Gordon Walker

Professor
Bobby B. Lyle Professor of Entrepreneurship
Department Chair

PhD, Management, University of Pennsylvania
MBA, University of Pennsylvania
BA, Yale University

Strategy and Entrepreneurship

View CV

  • Bio

    Gordon Walker is Bobby B. Lyle Professor of Entrepreneurship and Chair of the Strategy and Entrepreneurship Group at the Cox School of Business at SMU. He received his BA from Yale University and an MBA and PhD from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. He previously taught at the Sloan School, MIT; the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania; and Yale University. Dr. Walker’s publications have appeared in numerous academic journals. The fourth edition of his book, Modern Competitive Strategy, was published 2016. He has been on a number of editorial boards and is currently on the Editorial Boards of Strategic Organization and Management Organization Review. He served in the Marine Corps as an infantry lieutenant from 1967 to 1970 and earned the Bronze Star with Combat V. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Alico, Inc. (NASDAQ) from 2005 to 2013, where he chaired the Strategy and Nominating and Governance Committees.

    Dr. Walker has consulted and performed contract research for many organizations including Southwest Airlines, Chaparral Steel, Sprint, Xerox, General Motors, Johnson and Johnson, Carlson Restaurants, EDS, Texas Instruments, The Associates, Novartis, United HealthCare and numerous smaller firms. His executive training programs include senior management seminars at SMU, the Wharton School, Yale University and INSEAD. He has been listed in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World. He was named among the best Business Policy teachers in the U.S. in 1994 and 1998 by Business Week magazine and received the President’s University Teaching Award in 1999 at SMU.

  • Teaching

    STRA 6202 Advanced Strategic Management
    STRA 6295 Directed Study in Strategy
    BAEX 6240 Emerging Markets
    MNGT 6210 Global Leadership Program
    BA 6331 Strategic Management
    STRA 6201 Strategic Management

  • Research

    By Area

    • Models of Network Development
    • Growth and Survival in Service Industries
    • Models of Vertical Integration and Outsourcing

    By Industry

    • Information, NAICS Code: 51, 1519
    • Telecommunications, NAICS Code: 517, 1569
    • Computer and Office Machine Repair and Maintenance, NAICS Code: 811212, 2174
    • Management of Companies and Enterprises, NAICS Code: 55, 1835

  • Select Publications

    “The Evolution of Heterogeneity in Performance,” (with Tammy Madsen), Strategic Management Journal. Forthcoming.

    “How Much Does Owner Type Influence Firm Performance? Evidence from China, 1998-2007,” (with Frank Xia) Strategic Management Journal. 2015.

    Profit Centers, in The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management. 2015.

    Competitive Heterogeneity, (with Tammy Madsen and David Hoopes) in The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management. 2015.

    The role and impact of computer simulation modelling in competitive strategy research, (with Richard Harrison), in Elgar Handbook of Research on Competitive Strategy, Northampton, UK; Edward Elgar. 2012.

    Governance Networks, Small Worlds, and Acquisitions in Germany and the United States, 2000-2005, (with Gerry Davis and Bruce Kogut) in The Small Worlds of Corporate Governance (ed. Bruce Kogut), Cambridge, MA; MIT Press. 2012.

    The Rise of Ecommerce as an Epidemic in the Small World of Venture Capital Syndication, in Advances in Strategic Management: Network Strategy, J. Baum and T. Rowley (eds.),  Northhampton, UK: Edward Elgar. 2007.