Batten Institute Thought Leaders Receive Multiple Awards at the Academy of Management's (AOM) Annual Meeting

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Aug. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- Several scholars affiliated with the Batten Institute at the Darden School of Business earned an array of honors at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management (AOM), held in Montreal this week.  Batten's leading research in entrepreneurship and innovation provided a focal point of attention during the AOM Meeting – the largest annual gathering of management professors worldwide. This year's annual meeting drew more than 10,000 management faculty and students from institutions around the globe for discussions, presentations, and the opportunity to honor outstanding scholarship in management disciplines.  

Three individuals supported by Darden's Batten Institute were singled out with special honors:

• Professor S. Venkataraman ("Venkat"), MasterCard Professor of Business Administration at Darden, received the Academy of Management Review's (AMR) prestigious "Decade Award" for "The Promise of Entrepreneurship as a Field of Research," an article he co-authored with Scott Shane of Case Western University.  The AMR award honors the single article published ten years earlier that has had the greatest impact on scholarship (of any management discipline) during the ensuing decade, as measured on the basis of number of citations.  

In addition to receiving this honor, Professor Venkataraman has played a key role in the establishment and development of entrepreneurship as a scholarly discipline.  He served as the research director of the Batten Institute for over a decade, and for 14 continuous years, he served as editor of the Journal of Business Venturing, a premier scholarly journal widely regarded as one of the most influential and important sources of knowledge and ideas on entrepreneurship and innovation.  

• Professor Jeanne Liedtka was presented with the AOM's Management Education and Development (MED) "Best Symposium" Award, for a discussion chaired by Liedtka titled "Finding the Right Side of the MBA Brain: Teaching Design Thinking." The symposium featured top business schools in a rigorous conversation on design thinking, a hallmark of entrepreneurial innovation.  

• Batten Senior Researcher Jeffrey York received the "ONE Best Dissertation Award" for his dissertation, "Entrepreneurial Public Goods: Evidence from the Green Building and Renewable Energy Industries." Mr. York's advisors included Professor Saras Sarasvathy, Isadore Horween Research Associate Professor at Darden; Professor S. Venkataraman; Professor Michael Lenox, Darden Associate Dean and Executive Director of the Batten Institute; and Professor Dean Shepherd of the University of Indiana.

Professor Michael Lenox said: "It is particularly fitting that Venkat has been honored with the AMR Decade Award, because of the enduring effect his work has had on the many emerging and established scholars who study and research entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial thinking. All of us are in his debt for helping to establish this field with his seminal works "The Distinctive Domain of Entrepreneurship Research" and "The Promise of Entrepreneurship as a Field of Research," as well as his dedicated stewardship of the Journal of Business Venturing. All of us at Batten congratulate Venkat for his achievement, and we are proud of the broad recognition Batten-affiliated scholars have received at the AOM this year.  Venkat, Jeanne and Jeff's contributions highlight the scope and depth of knowledge that is nurtured at the Batten Institute and the Darden School."

The AOM is the leading professional association for scholars dedicated to creating and disseminating knowledge about management and organizations. Details of the three awards follow:

Decade Award: Professor S. Venkataraman was awarded the AOM's AMR prestigious "Decade Award," which honors the article that has had the "greatest impact" on any field of management over the past 10 years.  Professor Venkataraman and co-author Scott Shane shared this year's award for their article "The Promise of Entrepreneurship as a Field of Research," which laid the foundation for the study of the entrepreneurship discipline, a key research area of Darden's Batten Institute. The awards ceremony was held on August 8 at AMR's editorial review board meeting during the AOM Annual Meeting.

More information on Professor Venkataraman can be found at: http://www.batteninstitute.org/briefingsvenkataraman.php  and http://www.darden.virginia.edu/html/news_article.aspx?id=21533.

Best Symposium: Professor Jeanne Liedtka's symposium "Finding the Right Side of the MBA Brain: Teaching Design Thinking," won the AOM's MED "Best Symposium" award after earning some of the highest scores from reviewers on initial submission and following a review by a panel of the Academy's best reviewers.  Professor Liedtka's submission of the topic flowed from her extensive work on design thinking as described in her forthcoming book "Designing for Growth: A Design Thinking Tool Kit for Managers" and her leadership in establishing Darden's i.Lab - a space designed to encourage new approaches to the teaching of innovation and entrepreneurship.  The symposium was chaired by Liedtka and included Sara Beckman of the University of California-Berkeley's Haas Business School; Heather Fraser from Toronto's Rotman Business School; and Nathan Shedroff from the California College of the Arts.

Professor Liedtka received an award plaque commemorating her achievement at the MED business meeting and awards presentation on August 10. More information on Professor Liedtka can be found at http://www.darden.virginia.edu/html/direc_detail.aspx?styleid=2&id=4336 .  

Best Dissertation: Mr. York's dissertation, "Entrepreneurial Public Goods: Evidence from the Green Building and Renewable Energy Industries," was honored for the quality of his research, from the importance and originality of the topic, to his methodology and literature review, as well as for the dissertation's structure and readability.  The competition was characterized as especially competitive this year, with a range of compelling entries creating a selection challenge for the judging committee.  Mr. York received an award plaque commemorating his achievement at the ONE meeting and awards presentation on August 9.

About the Batten Institute

The Batten Institute at the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business is an academic research center dedicated to advancing knowledge about entrepreneurship and innovation.  Modeled after the world's leading research organizations, the Institute generates high-impact and practical insights for both scholars and managers. To achieve this objective, the Institute provides funding and other support for faculty research, research fellows, research assistants, and a wide array of outreach and publishing activities. For more information about the Batten Institute, go to www.batteninstitute.org.

About the Darden School of Business

Founded in 1954, the University of Virginia's Darden School of Business improves society by developing principled leaders for the world of practical affairs. For questions or information, contact [email protected].  

SOURCE Batten Institute