Management Department Year in Review

Chamu Sundaramurthy, Ph. D.,
Professor and Department Chair

I write with deep pride about the many continued accomplishments of our faculty and students. During this past academic year, 2021-22, our faculty have done a tremendous job supporting our students in returning to face-to-face instruction.  In addition, faculty continued to expand their scholarship. We continued to innovate our curriculum and introduced a new freshman general education course in entrepreneurship, as well as a certificate in entrepreneurship aimed at reaching majors across campus. We are also fortunate to receive continued support from an actively engaged advisory board that is connecting us with the business community—and expanding resources and opportunities for faculty and students.

In addition to serving over 6,000 business students, the department provides special programs for over 1,300 Management majors and continues to be among the top 10 most popular majors on campus.

Management Board Members at Fowler All Boards’ Event, March 2022

Active Management Department Advisory Board:  

• Actively engaged advisory board, chaired by SDSU alumus, Stan Sewitch, continues to offer career advice and expand internship and job opportunities for management majors.
• Welcomed three new board members: Trisha Zulic; Terry McCune; and Shawnnah Monterrey.
• In fall 2021, the department launched a Management Major Career Pathways video series hosted by management alumnus, Andy Esparza.

Curriculum Enhancements & Faculty Additions

• Launched in fall 2021, the redesigned specialization in entrepreneurship: additional meaningful hands-on experiences offered through cooperation with the Zip Launch Pad and the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center.
• The Master of Science in Global Business Development (MSGBD) launched in fall 2021. This new graduate program developed jointly with SDSU’s marketing department.
• An ethics course was introduced to the MBA curriculum in fall 2021.

Aztec Consulting Groups & Mentors, May 2022

• Launched in fall 2021, two redesigned core MBA classes: 1) organizational behavior and 2) strategic thinking.
• San Diego SCORE chapter members advised students and judged presentations in the Aztec Consulting Program (BA 404)
• Launching in fall 2022: 
  • General education course in entrepreneurship for frosh.
  • Basic certificate in entrepreneurship for majors across campus.
• Welcoming in the fall of 2022 two tenure-track faculty in Entrepreneurship and International Strategy:
  • Dr. Yue Song (Ph.D., Virginia Tech)
  • Dr. Yun Dong Yeo (Ph.D., University of Texas at Dallas)

Student & Alumni Spotlights: 

Grace Coulter, Outstanding Management Undergraduate and Fowler Valedictorian at the 2022 commencement ceremony 

• Congratulations to 2022’s Outstanding Student in Management and Fowler Valedictorian, Grace Coulter. Grace is currently working as an HR staff associate at Innovative Employee Solutions---congratulations, we’re proud of you!
• SHRM SDSU students (Jordan Reyes, Vaishnavi Sridhar, Hannah McGaughey, and Ayah Bayasi) coached by Dr. Michelle Dean, received first place at the 2022 CalSHRM HR Case Competition held at CSU Long Beach, March 11-12.
• Management majors Carlin Pace and Setareh Sterlin, with the assistance of SDSU’s Zahn Innovation Platform (ZIP) Launchpad, created C.A.S.H. — Competitive Athlete Sponsorship Hub — a digital platform that matches businesses with student athletes to endorse their products via social media.
• Liam Howlett, Management major specializing in entrepreneurship benefits from the Lavin Center and strengthens the business model of his enterprise, Safety 1st Aquatics.
• Triston and Tyler Broughton, SDSU basketball team members and identical twin brothers, are both majoring in management as they let positivity guide their path as student-athletes. 

Carlin Pace & Setareh Sterlin

• Sidney King, a management major, interned at Target and shares her internship experience — a required component of the management program.
• Management alumnus, Andy Esparza wins two awards: 2022  Fowler College of Business Council Outstanding Alumni Award and the 2022 SHRM SDSU Natasha Sandrock Arthur Outstanding Service Award, awarded by the student chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Congratulations!
• Management alumnus, John McAvoy, established the John and Billie McAvoy Endowed Scholarship to support Management majors.  Thank you for your generous contribution!

Management Faculty Accolades: 

From left: Vaishnavi Sridhar, Jordan Reyes, Hannah McGaughey and faculty advisor, Michelle Dean at the CalSHRM HR Case Competition, March 2022

• The department faculty collectively published over 65 articles over the last three years, with 15 published or accepted for publication this year in peer-reviewed, leading journals such as Journal of Management, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of World Business, Journal of Business Research, and British Journal of Management, among others.  Check out:
  • Research on Inclusion and Diversity conducted by Beth Chung and other management faculty associated with the Institute for Inclusion and Diversity in Organizations.
  • Award-winning research by Taekjin Shin on CEO’s language and dismissal. 
  • Research by Martina Musteen and Mujtaba Ahsan on the long-term effects of COVID-19 on the garment industry’s supply chain.
• Under the executive leadership of Alex DeNoble and with the wide engagement of management faculty, the Lavin Entrepreneurship Center hosted its eighth annual California Educators’ Conference.
• Three management faculty members were promoted to professor: Jeremy Bernerth; Michelle Dean; and Congcong Zheng. Congratulations!
• Two of Valerie Alexandra’s papers, were nominated for best paper awards at the 2022 national Academy of Management conference: one for the best paper on Diversity and Cognition by the Managerial and Organizational Cognition Division, and another for the best paper by the Organizational Development and Change Division. 
• Jeremy Bernerth received the Assigned Time Award for Research from the SDSU Office of the Vice President of Research and Innovation.
• Dwarka Chakravarty was invited to serve on the editorial review board of a top journal in international business, Journal of World Business.
• Michelle Dean, received the following awards: Most Influential Faculty Award recognized by the 2022 Outstanding Student in Management and Fowler Valedictorian, Grace Coulter, 2022 Best Faculty Involvement Award from the Fowler College of business council, and the Assigned Time for Exceptional Service to Students Award.
• Martina Musteen received the 2021 Fowler College of Business Teaching Excellence Award and was also invited to serve on the editorial review board of the premier journal in international business, Journal of International Business Studies.
• Amy Randel received the Most Influential Faculty Award recognized by Tristian Aradanas, the 2022 Outstanding Student in Accounting; and was among the Top 2% of Scientists cited in 2020 (Scopus).
• Bill Sannwald, received the Inaugural Glazer Outstanding Lecturer Fellowship.
• Congcong Zheng received the Most Influential Faculty Award, recognized by Christopher Condron, the 2022 Outstanding MBA student.

We are proud of our graduates’ and our many continued accomplishments!

Chamu Sundaramurthy, Ph. D.,
Professor and Department Chair