Dr. Michael E. Dobbs
Introduction Education & Training Conference Presentations Community Publications Funding & Grants Frequently Taught Courses Research & Creative Interests

Dr. Michael E. Dobbs

Professor of Management Office: 3010 - Lumpkin Hall
Email: medobbs@eiu.edu
Website: http://www.eiu.edu/business/personnel.php?id=medobbs

INTRODUCTION

     Dr. Dobbs joined the faculty at Eastern in 2009 after teaching at Southern Methodist University (SMU), LeTourneau University, and Arkansas State University.  His research and publications are primarily focused on Strategic Management issues related to sport, nonprofits, and small business.
      He serves as editor of the Journal of the North American Management Society and his work has appeared in journals such as Organization StudiesCompetitiveness ReviewInternational Journal of Sport Management, and International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal; he has reviewed materials for numerous academic journals, textbooks, and conferences; he has been quoted nationwide in the press on the formation of professional sports leagues; and he has been honored with best paper awards at academic conferences.

     While at Eastern, Dr. Dobbs' students have consulted for more than a dozen local businesses and nonprofits including Maddison Avenue Candle, Rowe Foundry, West Photography, Veolia, LifeLinks, Pumpkin Works, Taylor Studios, and Columbia Street Roastery.  This hands-on, practical approach was one of the primary reasons Dr. Dobbs has been honored with several teaching awards for the School of Business, Eastern Illinois University, and the EIU MBA program.  Prior to coming to Eastern, Dr. Dobbs and his students consulted for Bell Helicopter, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, Nortel, Re/Max, Abbott Labs, and dozens of others including the Ferguson Road Initiative for which he and the university were recognized with a Proclamation by City of Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert.

     Dr. Dobbs' professional experience includes work in wholesale sales, retail sales management, computer hardware support, and as a free lance sports writer for major papers in Dallas and Houston covering high school football.

Education & Training

Ph.D., University of Texas at Dallas, 1999; Organizations, Strategy, and International Management
M.B.A., Baylor University, Waco, Texas, 1991; Management and Marketing Concentration
B.A., University of North Texas, Denton, Texas, 1988; Communications/Public Address (minor: History)

Conference Presentations

Dobbs, M. E. (2023, March).  A Thanksgiving without family:  A Covid-19 employer dilemma case.  Accepted for presentation at the 59th Annual MBAA International Conference: North American Management Society, Chicago, IL.

Dobbs, M. E., & Tabit, J. (2021, March). The decision to play: College football in the era of COVID-19. Presented at the 57th Annual MBAA International Conference: North American Management Society, Chicago, IL.

Fredrick, T., & Dobbs, M. E.  (2020, March).  Communicating with external stakeholders:  An analysis of Midwestern business school websites.  Accepted for presentation at the 56th Annual MBAA International Conference:  North American Management Society, Chicago, IL.

Dobbs, M. E.  (2018, April).  Introducing students to international business: The Fortune Global 500 Home Country Game.  Presented at the 54th Annual MBAA International Conference:  North American Management Society, Chicago, IL.

Dobbs, M. E., Flight, Richard L., & Bayer, Mark A. (2017, March). Tumultuous times in Illinois higher education: Analysis, assessment & implications from business analysis tools. Presented at the 53rd Annual MBAA International Conference: North American Management Society, Chicago,IL.

Dobbs, M. E. (2016, March). Coopetition matrix: An examination of coopetition antecedents.  Accepted for presentation at the Annual Meeting of the Southwest Academy of Management, Oklahoma City, OK.

Dobbs, M. E. (2015, March). Getting messy outside the classroom: The use of real companies as subjects for semester-long student class projects. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southwest Academy of Management, Houston, TX.

Schwindenhammer, E. M., & Dobbs, M. E.  (2014, April).  Executive compensation in higher education:  Effects of institutional characteristics and performance on presidents' compensation.  Paper session presented at the 16th Annual Academic Conference of the Society of Business, Industry, and Economics, Destin, FL.

Dobbs, M. E., Boggs, D. J., Grünhagen, M., Palacios, L. L., & Flight, R. L.  (2013, November).  The influence of franchising percentages and age on franchisor mortality rates:  Evidence from the US automotive products & service sector.  Paper session presented at the 6th Bi-Annual International Conference on Economics and Management of Networks (EMNet), Agadir, Morocco.

Dobbs, M. E.  (2013, August).  Beyond the walls and ivory tower:  Engaging and managing external consulting clients for student class projects.  Pedogogy session presented at the 73rdAnnual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Teaching and Learning Conference, Orlando, FL.

Dobbs, M. E.  (2013, February).  Internal analysis in practice: Templates for firm and case analysis.  Paper session presented at the 49th Annual MBAA International Conference:  North American Management Society, Chicago, IL.

Dobbs, M. E.  (2012, October).  Porter’s five forces in practice: Templates for firm and case analysis.  Paper session presented at the 23rd Annual Conference of the American Society for Competitiveness, Washington, D.C.

Dobbs, M. E., & Pisarczyk, T. (2012, March).  The MOWST matrix for nonprofit strategic decision making.  Paper session presented at the 48th Annual MBAA International Conference:  Business, Society, and Government Consortium, Chicago, IL.

Dobbs, M. E., Harrison, J. R., Zhao, X., & Wade, J.B.  (2011, August).  The only game in town? Related agglomeration and the mortality of professional sports leagues.  Paper session presented at the 71st Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Organization and Management Theory Division, San Antonio, TX.

Dobbs, M. E.  (2010, October).  Co-opetition matrix for analyzing the cooperation competition mix in an industry: Examples from Major League Baseball.  Paper session presented at the 21st Annual Conference of the American Society for Competitiveness, Washington, D.C.

Dobbs, M. E.  (2010, March).  Bringing industry analysis alive in the classroom:  Using Microsoft Excel to create Strategic Group Maps.  Paper session presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southwest Academy of Management, Dallas, TX.

Dobbs, M. E., Roller, R. H., & Bovee, S. L. (2009, October).  Strategic implications of an external analysis of Christian colleges and universities.  Paper session presented at the Christian Business Faculty Association Annual Conference,  Rogers, AR.

Dobbs, M. E.  (2008, October).  It’s not fair!  A biblical examination of Adams’ equity theory. Paper session presented at the Christian Business Faculty Association Annual Conference, Indianapolis, IN.

Dobbs, M. E., Harrison, J. R., Zhao, X., & Wade, J. B.  (2008, July).  Niche characteristics and mortality of professional sports leagues.  Paper session presented at the 24th Colloquium of the European Group for Organization Studies, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Dobbs, M. E.  (2007, October).  CCCU business program rankings:  One benchmark for business school development.  Paper accepted for presentation at the Christian Business Faculty Association Annual Conference, Seattle, WA.

Dobbs, M. E., Harrison, J. R., & Zhao, X.  (2005, August).  Losing the Game: Competitive overlap and the failure of professional sports leagues.  Paper session presented at the 65th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Organization and Management Theory Division, Honolulu, HI.

Stahura, K. A., Dobbs M. E., & Greenwood C. M.  (2005, April).  Head coach turnover in Division 1-A football: Performance implications.  Paper session presented at the Southwest District American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation & Dance Conference, Phoenix, AZ.

Dobbs, M. E., & Nonis, S.  (2002, September).  Using the ETS Major Field Test in Business:  Impact of test taking motivation.  Paper session presented at the Marketing Management Association Educator’s Conference, Memphis, TN.

Dobbs, M. E., & Relyea, C.  (2002, October).  The international business quiz:  An in-class exercise introducing students to the world of international business.  Paper session presented at the 52nd Annual Meeting of Arkansas College Teachers of Economics and Business, Little Rock, AR. 

Dobbs, M. E., & Harrison, J. R.  (2000, August).  Losing the game:  The failure of professional sports leagues.  Paper session presented at the 60th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Organization and Management Theory Division, Toronto, ONT, Canada.

Dobbs, M. E.  (2000, August).  Who’s got game?  Density dependence in the organizational founding rates of professional sports leagues, 1871-1997.  Paper session presented at the Annual Meeting of the Southwest Academy of Management, San Antonio, TX. 

Dobbs, M. E., & Phene, A.  (1998, March).  Reexamining the effects of international diversification on firm performance: A comprehensive approach.  Paper session presented at the Academy of International Business: Southwest Chapter Meeting, Dallas, TX. 

Dobbs, M. E.  (1997, April).  Bounded rationality and foreign direct investment location decisions: An empirical investigation.  Paper session presented at the 12th Annual Texas Conference on Organizations, Austin, TX.

Community

MBA 5000 Strategic Consulting Projects
   Fall 2013:  Maddison Avenue Candle, Charleston, IL
   Spring 2013:  Rowe Foundry, Martinsville, IL
   Fall 2012:  Pumpkin Works, Paris, IL
   Fall 2011:  LifeLinks, Mattoon, IL
   Spring 2011: West Photography, Mattoon, IL
 

Publications

Wade, J.B., Harrison, J. R., Dobbs, M. E., & Zhao, X.  (2019).  Who will stay and who will go?  Related agglomeration and the mortality of professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, 1871-1997.  Organization Studies, 40(11), 1657-1684.

Dobbs, M. E., & Relyea, C.  (2019).  Introducing students to International Business:  The Fortune Global 500 Home Country Game.  Journal of the North American Management Society, 12(1), 20-26.

Dobbs, M. E. (2016). Book review: Tesla, SpaceX, and the quest for a fantastic future. Journal of Applied Management and Entrepreneurship, 21(1), 83-85.

Dobbs, M. E., & Schwindenhammer, E. M.  (2015).  Executive compensation in higher education:  Effects of institutional characteristics and performance on presidents' compensation.  Journal of the North American Management Society, 9(1), 14-28.  

Dobbs, M. E., Boggs, D. J., Grünhagen, M., Palacios, L. L., & Flight, R. L.  (2014).  Time will tell:  Interaction effects of franchising percentages and age on franchisor mortality rates.  International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 10(3), 607-621.

Dobbs, M. E.  (2014).  Guidelines for applying Porter’s five forces framework: A set of industry analysis templates.  Competitiveness Review, 24(1), 32-45.

Dobbs, M. E.  (2013).  Internal analysis in practice: Templates for firm and case analysis.  Journal of the North American Management Society, 7(1), 40-52.  Dobbs, M. E.  (2012).  Porter’s five forces in practice:  Templates for firm and case analysis.  Competition Forum, 10(1), 22-33.

Dobbs, M. E., & Pisarczyk, T. (2012).  The MOWST matrix for nonprofit strategic decision making.  Journal of Business, Society and Government, 4(1), 29-45.

Dobbs, M. E.  (2011).  Barriers to entry.  In L. Swayne & M. Dodds (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Sports Management and Marketing (Vol. 1, pp. 119-121).  Thousand Oaks, CA:  SAGE Publications.

Dobbs, M. E.  (2010).  Co-opetition matrix for analyzing the cooperation competition mix in an industry: Examples from Major League Baseball.  Competition Forum, 8(1), 35-43.

Dobbs, M. E., Stahura, K. A., Greenwood C. M., & Apache, R.R..  (2007).  The birth of leagues: Legitimatio1mpetition in nine professional sports.  1style="text-indent: -0.2in; font-family: arial; font-size: small;">žSD Journal of Research, 2(2), 56-60.

Stahura, K. A., Dobbs, M. E., Greenwood, C. M., & Apache, R.R.  (2006).  Succession in Division I intercollegiate football: The effects of changing head coaches.  Applied Research in Coaching and Athletics Annual, 21, 184-210.

Dobbs, M. E., Stahura, K. A., & Greenwood, M.  (2005).  Founding professional sports leagues: A statistical analysis, 1871-1997.   International Journal of Sport Management, 6(1), 15-29.

Stahura, K. A., Greenwood M., & Dobbs, M. E.  (2004).  Hiring patterns in intercollegiate athletics:  An introductory investigation into the relationship between athletic directors and head coaches.  International Journal of Sport Management, 5(3), 197-214.

Stahura, K. A., Greenwood, C. M., & Dobbs, M. E.  (2003).  Additional insights into occupational employment trends within women’s intercollegiate athletics:  Ranked program prestige.  Applied Research in Coaching and Athletics Annual, 18, 1-36.

Funding & Grants

Teaching Awards
     EIU School of Business Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award, 2017
     EIU Achievement & Contribution Awards, Teaching, 2017 & 2015
     EIU School of Business Outstanding Teaching Award, 2015 & 2011
     EIU School of Business Holley Ethics Curriculum Award, 2014 & 2021
Research Awards
     EIU Achievement & Contribution Awards, Research, 2013
     EIU School of Business Dudley Student Research Mentoring, 2013 & 2021
     Best Paper Award, 2012, American Society for Competitiveness, Wash., D.C.
Student Awards
     Elizabeth Schwindenhammer, Cengage Paper Award, 2014, SOBIE, Destin, FL
     Allison Tharp, Human Resources Paper Award, 2014, SOBIE, Destin, FL
     Tristan Pisarczyk, Distinguished Paper Award, 2012, MBAA Int'l; BSG; Chicago, IL
Service Awards
     EIU School of Business Balanced Contribution Award, 2013 & 2019
     EIU School of Business Outstanding Service Award, 2012
     EIU Achievement & Contribution Awards, Balanced, 2011

Frequently Taught Courses

MBA 5000, Strategic Management
MGT 4860, Conflict, Power, & Politics
ENT 4500, Entrepreneurial Venture Plan
BUS 4360, Strategy & Policy

Research & Creative Interests

Strategic Management -- Sports
Strategic Management -- Small Business
Strategic Management -- Nonprofits