Professional

Broadly defined, my research focuses on the social construction of value in uncertain and ambiguous circumstances, particularly the contexts of corporate governance, executive compensation and entrepreneurial market environments, with a focus on the initial public offerings (IPO) market. I consider how social evaluations - specifically status, reputation, celebrity, and stigma - social capital, impression management activities, and media accounts influence IPO firm performance, survival, alliance formation activities, and executive selection, dismissal, compensation and board of director structures and dynamics. I am also interested in how entrepreneurs' experiences and organizational resource endowments influence their strategic decision making.

My research has won the 1997 INFORMS/Organization Science Dissertation Proposal Competition, the 2000 Lou Pondy Award from the Organization and Management Theory Division of the Academy of Management, the 2009 IDEA Thought Leader Award from the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management for the best recent entrepreneurship research, the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation Best Published Paper Award for 2010, and the 2013 Bright Idea Award from Seton Hall University and the New Jersey Policy Research Organization. It has also been selected as a finalist for the 2010 Academy of Management Journal Best Paper Award. In 2020 I received the Vallett Family Outstanding Researcher Award from the Haslam College of Business. I have published articles in a variety of journals, including Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Strategic Organization, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, and Journal of Business Venturing, among others.

I served as Associate Editor for the Academy of Management Journal from 2010-2013, and I am 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. I received outstanding reviewer awards for my reviewing activities from the Academy of Management Journal in 2004 and 2010 and from the Journal of Business Venturing in 2010. I served a four-year term on the Executive Committee of the Organization Science division of INFORMS from 2006-2010, and served as Representative-at-Large on the Executive Committee of the Organization and Management Theory Division of the Academy of Management from 2006-2009. I am also an International Research Fellow of the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation and a Research Fellow in Haslam’s Neele Corporate Governance Center.

At Haslam, I teach an undergraduate elective on managing start-ups and doctoral seminars on organization theory and academic writing. I have previously taught courses on strategy at the undergraduate, MBA, Executive MBA and doctoral levels, and on power and influence in full-time and executive MBA programs. 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.

Personal

I am married to a wonderful and talented woman named Sarah, who is an outstanding artist (check out her paintings on her web site!). In addition to being a professor, my other job is "underpaid artist's assistant." Sarah does seven or so outdoor art festivals each year up and down the East Coast and throughout the Midwest. I help her set up, tear down, man the booth and ring up sales (my favorite part!). She also sells her work online. When not on the road, we live in a 94 year old house in Knoxville Tennessee with our dog Maple. Although Maple is getting on in years, we still take her on hikes to see waterfalls and enjoy the spectacular scenery of Eastern Tennessee.

In addition to playing golf, cooking has become a hobby of mine. I have taken a number of classes at the Culinary Institute of America, as well as at the Kitchen Shoppe in Carlisle, PA and elsewhere. We are regular attendees at the Knoxville Market Square Farmer’s Market, run by a fantastic non-profit called Nourish Knoxville. I am a big believer in organic, sustainable and locally-grown food. You can find farmer's markets and CSAs in your local area through Local Harvest.

 Finally, I’m showing my age, but the Descendents and NOFX are my two favorite punk bands.