Mendoza School of Business

Adam Wowak

Viola D. Hank Associate Professor of Management & Organization
Management & Organization
 574-631-8614
  353 Mendoza College of Business
  • Biography
  • Background
  • Publications
  • Books

Adam Wowak is the Viola D. Hank Associate Professor of Management & Organization in the Mendoza College of Business. He received his Ph.D., as well as his bachelor's degree, from the Pennsylvania State University. Prior to entering academia, he worked in investment banking.

Adam's research focuses on strategic leadership and corporate governance, with an emphasis on top executives and their effects on organizational outcomes. His work has appeared in many of the field's top-tier journals, including Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Strategic Management Journal, and Organization Science. His research has also been widely profiled in media outlets such as The Atlantic, Financial Times, Forbes, NBC News, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and others. Adam has served on the editorial boards of Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, and Organization Science. He also teaches MBA and Ph.D. courses in strategic management.

Education
Ph D, Pennsylvania State University
BS, Pennsylvania State University

Areas of Expertise
Strategic Leadership
Corporate Governance
Executive Compensation



"How do employees react when their CEO speaks out? Intra- and extra-firm implications of CEO sociopolitical activism", (With John Busenbark, Donald Hambrick), Administrative Science Quarterly, 67, 2022

"CEO sociopolitical activism: A stakeholder alignment model", (With Donald Hambrick), Academy of Management Review, 46, 2021


"Inducements and motives at the top: A holistic perspective on the drivers of executive behavior", (With Luis Gomez-Mejia, Adam Steinbach), Academy of Management Annals, 11, 2017

"The elephant (or donkey) in the boardroom: How board political ideology affects CEO pay", (With Abhinav Gupta), Administrative Science Quarterly, 62, 2017

"Earthquake or glacier? How CEO charisma manifests in firm strategy over time", (With Michael Mannor, Mathias Arrfelt, Gerry McNamara), Strategic Management Journal, 37, 2016

"Heavy lies the crown? How job anxiety affects top executive decision making in gain and loss contexts", (With Michael Mannor, Viva Bartkus, Luis Gomez-Mejia), Strategic Management Journal, 37, 2016

"Throwing caution to the wind: The effect of CEO stock option pay on the incidence of product safety problems", (With Michael Mannor, Kaitlin Wowak), Strategic Management Journal, 36, 2015

"Do CEOs encounter within-tenure settling up? A multiperiod perspective on executive pay and dismissal", (With Donald Hambrick, Andrew Henderson), Academy of Management Journal, 54, 2011


"Strategic leadership", (With Donald Hambrick), In I. M. Duhaime, M. A. Hitt, & M. A. Lyles (Eds.), Strategic Management: State of the Field and Its Future, 2021

"Whom do we want as our business leaders? How changes in the corporate milieu have brought about a new breed of CEOs", (With Donald Hambrick), In J. E. Ricart & J. M. Rosanas (Eds.), Towards a New Theory of the Firm, 2012

"Who's the new kid? The process of developing centrality in venture capitalist deal networks", (With Bret Fund, Timothy Pollock, Ted Baker), In J. A. C. Baum & T. J. Rowley (Eds.), Advances in Strategic Management, Vol. 25, 2008