Michael William Lawless

Background

Michael William Lawless was born on June 20, 1948, in New York City, to Harvey Edward Lawless and Anne Elizabeth Hindenlang Lawless. His professional life later connected academic management research with military service, executive education, consulting, and entrepreneurship.

Education

Lawless received a Bachelor of Science degree from St. John's University in 1970. St. John's, founded in Brooklyn in 1870, is a Catholic university whose New York setting connected undergraduate education with the institutions and industries of a major metropolitan region.

He earned a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1974 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree from UCLA in 1980. UCLA's Anderson School of Management developed within a major public research university and emphasized the study of management, organizations, and business practice in the changing economy of the western United States.

Career

Lawless began his academic career at the University of Colorado Boulder, where he was an assistant professor from 1982 to 1990 and an associate professor of strategic management from 1990 to 1996. The university, founded in 1876, is Colorado's flagship public research institution. During this period he also directed the Technology and Innovation Management Research Center in Boulder from 1987 to 1995, linking management scholarship with the study of technological development and innovation.

He held visiting professorships at the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1986 and Dartmouth College in 1992. UCLA is a major public research university, while Dartmouth College, founded in 1769, is one of the historic institutions of American higher education. Lawless subsequently joined Duke University, where he taught and researched strategic management and management of innovation in the Fuqua School of Business. Duke's business school, established in 1969, became known for combining management education with research on organizations, markets, and corporate strategy.

Lawless later taught at the University of Maryland and was a visiting professor at INSEAD, where he designed and taught courses in private equity and building business in India at the Singapore campus. He also taught at the University of San Diego, where his work included strategy, technological innovation, entrepreneurship, and experiential education. His teaching and research have addressed the evolution of organizations, the effects of technological change on markets, innovation, entrepreneurship, and the relationship between strategic goals and organizational performance.

His consulting work has included IBM, Qwest, Phillips Petroleum, Phillips Electronics, the United States Department of Defense, Wickes, and United States West. Through Michael Lawless, Inc. and Venture Doctor, he advised established companies, federal agencies, and start-ups on competitive analysis, business launches, new-product development, innovation management, change management, and entrepreneurship. He also founded consulting ventures and participated in the development of new businesses.

Lawless served in the United States Navy Reserve and attained the rank of lieutenant commander before retiring from naval service. His military background included intelligence collection and analysis, tactical air intelligence, training-program design, interagency and interservice coordination, and business-process work. His military recognition included the Joint Service Commendation Medal, two Navy Achievement Medals, and qualification as a rifle and pistol expert.

Achievements

• Lawless was recognized as an Ascendant Scholar by the Academy of Management in 1990, acknowledging emerging scholarly contributions in management research.

• His research and teaching addressed strategic management, technological innovation, entrepreneurship, organizational evolution, and the effects of technological change on markets.

• He developed experiential entrepreneurship and innovation programs at the University of San Diego, including the V2 student venture-pitch competition and related mentoring initiatives.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Technology and Strategy: Conceptual Models and Diagnostics

    (Co-authored with Richard A. Goodman, this book presented ...)

    1994

• edited book

  • Strategic Management in High Technology Firms

    (Edited with Luis R. Gomez-Mejia, this volume examined str...)

    1990
  • Organizational Issues in High Technology Management

    (Edited with Luis R. Gomez-Mejia, this volume addressed or...)

    1990

• journal article

  • Generational Technological Change: Effects of Innovation and Local Rivalry on Performance

    (This Academy of Management Journal article analyzed how s...)

    1996

  • Sources of Durable Competitive Advantage in New Products

    (Co-authored with Robert J. Fisher, this article examined ...)

    1990

  • Portfolio Restructuring and Limits to Hierarchical Governance: The Effects of Environmental Uncertainty and Diversification Strategy

    (Co-authored with Donald D. Bergh and published in Organiz...)

    1998

  • Choice and Determinism: A Test of Hrebiniak and Joyce's Framework on Strategy-Environment Fit

    (Co-authored with Linda K. Finch and published in the Stra...)

    1989

  • The Paradox of Stretch Goals: Organizations in Pursuit of the Seemingly Impossible

    (Co-authored with Sim B. Sitkin, Chet Miller, and Kelly E....)

    2011

Views

Lawless's scholarship treats organizations as systems that must adapt to technological change, competitive pressure, and shifting environments. His work on innovation, technological evolution, strategic groups, and stretch goals examines how organizations pursue growth while confronting uncertainty and limits on their resources.

His research on stretch goals presents ambitious targets as potentially useful under appropriate organizational conditions but also as capable of exposing vulnerable organizations to excessive risk. This perspective connects his academic interests in strategic intent, organizational learning, innovation, and the practical problems of managing change.

Membership

Lawless participated in the Academy of Management, the principal professional association for management scholars and educators, and held national leadership roles in the organization. He also belonged to the American Economic Association, the Strategic Management Society, and the Institute of Management Sciences, organizations concerned with economic research, strategic-management scholarship, and analytical approaches to management.

His other documented affiliations included the United States Naval Institute, the United States Naval Reserve Association, and Beta Gamma Sigma. His Academy of Management service included program, consortium, and division leadership, as well as editorial work for a management journal.

• Served as program chairman in 1990, consortium chairman in 1990, division chairman in 1991, and journal editor in 1993; also held national elected office.

  Academy of Management , United States

• American Economic Association , United States

• Strategic Management Society , United States

• Institute of Management Sciences , United States

• United States Naval Institute , United States

• United States Naval Reserve Association , United States

• Beta Gamma Sigma , United States

Interests

• Scuba diving, longboard surfing, and karate; second-degree black belt.

• Sport & Clubs

  Triathlon, including Ironman competition

Connections

Lawless married Margaret Elizabeth Minton on May 24, 1986. Minton worked as a marketing consultant and later as a senior consultant and president of Minton Lawless Associations. They have one child, Blake Minton Lawless.

Father:

Harvey Edward Lawless

Mother:

Anne Elizabeth Hindenlang Lawless

child:

Blake Minton Lawless

Wife:

Margaret Elizabeth Minton

Marketing consultant and senior consultant who later served as president of Minton Lawless Associations.

References

• Michael Lawless, PhD | University of San Diego Online Degrees Institutional biography describing Lawless's teaching, research, entrepreneurship initiatives, consulting, publications, Academy of Management service, and United States Navy Reserve career.
• Ascendant Scholars Professional association reference identifying Michael Lawless of the University of Colorado Boulder as an Academy of Management Ascendant Scholar in 1990.