The William Davidson Institute
The William Davidson Institute
The William Davidson Institute
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Robert E. Kennedy

 

 

Robert Kennedy
Executive Director

Office
724 East University Ave.,
Wyly Hall, Room 1724
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
phone
+1.734.764.8539
fax
+1.734.763.5850
email

Dr. Kennedy’s research and course development activities focus on business strategy and industry dynamics following economic reform in developing countries.  Dr. Kennedy has published in leading economics and management journals and has written more than 60 case studies and notes on business issues in emerging markets.  Since 2000, Dr. Kennedy has been exploring the drivers and implications of the globalization of service activities and has written extensively on this widely debated issue of offshoring of service activities and the profound impact on businesses and governments in both developed and developing countries.   
Other Academic Appointments

Professor of Business Administration, Michigan Ross School of Business

Research and Teaching Interests

Business strategy in emerging markets, economic and development policy in emerging markets, post-liberalization industrial dynamics, the globalization of service activities, country risk analysis, foreign direct investment.

Michigan Ross School of Business: Business Strategies in Emerging Markets (MBA); Becoming an International Manager, The Executive Program (Executive Education).

At other institutions: New Opportunities in Emerging Markets; Business, Government, and the International Economy; Creating Modern Capitalism; The Economics of Market (all MBA); and Corporate and Competitive Strategy (Exec Ed).

Dr Kennedy worked with more than a dozen Fortune 500 companies and many smaller firms to design and deliver custom executive education programs.

Representative Publications

1. “External Liberalization and Foreign Presence: Cross-Industry Evidence from Central Europe,” Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, vol. 9.2, summer 2000.

2. Globalization and Development: Cases in National Economic Strategies, (with Richard H. K. Vietor), Fort Worth, TX: The Dryden Press, 2000. 

3. “Competitive Shocks and Industrial Structure: The Case of Polish Manufacturing,” (with Pankaj Ghemawat), The International Journal of Industrial Organization, vol. 17, August 1999.

4. “Competitive Policy Shocks and Strategic Management,” (with Pankaj Ghemawat and Tarun Khanna), in Managing Strategically in an Interconnected World, (eds.) M.A. Hitt, J. Ricart i Costa, and R. Nixon, (John Wiley and Sons), 1998.

5. “A Tale of Two Economies: Economic Restructuring in Post-Socialist Poland,” World Development, v25.6, June 1997. 

6. “Survivorship and the Economic Grim Reaper,” (with George Baker), The Journal of Law, Economics & Organization, vol. 18, No 2, October 2002.

7. “Strategy Fads and Competitive Convergence: An Empirical Test for Herd Behavior in Prime-time Television Programming,” Journal of Industrial Economics, vol. L, March 2002.  

In the News

May 30, 2008

WDI Executive Director Robert Kennedy is quoted extensively in a Forbes.com article about seven men who have become billionaires in the outsourcing industry. The Globalization of Services (GoS) is one of WDI's research initiatives, and Kennedy, along with GoS Research Manager Ajay Sharma, is nearing completion of a book on the topic. Click here to read the article.


March 5, 2008

The William Davidson Institute has announced a new partnership with The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. to bring business education to Rwandan women who have traditionally been denied opportunities in schooling and business. On March 5 the global banking firm kicked off a new initiative called 10,000 Women. It will provide 10,000 women, predominantly in developing and emerging markets around the world, with a business education. WDI is one of a select group of leading institutions and business schools partnering with Goldman Sachs.
Also, read about WDI's role in the program in this Washington Post article and Ann Arbor News article.


March 5, 2008

Ann Arbor News reporter Dave Gershman wrote an article about WDI's new partnership with Goldman Sachs. Read the article here.


November 16, 2007

WDI Executive Director Bob Kennedy participated in a panel discussion titled, “Is Consumerism Sustainable?” on Friday, Nov. 16. The discussion, moderated by Kai Ryssdal of American Public Media’s Marketplace, is available for viewing here.      




 
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