Archive for February, 2018

DSEF Welcomes Its Newest Fellows

DSEF Welcomes Its Newest Fellows

DSEF’s academic partnerships serve to inform and educate students – highlighting direct selling as a go-to-market strategy and pathway to entrepreneurship and micro-entrepreneurship.

DSEF warmly welcomes our newest Fellows:

Dr. Can “John” Uslay
Associate Professor of Marketing
Director of Special Projects
Co-Director for the Center for Market Advantage
Chair, Entrepreneurial Marketing SIG, AMA
Rutgers Business School at Newark and New Brunswick
Rutgers University

Dr. Fabian Eggers
Associate Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship
Menlo College

Dr. Abdul Ali
Associate Professor of Marketing and Entrepreneurship
Faculty Director, Division of Marketing
Babson College

Dr. William “Bill” Johnson
Student Success Navigator
Life Design Catalyst Coach and Facilitator
Instructor and Coleman Fellow of Entrepreneurship
School of Health and Human Sciences
The University of North Carolina at Greensboro

Dr. Olivier Rubel
Associate Professor of Marketing,
Graduate School of Management
University of California – Davis

Dr. Dustin Bluhm
Assistant Professor of Management
College of Business
University of Colorado – Colorado Springs

Dr. Mark Peterson
Professor of Marketing
College of Business Department of Management & Marketing
University of Wyoming

Dr. Lisa Spiller
Distinguished Professor of Marketing
Joseph W. Luter, III School of Business
Christopher Newport University

Dr. Chris Hopkins
McLain Family Professor
Raymond J. Harbert College of Business
Auburn University

Dr. Karen Flaherty
William S. Spears Chair in Business Administration
Professor of Marketing
Spears School of Business
Oklahoma State University

Karen Hopkins
William S. Spears Chair in Business Administration
Professor of Marketing
Spears School of Business
Oklahoma State University

Dr. Theresa Clarke
Professor of Marketing
Wampler-Longacre Eminent Scholar
College of Business
James Madison University

Dr. Rajesh Srivastava
Associate Professor of Marketing
Jennings A. Jones College of Business
Middle Tennessee State University

Dr. Bo Dai
Assistant Professor of Marketing
College of Business
Georgia Southern University

Dr. Lori Long
Baldwin Wallace University
Associate Professor
Chair, Marketing and Entrepreneurship

Dr. Chen Liu
Assistant Professor of Finance
Assistant Professor of Business
Trinity Western University

Dr. Nathalie Duval-Couetil
Associate Professor of Technology Leadership, and Innovation
Director for Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Innovation Program
Associate Director, Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship
Purdue University

Dr. Sara Cochran
Entrepreneurial Programs Manager for the University of Missouri System
University of Missouri

Dr. Adam Bock
Lecturer in Management
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Dr. Art Sherwood
David Cole Professor of Entrepreneurship
Director of the IDEA Institute
Western Washington University

Ms. Joanne Cao
Assistant Professor of Marketing
The University of Southern Mississippi

Dr. Mark T. Schenkel
Jack C. Massey College of Business
Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship
Belmont University

News

Winners of the DSEF-Sponsored USASBE-MWE SIG Best Paper Awards

Winners of the DSEF-Sponsored USASBE-MWE SIG Best Paper Awards

DSEF, in partnership with the U.S. Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship’s (USASBE’s) Minority and Women Entrepreneurship Special Interest Group (SIG), sponsored a paper competition on the direct selling channel of distribution and micro-entrepreneurship opportunity.

One of DSEF’s key priorities is to fund and develop research and case studies that advance understanding of the direct selling channel. We achieve this goal through our partnerships with Fellows and academic organizations and are gratified that seven out the eight authors of these winning papers are DSEF Fellows.

It is with great honor that we announce the 2018 winners of the DSEF/MWE SIG Best Paper Awards:You can view these working papers through the links below:

BEST EMPIRICAL PAPER

Direct Selling in South Africa: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs

*Dr. Victoria L. Crittenden, Babson College

*Dr. William Crittenden, Northeastern University

*Dr. Haya Ajjan, Elon University

BEST CONCEPTUAL PAPER

Entrepreneurial Environment and Culture in Direct Selling Entry Decisions Of Hispanic Entrepreneurs: An Acculturation Approach

*Dr. SherRhonda R. Gibbs, The University of Southern Mississippi

*Dr. Caroline Glackin, Fayetteville State University

BEST TEACHING CASE

Traci Lynn Jewelry: Maximizing Shining Opportunities

*Dr. Caroline Glackin, Fayetteville State University

BEST DEVELOPMENTAL PAPER

Exploring the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem of Marginalized Direct Sellers: Needs of Military Spouses

*Dr. Tracey Mays, Minot State University

*Dr. Art Sherwood, Western Washington University

Dr. Lyzona Marshall, Seton Hill University

*DSEF Fellow

Blog

Incorporating Direct Selling in the Classroom by Dr. Victoria Crittenden

Incorporating Direct Selling in the Classroom by Dr. Victoria Crittenden

Direct Selling in the Classroom by Dr. Victoria Crittenden:

To me, there is nothing quite so great as leaving class on a high because students really seemed to engage with the class topic. I had such a euphoric feeling after leaving my Marketing Management class in the Master of Science in Entrepreneurial Leadership program at Babson College in mid-September. The topic for the day was “Go-to-Market Strategies.”

The students were to read the Harvard Business School note. “A Note on Direct Selling in Developing Economies,” and prepare the Harvard Business School case, “Designs by Kate: The Power of Direct Sales,” prior to class. I then started class with two DSEF videos: “Micro-entrepreneurship and the Gig Economy” and “Cutting out the Middle Man.”

With approximately three-fourths of the students in this master’s program from outside of the USA, there was considerable interest in the direct selling business model as a go-to-market strategy. Several students remained after the class ended to discuss the pros and cons of direct selling as a go-to-market strategy and how the direct selling business model might be implemented in entrepreneurial endeavors in various parts of the world.

I left class wishing that I had planned in advance for a way to capture the amazing classroom interactions. Since I had not done that. however, I emailed students and asked them to contribute some thoughts that I could include in a blog post. Here are comments from two students (one from each section of the class):

Nomah Javed (MSEL ’18) said: “I feel direct selling is an amazing way to reach your end customer down to the grass roots level. Especially for burgeoning entrepreneurs who don’t have seed money to set up this network on their own or reach customers. Again, it would work best for smaller, fast-moving goods which would benefit from the interpersonal interaction and persuasion involved in the process of direct selling. I think it’s a tremendous resource for third world countries, where women are the more subjugated gender and don’t necessarily have access to the same education and job opportunities. I feel direct selling gives people a chance to create something of their own despite their limiting circumstances. It can be used as an amazing empowerment tool for women. I would definitely think of it as a very strong proponent business model for my future venture.”

Philip Cobbinah (MSEL ’18) offered these comments: (1) Partnering with consumers is the best way of becoming a household name (#cobbyquotes). (2) It is entrepreneurship at your doorstep (#cobbyquotes).

Given that I taught two sections of the course and both sections were equally great. I think it is fair to say that the topic was well-received by all. The discussions were clearly the best I had with my MSEL students during our seven-week module on marketing management. I found that direct selling as a go-to-market strategy incites interest and engagement among students who have an entrepreneurial orientation and that this is particularly true in a cross-cultural classroom environment.