Department of Strategic Management & Public Policy

About the Department

The Department of Strategic Management and Public Policy (SMPP) brings together professors who bridge the issues of vital importance to business today, including competitive corporate strategy, corporate responsibility, business ethics, strategic environmental management, social networks and social capital, and the relationships between business and politics and between business and society, sustainability, and labor market equality and diversity.

Reflecting the vision, mission and goals of the GW School of Business, SMPP works to cultivate ethical, diverse, and inclusive leaders who make a positive impact on the environment, on society, and on governance through our teaching and research. We also take advantage of our Washington, D.C. location to engage with stakeholders in the wider business and policy communities.

Our department includes 15 full-time faculty and several well-experienced adjunct faculty, who together bring a wealth and depth of experience in the business, not-for-profit and public policy arenas. Faculty engage in scholarly research which is published in leading academic journals as well as important practitioner journals to connect their research to the individuals who apply this work in real-world private and public sector settings. Faculty currently serve in senior editorial positions at Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, Journal of Business Ethics, and Organization Theory.

SMPP offers three core courses in GWSB’s undergraduate degree programs: Markets and Politics, Business Ethics and the Legal Environment, and Strategy Formulation and Implementation. We offer two core courses on Strategic Management and on Business Ethics and Public Policy in the various GWSB graduate programs. The department also offers graduate elective seminars, including Strategic Environmental Management, Corporate Governance, Social Capital, and Impact Investing.

In addition to our core course offerings, SMPP offers two academic programs: a BBA with a concentration in Business Economics and Public Policy, and a Ph.D. in Business with a Management and Strategy Area of Focus.

Read the Latest News from the Department of Strategic Management & Public Policy

A public-facing summary of Prof. Joel Gehman’s recent Academy of Management Journal article, “The Limits of Pivoting: A Culturally Informed Model of Resource Commitments during Repeated Organizational Transformation,” was recently featured by AOM Insights. The summary translates the research for business and policy audiences and will appear in the January Insights newsletter reaching more than 28,000 subscribers and shared globally with journalists.

Prof. Vikram Bhargava had his research, “Ethics of the Attention Economy: The Problem of Social Media Addiction,” recently cited in a federal court filing in NetChoice v. Griffin. His research argues that social media addiction is a serious moral issue, as platforms’ attention-based business models incentivize exploitative and demeaning harm to users in ways distinct from other addictive products.

GW’s Consulting Abroad Program Connects Students with Global Business Experiences

A project for Damas, a luxury jewelry brand headquartered in Dubai, was recently completed through the Consulting Abroad Program (CAP), a component of the Global MBA at the GW School of Business. Work on the Damas project began in January under the mentorship of Professor Thomas Debass, a lecturer in strategic management and public policy.

Assistant Professor Vontrese “Voni” Pamphile was named one of Poets & Quants’ 2025 Best 40-Under-40 MBA Professors. She was recognized for her experiential teaching style, ability to connect deeply with students, and contributions to MBA education at the GW School of Business. “The ability to listen, adapt, and build real connections is everything,” she shared in the feature.

Prof. Joel Gehman and his coauthor Michael Lounsbury (at the University of Alberta) published "Concise Introduction to Organization Theory" (Edward Elgar), an overview of organization theory that clarifies how to cultivate a robust scholarly identity in a field rich with diverse research traditions. Providing a summary of rationalist, pragmatic and co-constitutive theories, they highlight how scholars can meaningfully contribute to the academic conversation and maximize the practical relevance of their work.

Prof. Vikram Bhargava was named an International Research Fellow at the University of Oxford's Centre for Corporate Reputation at the Saïd Business School. Fellows are leading scholars across a range of disciplines related to research into social evaluations who support the center's activities and provide advice and expertise to help further the work of the center.

Prof. Jorge Walter and his coauthor Prof. Markus Kreutzer (at European Business School) just published their new book titled "Reconceptualizing Organizational Control — Managing in the Age of Hybrid Workplaces, Artificial Intelligence, and the Gig Economy" at Cambridge University Press. This book integrates new and evolving trends in technology, organizations, and society into a reconceptualization of organizational control — i.e., aligning workers' capabilities, activities, and performance with organizational goals and aspirations — for twenty-first-century organizations.

Prof. Emeritus Howard Beales recently provided expert testimony to congress. His testimony appeared before the Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, on Federal Trade Commission Practices: A Discussion on Past Versus Present. The testimony was based on the paper Prof. Beales wrote with Tim Muris on change eras at the FTC, contrasting current FTC leader Lina Khan with prior major changes in 1970 and 1980. Prof. Beales also published a related opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal.

Research Seminar Series

The SMPP Research Seminar Series features lectures given by distinguished professors from other leading business schools.

Spring 2026: Don Lange, Lincoln Professor of Management Ethics, Professor of Management and Entrepreneurship, W.P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University

Anita McGahan, University Professor, George E. Connell Chair in Organizations and Society, Professor of Strategic Management, Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto
Fall 2025: Robert Seamans, Professor of Management and Organizations, Stern School of Business at New York University
Topic: Strategic Responses to Technological Change: Evidence from an Online Labor Market

Nien-hê Hsieh, Kim B. Clark Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School
Topic: Post-Work Work: Why Hire a Human?
Spring 2025: Image

Philip L. Cochran, Thomas W. Binford Chair of Corporate Citizenship and Professor of Management, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University

Image

Linda Treviño, Distinguished Professor of Organizational Behavior and Ethics in the Department of Management and Organization in the Smeal College of Business at the Pennsylvania State University

Image

Exequiel (Zeke) Hernandez, Max and Bernice Garchik Family Presidential Associate Professor (of Management), Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Contact Us

The George Washington University School of Business
Department of Strategic Management and Public Policy
2201 G Street NW, Funger Hall, Ste. 615
Washington, D.C. 20052
Phone: (202) 994-6677
Fax: (202) 994-8113

Staff Contact:
Rochelle Rediang
Senior Academic Department Administrator
email: redianggwu [dot] edu (rediang[at]gwu[dot]edu)
phone: 202-994-6677

The Institute for Corporate Responsibility (ICR)
Professor John Forrer, Director

Learn More About ICR