Under this larger umbrella, I have studied how organizations can select the best new ideas, the role of gender and social class in organizational selection processes, how entrepreneurial ventures can attract human capital, how mentoring programs can be designed to support entrepreneurs and training models to support entrepreneurs in low-income countries, among other work. I primarily use quantitative methods, including field experiments and econometric techniques. In many studies I partner with organizations to analyze unique datasets and conduct field experiments with hard-to-reach and important populations. I am excited by interesting field sites that allow for deep insight into the process of entrepreneurship and innovation.
ESBM 3700 - Entrepreneurial Environments
Primary Instructor
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Spring 2023 / Spring 2024
Introduces entrepreneurship. Addresses opportunity recognition, target markets, industry analysis, business model identification, sources of funding, managing rapid growth and writing feasibility studies. Examines alternative forms of entrepreneurship such as franchising, corporate entrepreneurship, family business and social entrepreneurship.
