AR
Unit: McIntire School of Commerce
Department: McIntire School of Commerce
Office location and address
Rouss & Robertson Halls, Room 372
125 Ruppel Dr
Charlottesville,
Virginia
22904
Education
D.B.A., Management, Harvard Business School
M.B.A., Harvard Business School
A.B., Economics, Dartmouth College
M.B.A., Harvard Business School
A.B., Economics, Dartmouth College
Biography
Professor Cowen’s research interests center on how social dynamics shape judgment and action in organizational contexts. She studies how factors such as status, power, and social capital influence outcomes and decisions, particularly in the domain of corporate governance. Recently, Professor Cowen has published several studies that examine how external dependence and social capital shape interpretations and responses to governance failure. She is now at work on a series of studies focused on the adoption and structuring of CEO severance agreements. Her research articles have appeared in journals such as Academy of Management Journal; Strategic Management Journal; and Journal of Accounting and Economics. Professor Cowen also serves on the editorial review board of Academy of Management Review.
In addition to her research activities, Professor Cowen has taught courses on leadership, organizational behavior, and strategy at the Harvard Business School, the Kennedy School of Government, and the McIntire School of Commerce. She has worked with undergraduate and graduate students as well as executives from a variety of industries. Before pursuing an academic career, Professor Cowen worked as a Marketing Manager at Time Inc. in New York City.
Publications
Courses
Credits: 5
Provides an overview of corporate & global strategy, introducing frameworks for valuing companies, assessing the impact of strategic initiatives on firm value, & understanding corporate communication strategies & techniques. Topics include corporate governance, diversification, mergers & acquisitions, alliances, international market entries, DCF & relative valuation methods, corporate reputation management, investor & media relations.
Credits: 1–5
In this course, we consider a range of global perspectives and seek to understand the diversity of impacts and long term implications through the exploration of these topics.
Credits: 3
Corporate governance concerns the relationship between managers and a firm's other stakeholder groups including shareholders, employees, and the larger community. This course will explore fundamental theories of corporate governance and how governance practices differ across countries. We will discuss how globalization is driving changes in governance and examine different perspectives on what practices are best for international organizations.
Credits: 1
This course combines relevant classroom discussions, executive presentations, and a study trip to explore the interrelationships between business, politics, and economic development in the United States. We will use texts and documentary films to explore the history of American business and to analyze the factors that have shaped the current institutional environment.
Credits: 3
This course focuses on researching and writing a thesis on a global business topic. Students will identify and defend a thesis topic, review significant literature, refine thesis research methodology, present thesis proposal ideas for class critique, revise and formally defend a thesis proposal, and begin initial research. The approved thesis proposal will launch research that will culminate in a formal thesis defense in the spring session.
Credits: 2
This course leads students to investigate key operational issues in managing global operations and supply chains. It delivers the latest theories, principles, and methods of modern operations management and global supply chain management. The course relies on case discussions, lectures, readings, and assignments. The principal pedagogy for this course is instructor-led, group discussion of the results of analyses performed by students.
Credits: 3
This course will explore the process of consumer decision-making and its determinants, and the resulting implications for marketing strategy. Concepts and theories covered in this course are essential for consumer analysis and development of effective marketing strategies. In addition, the course will develop understanding of consumer behavior by exploring theoretical concepts borrowed from fields such as psychology, sociology, and economics.
Credits: 2
This course aims to provide today's non-financial managers with sufficient understanding of fundamental concepts and tools of financial management in international settings to be effective global managers.The course will review the institutional use and valuation of financial instruments such as currency futures, currency options, and swaps. We will discuss hedging against exchange rate risk. The course will use a highly applied orientation.
Credits: 1
This course will examine the business context of China, including Taiwan and Hong Kong. This course follows the "Doing Business: U.S." course and precedes the "Doing Business: European Union" course.
Credits: 2
The objective of the course is to present the students with some tools and methodologies to understand, interpret and manage sustainability in a corporate setting. Different companies refer to sustainability management using different terms, such as CSR, compliance, social impact, or shared value among others, but for our purposes these are all synonymous.
Credits: 2
This course seeks to familiarize students with concepts and models relevant to innovators and entrepreneurs. The course focuses on key aspects of the entrepreneurial process. It also seeks to prepare students to lead an innovative company beyond the scope of a startup, and to understand processes of corporate entrepreneurship, including those in large multinational firms. The course explores how to identify innovation while managing uncertainty.
Credits: 2
This course is designed to give students an introduction to the complex world of strategic alliances seen as an integrated process rather than watertight compartments of finance, business policy and human resources. By the end of the course, students should have grasped the complexity of such alliances, the risks they entail, and ways to increase critical success factors.
Credits: 2
This course covers the global nonmarket environment of the internationalized firm, with a special focus on Europe. First we cover the geopolitical dynamics as the overarching trends in a globalized economy. We then cover the European economy. The European Union, its politics and institutions are introduced prior to focusing on lobbying at the EU level. This course is provides an introduction to nonmarket strategy at an international level.
Credits: 2
This course aims to provide students with experience and top management vision, while validating and assessing the necessity of proven business management tools. The course provides the experience of managing an organization in a rapidly moving, competitive environment. The business simulation is an interactive experience integrating business administration's and strategic management's most relevant concepts.
Credits: 5
This course involves the research and completion of a written thesis on an approved global business topic and culminates in a formal thesis defense.
Credits: 2
This course builds on the Strategic Leadership course offered in the fall. It draws on insights from psychology and behavioral economics to explore negotiations and conflict management in organizational settings. The course's interactive format develops students' ability to negotiate strategically for individual and organizational success, and to handle conflict effectively in cross-cultural contexts.
Credits: 1–9
Students taking this course will explore areas and issues of special interest that are not otherwise covered in the graduate curriculum. This course is offered at the discretion of the supervising professor.