Siri Terjesen, PhD, joins the Department of Management Programs at FAU as a full professor and Dean's Distinguished Research Fellow. Prior to joining the Florida Atlantic University College of Business, Terjesen held a similar position at American University in Washington D.C. She also has an on-going joint faculty appointment with the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen, Norway. Additionally, while completing her master's degree in economics from the Norwegian School, Terjesen earned the distinction of being a Fulbright Scholar.
Terjesen is a prolific scholar whose research has examined various aspects of entrepreneurship and international business. Her work has been cited more than 8,500 times and she has published more than 65 refereed journal articles as well as several cases and book chapters. Her research has appeared in leading academic journals including the Academy of Management Review, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of World Business, Journal of Management, Journal of Business Ethics, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Small Business Economics, Journal of Operations Management, and many more. She's also a co-author of the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor's Social Entrepreneurship Report which examines entrepreneurial activity around the world.
As a professor, Terjesen has been recognized for her outstanding work in the classroom by both student organizations and national teaching associations.
Siri Terjesen, PhD, joins the Department of Management Programs at FAU as a full professor and Dean's Distinguished Research Fellow. Prior to joining the Florida Atlantic University College of Business, Terjesen held a similar position at American University in Washington D.C. She also has an on-going joint faculty appointment with the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen, Norway. Additionally, while completing her master's degree in economics from the Norwegian School, Terjesen earned the distinction of being a Fulbright Scholar.
Terjesen is a prolific scholar whose research has examined various aspects of entrepreneurship and international business. Her work has been cited more than 8,500 times and she has published more than 65 refereed journal articles as well as several cases and book chapters. Her research has appeared in leading academic journals including the Academy of Management Review, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of World Business, Journal of Management, Journal of Business Ethics, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Small Business Economics, Journal of Operations Management, and many more. She's also a co-author of the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Monitor's Social Entrepreneurship Report which examines entrepreneurial activity around the world.
As a professor, Terjesen has been recognized for her outstanding work in the classroom by both student organizations and national teaching associations.
Support for this podcast comes from the Phil Smith center for free enterprise at the FAU college of business. The Phil Smith center for free enterprise supports the vision and strategic plan of the college of business to advance thought leadership in business. The center supports chaired professorships and research educational programs for faculty members and students. Distinguished visiting faculty along with the lecture series and other educational programs focused on the principles of free enterprise and how those principles affect growth and prosperity. Learn more at business.fau.edu/PhilSmith
Speaker 2:[inaudible]
Speaker 3:hello, I'm Dan Gropper, Dean of the Florida Atlantic University College of Business and today I'd like to introduce dr Siri Terjesen, a new faculty member in our department of management programs. Siri is a full professor and Dean's research fellow here at Florida Atlantic university. She held a similar position at American university in Washington DC. She also has an ongoing joint faculty appointment with the Norwegian school of economics in Bergen, Norway. This will help promote international exchanges of students and faculty and gives her an opportunity for grants with the European union. She was a Fulbright scholar when Sharon, her master's degree in international business at the Norwegian school back in 2002 Siri has an incredible research record. She is one of our most highly cited faculty members. She has over 8,500 citations to her research work, which is among the highest in the college of business. She's published more than 65 referee journal articles as well as several cases and book chapters. She's appeared in leading academic journals including the Academy of management review, the journal of international business studies, the journal management journal, business ethics, entrepreneurship theory, and practice, the journal of operations management and many more. She has done work on women in corporate boards, entrepreneurship, international aspects of entrepreneurship, and she's published something that's very interesting. She's co-authored this global entrepreneurship monitor, which looks at entrepreneurship activity around the world. We'll talk to her about that in a little bit. In addition to being an outstanding scholar, she's also an excellent researcher. She's won multiple teaching awards and we're just very, very pleased to have Siri here at Florida Atlantic university in Boca Raton. Welcome. Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here too. Well in, in working through the recruiting process to bring you down here, we were particularly excited because your entrepreneurship work helps support the entrepreneurship platform
Speaker 4:at Florida Atlantic University. In addition, you joined several other outstanding entrepreneurship scholars here in the college of business. What kind of things did you see that made you interested in joining us down here at Florida Atlantic? That's a great question. I really saw so much progress in this school over the last five years. That was not just in the business school but also across the university. So all the pieces we're in place. We have the great technology coming out of the engineering and the medical school. We have the excellent business education that's taught by our Adams center faculty. We have a bevy of prospective entrepreneurs. We've got your undergrads, your MBA students. Um, but also we even have the elementary, middle, and high school students over at 80 Henderson and FAU high who are excited about starting businesses. Um, so I was truly thrilled about that, but I first knew of the faculty just from their own research because you've got folks like Doug coming in, Sophia, Johan, Rebel Cole, Roland Kidwell, Gary custard Giovanni, and then Don knew bomb with which with whom I had served at the Academy of management entrepreneurship division. And I just respected and admired all their work as well as the new at the time untenured assistant professors will Luther, Chris Boudreaux and others. So that was a huge attraction to come here. Yeah, I appreciate that. I've had the good fortune as Dean to hire several of those folks and build on some of the strength that Gary Castro, Giovanni and, and others had, uh, built here at Florida Atlantic. But then bringing in these people and helping align the college of business with the university strategic plan is, is a great thing for us. And of course, adding you to that mix. We really appreciate you had led the American university center for innovation and entrepreneurship to a some record Heights. Can you talk to us about that experience? Sure. Well, that was a wonderful preview, especially to coming to Florida. Atlantic American university is a small private school, you know it because your, your niece is a student there and um, they've got the good components in place for a private school and we were able to build on that. So for example, just about the same time that Florida Atlantic University received a university wide NSF iCorps site grant, we had one, two. Um, and we were able to, to build on that as much as possible, even though we had limited sciences. I was also excited because we built a partnership with ACTA, which is a wonderful organization that recognizes some of the top centers in the U S and we were able to build lots of partnerships with the embassies in DC, but also the think tanks. And I'm excited to do that type of work here at Florida Atlantic university as well because already we're discovering that there are just so many wonderful opportunities to partner with them. I appreciate that as well. That many of the same reasons brought me here to Florida Atlantic six years ago. And as we look to build this school from its earlier reputation and build on the success and take it to that next higher level. One of those steps is something that you just mentioned with ACTA, the American council of trustees and alumni. And they do a, I think some excellent work recognizing centers and promoting uh, schools, centers, various ideas that they deem worthy of promotion. And a, we just got accepted for that recognition as an Oasis of excellence there with the Adams center. So thank you for your leadership and, and helping make that happen. Well, I'm, I'm really delighted about that. If you look at the list of the other 70 programs that have been recognized by ACTA as oases of excellence, and if you knew the folks behind those programs, running those centers, it'd be excited. It's great company. It really recognizes the student focus mission, the outcomes. And then also, you know, there are so many folks who want to donate and support universities and that's a stamp of excellence that says we honored donor's intent, we drive student outcomes, we're fiscally responsible. And I think that's going to be a nice, nice signal that we've earned here at FAU for the Adams center. Great. Great. And like I say, uh, that reflects the work of lots of folks, but it also reflects your contribution, uh, in helping us get that, uh, recognition this year. So, so thank you for that. I want to turn a little bit to your work as an entrepreneurship scholar. One of the things that is often talked about in the university is how much of entrepreneurship can we teach? Uh, what can we do in terms of entrepreneurship education? And this is an area that is near and dear to my heart. Uh, I think entrepreneurs are sort of the, the driving force and a capitalist free enterprise economy. Talk to us about your research, why you were interested in this area of research and then perhaps what you're doing in that area now and going forward. Thank you. Well, you know, my first attraction to entrepreneurship was that I saw this as the ultimate self actualization where folks could really achieve what they wanted to do. There's lots of research that shows that entrepreneurs may be stressed, but they're also some of the most happy people and can take good care of their families and their communities. So that's what initially led me into entrepreneurship. But I've also discovered that entrepreneurship is the way that we can innovate and develop businesses and support the basic structures of capitalism. And in fact, especially in today's generation, um, we get some students who somewhere along the way decided that maybe capitalism is evil. And I'm one way at least that I've discovered in prior university's teaching is that when we teach students to become entrepreneurs and they're, for example, filing their first payroll taxes and trying to figure out what to do with their revenues, they really gained an appreciation of capitalism. And, um, so for me that's really kept me, kept me in the business.
Speaker 3:I noticed some of your research on entrepreneurship has taken, ah, what looks to me at least from the titles of some of your articles, like some international comparisons. Can you tell us a little bit about what you were doing there and if I'm interpreting those, those titles correctly.
Speaker 4:Um, thank you. So some of my most cited work indeed is what I would describe as comparative international entrepreneurship. So there we're comparing different countries that have different entrepreneurship rates. Um, and that's often driven by different institutions. In fact, one of the most important institutions could be economic freedom and how much of those rents that individuals generate they're allowed to keep and how much, for example, governments or crony capitalism would prevent them from really realizing. So that's been a really fruitful path. And that was one that came to me because prior to my PhD I worked in Germany, did the masters in Norway, as you mentioned, had traveled all over the world and I did see different types of entrepreneurship, different businesses. So that's always been a passion and one that I think we'll continue to work on here at FAU.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's great. Uh, so let, let me go back a little bit to that educational path. Uh, we've talked about your master's degree, uh, in Norway, and then you went and got your doctoral degree at Cranfield in the UK. Did you do your dissertation research on entrepreneurship or something else?
Speaker 4:I did, I did. I did my PhD, actually an individuals who had left the corporate sector sometime of their, sometimes of their own choosing sometimes because there was a recession about that time and were setting up their own firms. And those were folks in that case who are leaving mostly the financial services sector. And again, I could really see their stories. I could see what were, what sorts of skills were they able to transfer, what types of social capital, but then importantly, how did they build their new businesses? Um, so I really enjoyed that. I started as a PhD student, more classic strategy, more topics on big corporations and then discovered entrepreneurship along the way.
Speaker 3:Yes, it's interesting. And when I, when I look across the university, I see this whole idea of entrepreneurship really encompasses lots of things. So when we go over to sciences and engineering, they're really talking about in many cases, technology commercialization, a startup businesses. If we go to the economics department, they tend to think as, as I do a bout the role of entrepreneurs in the economy. Uh, what kind of government policies may support or hold back entrepreneurs? We go to the finance department. They're talking about how do you finance people and how do you finance business ventures that are inherently startups where there's very limited information are commercial banks in this country are usually not very well suited to doing that. So they typically look for for other sources of financing. And then when we go to management, there are these things about strategy and frameworks and thinking about, uh, different ways to get startups. And I think in the broad philosophical sense, I think of entrepreneurship really in some ways as, as sort of the manifestation of what we think of as the American dream. You have a dream to start something to pursue freedom, pursue that life, Liberty and happiness, right? No guarantees, often not much of a safety net if anything, but I think it's really important for a, what we have in, in our country, in the dynamism that is a, a capitalist free enterprise economy that's more like a soliloquy on my part than an actual question for you. But what would you like to add to that?
Speaker 4:Sure. I wouldn't disagree with you at all. Um, you know, I think in a way the motto of FAU, unbridled ambition goes right along with entrepreneurship. I love that this university has it as a big tent. Um, so all of us own entrepreneurship because it's in the veins really of the university and we can easily collaborate with one another. So I'm pretty excited about that. And once again, by all of us working through entrepreneurship and little ways, right, could even be the scientist who files a patent and then wants to pursue the STTR or they ask BIR grant, he or she is going to then gain a greater appreciation for the role of capitalism, the importance of freedom in terms of, for example, a lack of red tape to bring that innovation to the market. Sure.
Speaker 3:Turning next to your teaching, I know that you've won some teaching awards. I've seen you give lectures. I'm not at all surprised, uh, that you've won those teaching awards. But I've also noticed this semester you seem to like to bring in external speakers, entrepreneurs in many cases into your class to compliment your lecture are lecturers. Can you talk a bit about your teaching philosophy and then what you do in the classroom?
Speaker 4:Thank you. Well that's one of the great benefits of Boca, that there are so many fabulous entrepreneurs within truly a couple of miles of campus. But I've always thought that those live cases would compliment the existing materials. So I tried to switch it up and even when I taught in remote places like Bloomington, Indiana, we would even Skype in folks. Um, because there weren't so many entrepreneurs and uh, and folks who are that easy to bring into the class. But that's been really important. I've written a couple of teaching cases, which I still use. And in those cases, even the, the protagonist entrepreneur there has actually also still Skyped into class, including here in Boca. That's certainly one of the philosophies. Another one is giving those lessons that in some cases are about corporate strategy or entrepreneurship, but then also trying to bring them down to an individual level. So, for example, while companies have strategies, so to individuals and you need to think about what resources and capabilities you can develop to get to where you want to go. So certainly those have been fun. And in fact, just before this meeting today, I was working on some class exercises for my spring classes. There you go. It sounds as if you're a bit of an entrepreneur in your own teaching approach, uh, as well, doing things, taking risks, trying things, maybe they work, maybe they don't. The live cases always bring with them a little bit of a risk. Right. So that's, that's wonderful. One of the other things that I noticed that I didn't know about you before we had, uh, brought you down here, but you were actually a world class athlete before you really took off on an academic career. So while you were in your doctoral program, and correct me if I have this wrong, but I think, weren't you the British ultra runner of the year? Yes. You know, it's an ultra running, like when a marathon is just not enough. That's right. So typically ultra marathon start at 50 K, which is a couple miles longer than a marathon. Um, so a marathon is 26.2 miles, then ultra marathon start about 42.1 miles and go up and uh, they're just a lot of fun. So I did those, started those during my PhD in the UK where there was a wonderful group of marathon runners and then got into the ultra marathon. And then when I did my postdoc in Australia, we also had a wonderful group of ultra runners down there. But then when I took my first tenure track job, which was at an R one institution, Indiana university, I promised them I would stop running and focus on my research. So I tried to pour all of that energy into my research instead. So you are the British ultra runner of the year while doing your PhD. Then you got your postdoc and you were also the Australian ultra runner of the year. That's right, yeah. That's, you're an American though. Yep. So there were a couple of times, this is a funny world because the ultra marathons aren't in the Olympics for lots of reasons. Pretty much all of them good. But it's a hard enough to maintain attention to a marathon. And B, those become quite long distances where you sometimes get racist, where less than 50% finish. So we were governed by the IWF, but we had our own rules. So if you lived in England and you were a resident as I was during my PhD, you could run for England because that was the, and you could run against Northern Ireland and Scotland and Wales. Um, so I was able to do that. And then for Australia, I was a resident of Queensland, so I was on the Queensland team and we did actually win the Australian marathon championships. So that was the gold coast marathon. And uh, we'd beat new South Wales, which was really big because that's where Sydney is, that has a few more runners. And um, then I was on the U S team because I was only ever a U S citizen. So I did represent them once in the world. Champ
Speaker 3:paint chips. Well that's, it's very impressive. And, uh, I will say I, I found some of that out when I was doing some research to write a letter for you for promotion and tenure, uh, on hire. And the first thing that popped up was your USA track and field page. And so, um, I, I don't know that this is accurate, but I suspect you may be, uh, certainly here the only FIU faculty member who also has a USA track and field page. I'm not sure that's correct, but I'd be willing to take a small bet on that. But I think if there was some combination of research accomplishments and ultra running accomplishments that you would be right up there if there was, if there was a fight, I think you'd be on the metal stand. I, I'm not sort of betting on you for the gold medal, but I'm not sure. Um, but it's, it really is incredible. I know a lot of, uh, faculty members who've been very accomplished though, who also have really good athletic careers. And I think there is something to the effect that the concentration and dedication that it takes to be a really good athlete or things that then also translates into accomplishments, particularly in research, which is for the most part a pretty self-driven kind of exercise. If you're not really self motivated and pushing yourself to do your research, it's um, you know, it's not going to happen. And so the dedication to practice and particularly to running a, or one of our colleagues actually, uh, Doug coming who we mentioned, he was a silver medalist in the Canadian winter games in speed skating. Uh, so the two of you are both quite accomplished athletes, uh, as well as quite accomplished, uh, scholars. So, all right, let me, let me go back to then. You are involved in our, uh, Adam center for entrepreneurship. Uh, w will be involved in the Phil Smith center for free enterprise and probably a bit involved in tech runway. And if you haven't gotten involved with them yet, you probably will hear before the year's over. As I've thought about it. I think the Phil Smith center kind of supports the philosophy of free enterprise and entrepreneurship. The Adams center provides some of that translational piece where you take that philosophy and put it into action where you bring the faculty who teach how to write a business
Speaker 4:plan and business mentors that help people move through, have the business plan competition, help the students move through. And if they're successful they can build a business. Me incubated in tech runway. Which parts of that do you see yourself fitting into and contributing strongly? Most strongly. That's a great question. Then I think about, often I'm excited about all of it because as you mentioned, it's a package. We have to teach the how do you do entrepreneurship? But we also have to communicate the why is this entrepreneurship so important? And then we have to do all the practical pieces too, right? So that down in the weeds, how do we set up an LLC? How do we set up a five Oh one C3. So I think all of that is exciting. And then building the connections across campus. Um, so I'm just excited to learn more about that. I've already been a mentor for one of the NSF iCore teams coming out of the deck runway and figure out how to can we really bring these pieces together. Very good. Very good. Well,
Speaker 3:I know that in addition to working hard and being engaged in all these things, you sort of enjoy being out at the beach and paddling your kayak up and down the intercoastal waterway. We're very glad to have you join us here in Boca Raton, have you and your family, uh, here and being part of our community both in the academic setting and in the business and a social community. So welcome. Thank you so much. We're absolutely delighted to be here and I'm very thankful also for my family because they're getting a chance to see a university and a business school that is on this amazing trajectory. And I think especially for the kids, it's wonderful to see that firsthand.
Speaker 5:[inaudible]
Speaker 3:to learn more about our activities and upcoming events. Please see our college of business website, business. fau.edu
Speaker 1:Dean Gropper presents his part of the FAU college of business podcast network. To learn more, visit us at business.fau.edu/podcasts and follow Dean Gropper on Twitter@FAUBusinessDean.