What's New in SMPP?

Soolim Park, Assistant Professor at NEOMA Business School and a former doctoral student in GWSB’s SMPP Department, has received special recognition from the Academy of Management for her research on firms’ responses to climate-related natural disasters. Her paper, “Frequency or Severity: Firms’ Exposure to Climate Change-related Natural Disasters and Mitigation,” was selected as one of the best accepted papers in its program for the 2026 annual meeting, to be held  in Philadelphia.

This distinction places her work among the top contributions in the field and includes publication in the conference proceedings. The study examines how different dimensions of climate-related disaster exposure shape firms’ mitigation strategies, offering important insights for both scholars and practitioners. The manuscript was co-authored with Prof. Jorge Rivera.

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.

California Governor Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill entitled "Protecting Our Kids from Social Media Addiction Act" (SB976). Drafts of the bill cited a Business Ethics Quarterly article by Vikram Bhargava, assistant professor of strategic management and public policy, entitled "Ethics of the Attention Economy: The Problem of Social Media Addiction" (coauthored with M. Velasquez).

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.