Laurence A. Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship

Faculty Profiles

• Donna DeCarolis, Ph.D.
• Azi Gera, Ph.D.
• Sean M. Hackett, Ph.D.
• Mazhar Islam, Ph.D.
• Mark P. Loschiavo
• Dali Ma, Ph.D.
• Michele K. Masterfano, DBA
• Sucheta Nadkarni, Ph.D.
• V.K. Narayanan, Ph.D.
• Milton Silver, Ph.D.
• Daniel Tzabbar, Ph.D.

Donna DeCarolis, Ph.D.

Associate Dean for Strategic Initiatives, Management Department Head

In her role as associate dean, Dr. Donna Marie De Carolis is responsible for the oversight and strategic direction of the Centers of Excellence at Drexel University's LeBow College of Business. In addition, she is responsible for the development of synergistic programs and initiatives within LeBow College, other colleges at Drexel University, and with the business community at large.

Dr. De Carolis has researched, written and lectured extensively on various aspects of entrepreneurship, technology management and technology commercialization. Her areas of expertise are entrepreneurship and new venture creation, technology commercialization, strategic alliances, and social capital.

LeBow Profile

Selected Publications

• DeCarolis, Donna. Corporte Venture Capital: Does Diversification Influence Growth Value? Strategic Management Society : Rome, Italy, Sep 2010.
• DeCarolis, Donna and Deeds, D.. “Weathering the Storm: The Benefit of Resources to High Technology Ventures Navigating Adverse Events” Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal 3.2 (Jun 2009):147-160.
• DeCarolis, Donna , Litzky, Barrie and Eddleston, Kimberly. “Why Networks Enhance the Progress of New Venture Creation: The Influence of Social Capital and Cognition” ENTREPRENEURSHIP THEORY AND PRACTICE. (Mar 2009):527-545.

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Azi Gera, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Management

Azi Gera is an Assistant Professor of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship at Drexel University. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, R. H. Smith School of Management and holds an MBA from the Darden School of Business Administration at the University of Virginia. His research focuses on inter-firm signaling, specifically, the influence of the interpreters’ heterogeneity on the analysis of complex signals. Additionally, Professor Gera is studying how startups attract private-equity investors, such as business angels and venture capitalists (VC). His research on the role of business plans in securing VC investments and the importance of the startup’s network referrals to the success of grabbing the attention of VCs has appeared in Strategic Management Journal and was featured in the NY Times, International Herald Tribune and other news outlets. Prior to academia Professor Gera worked in the hi-tech industry in Israel and as a consultant to several entrepreneurial startups.

LeBow Profile

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Sean M. Hackett, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Management

Dr. Sean Hackett’s research interests involve the relationship between the visual representation of complex entrepreneurial value propositions and investor-stakeholder buy-in. His publications on entrepreneurship include, “Inside the Black Box of Business Incubation,” “Why Don’t More ‘Born Globals’ Exist?” and “Examining Ethnic Entrepreneurship: An Exploratory Study of How ‘Family Capital’ Impacts New Venture Start-up Rates Across Ethnic Groups.”

LeBow Profile

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Mazhar Islam, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Management

Mazhar Islam is an Assistant Professor in Strategic Management at the LeBow College of Business, Drexel University. He earned his Ph.D. from Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. His research interests fall at the intersection of technological innovation and entrepreneurship. Prior to joining the Ph.D. program, he taught and conducted research at a German university and worked in various managerial positions in Bangladesh and Thailand for seven years. He also conducted research at the Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations Headquarters in New York City. He has a Bachelor of Technology (Honors) degree from the Indian Institute of Technology, an MBA from the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand and an MS from the New Jersey Institute of Technology. He won a number of awards including the Best Conference Paper at the Strategic Management Society (2006), the Best Paper Proceedings of the Academy of Management Meetings (2008) and the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) competitive entrepreneurship boot camp fellowship (2010).

LeBow Profile

Selected Publications

• Mazhar Islam, A. Marcus & A. Fremeth, 2008. The Impact of Exogenous Non-economic Shocks on the Global Business Environment: A Cross-Country Analysis of the Impact of September 11^th. The Academy of Management Annual Best Paper Proceedings, 2008. pp. 1-7.
• Alfred Marcus, Mazhar Islam & John Molony, 2008. Youth Buldges, Busts, and Doing Business in Violence-Prone Nations. Business and Politics.10(4): 1-40.
• William Rapp and Mazhar Islam, 2006. Japanese Mini-banks: Retail Banking Services through Convenience Stores. Asian Business and Management. 5(2): 187-206.
• William Rapp and Mazhar Islam, 2004. Japanese Experiences with B2C E-Commerce. The MIT Sloan Management Review, Spring, 2004.

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Mark P. Loschiavo

Senior Executive-in-Residence, LeBow College of Business, Executive Director, Laurence A. Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship, President, First Serve Strategies

Mark P. Loschiavo has led Drexel University’s Baiada Center to rank among the top 10 universities in entrepreneurship in the nation. Loschiavo is an instructor in the management department, and his areas of focus are strategic management, leadership and entrepreneurship. He also serves on the Boards of numerous private and nonprofit organizations.

View Bio [pdf]

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Dali Ma, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship

Dali Ma received his Ph.D. from University of Chicago. His research covers the following areas in entrepreneurship: academic entrepreneurship, family business, venture capital, and social entrepreneurship. In particular, he studies social networks, power, and conflict in entrepreneurial ventures. His paper on charitable contributions by Chinese private entrepreneurs was published in Social Forces, a major sociological journal. Dr. Ma won the Louis R. Pondy Award from the Organization and Management Theory Division and the William H. Newman Award from the Academy of Management, both for best paper based on a dissertation (“Bring the Society Back In: Relational Identities in the Creation of Entrepreneurship”)

LeBow Profile

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Michele K. Masterfano, DBA

Assistant Clinical Professor of Management

Dr. Michele K. Masterfano’s areas of expertise include business planning, preparing for equity and debt financing, and operational planning for entrepreneurial firms. She has almost 30 years of business experience, much of it launching new products, services or divisions for AT&T, and the remainder working as an independent consultant with startup entrepreneurs, where she has written business plans and assisted entrepreneurs in obtaining financing. Masterfano’s research centers on the effects of networking on entrepreneurial success, specifically regarding participation in membership organizations that are designed primarily for business networking purposes, i.e. Chambers of Commerce.

LeBow Profile

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Sucheta Nadkarni, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Management

Sucheta Nadkarni is an associate professor of strategic management and entrepreneurship. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Kansas. Her research focuses on the relationship between personality attributes of entrepreneurs and their behaviors and performance. She has conducted extensive research on business process outsourcing companies in India. Her research is published in top journals such as Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of International Business Studies and MIS Quarterly. Her papers were nominated for the McKinsey best paper award at the Strategic Management Society in 2003 and 2004. Her work also received the best paper runner-up award at the Academy of Management Conference in 2004. She has worked on research projects funded by the Booz Allen Hamilton and Boeing. She serves on the editorial boards of Academy of Management Journal and Journal of Management Inquiry and is the incoming Associate Editor of Journal of Management.

LeBow Profile

Selected Publications

• Mohammed, Susan and Nadkarni, Sucheta . (Equal authorship) “Diversity of Temporal Individual Differences and Team Performance: The Moderating Role of Temporal Leadership.” Academy of Management Journal. (forthcoming)
• Nadkarni, Sucheta, Herrmann, Pol and Perez, Pedro D. “Domestic mindsets and early international performance: The moderating influence of international industry context.” Strategic Management Journal. (forthcoming)
• Nadkarni, Sucheta and Herrmann, Pol . “CEO personality, strategic flexibility, and firm performance: The case of the Indian BPO Industry” Academy of Management Journal 53.5 (2010):1050-1073.
• Nadkarni, Sucheta and Barr, Pam. “Industry Context, Managerial Cognition, and Strategic Actions: An Integrated View” Strategic Management Journal 29.13 (Mar 2008):1395-1427.
• Nadkarni, Sucheta and Gupta, Reetika . “A Task-based Model of Perceived Website Complexity” MIS Quarterly 31.3 (Nov 2007):501-524.

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V.K. Narayanan, Ph.D.

Associate Dean for Research, Director of the Center for Research Excellence, Stubbs Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship

Dr. V.K. Narayanan is the associate dean for research, director of the Center for Research Excellence, and the Stubbs Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship. His areas of expertise include strategy formulation and implementation; organization design; technology strategy, innovation and corporate entrepreneurship; and knowledge management and competitor intelligence.

LeBow Profile

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Milton Silver, Ph.D.

Academic Mentor

Dr. Milton Silver, through his wide-ranging experience in teaching, writing, and consulting activities, is recognized as a leading authority in management and organizational studies. His specialization in strategic planning and control systems, analysis and design of information systems, and executive and management development and training enable him to integrate sophisticated academic material with the practical management environment. He has helped many governmental and industrial clients with their leadership and organizational needs.

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Daniel Tzabbar, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Management

Daniel Tzabbar is an assistant professor of entrepreneurship and strategy. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Toronto, Rotman School of Management, and his Masters in Labors Studies from Tel-Aviv University. His research focuses on the strategic implications of accessing and managing internal and external knowledge flow, and the facilitation of learning and technological change. This research incorporates related interests such as exploring the ways that firms’ human, social and intellectual capital interact to affect entrepreneurial firm competitive viability. Professor Tzabbar won the best Dissertation Award from the Technology and Innovation Management Division, Academy of Management Meeting, 2006. His research has appeared in Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Organization, Advances in Strategic Management, Industrial and Corporate Change, and MIT Sloan Management Review. He serves on the Editorial Board of Group and Organization Management.

LeBow Profile

Selected Publications

• Al-Laham, A Tzabbar, D.,& Amburgey, L, T.,. 2011. The dynamics of knowledge stocks and knowledge flows: Examining the consequences of knowledge exploration and exploitation in biotechnology. Industrial & Corporate Change.
• Tzabbar, D. 2009. When does scientist mobility affect technological repositioning? Academy of Management Journal, 52(5): 873-896. [Lead Article]
• Tzabbar, D. 2009. What helps and hinders innovation. MIT Sloan Management Review, 51(1): 17.
• Tzabbar, D., Aharonson, B. S., Amburgey, T. L., & Al-Laham, A. 2008. When is the whole bigger than the sum of its parts? The effects of bundled knowledge stocks on innovative success. Strategic Organization, 6(4): 375–406.
• Amburgey, L. T., Al-Laham, A., Tzabbar, D., & Aharonson, S. B. 2008. The structural evolution of multiplex organizational networks: Research and commerce in biotechnology. Advances in Strategic Management, 25: 171-209.
• Gunz, H., Peiper, M., & Tzabbar, D. 2007. Boundaries in the study of career. Handbook of Career Studies, H. P. Gunz and M. A. Peiper (eds.). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
• Tzabbar, D., Vardi, Y., & Baruch, Y. 2003. Organizational career management in Israel. Career Development International, 8 (2): 88-96.

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