EMC Research Fellow
Chamu Sundaramurthy, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Management
csundara@mail.sdsu.edu
Chamu Sundaramurthy is an associate professor of management at SDSU, specializing in corporate governance, entrepreneurship, and strategic management. She is an active member of the Academy of Management, the national professional organization for scholars in management, and regularly presents papers and chairs sessions at the organizations national meetings. Dr. Sundaramurthy received the Academys Business Policy and Strategy Division Outstanding Reviewer Award in 2000, 2002, 2003, and 2004. She was also elected to serve on the Divisions Research Committee (2002-2004). In 2005 she was recognized by the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy for her outstanding reviewing. Before entering academic life, Dr. Sundaramurthy practiced corporate and taxation law in India. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and served on the faculty at the University of Cincinnati and University of Kentucky before joining SDSU in 2003.
Her teaching interests are in the area of strategic management and international business. She has supervised a number of student field cases, including one project awarded the Graduate Comprehensive Case of the Year Award in 1999-2000 by the Small Business Institute Directors Association.
Research Abstract
Dr. Sundaramurthys current research focuses on the interface between governance and learning/innovation, with a focus on the governance of family businesses and IPO firms. Her prior work in corporate governance has been published in outlets such as Strategic Management Journal, The Academy of Management Review, Journal of Management, Journal of Managerial Issues, Managerial and Decision Economics, Journal of Business Ethics, Business and Society and The Academy of Management Best Papers Proceedings. The primary emphasis of Dr. Sundaramurthys on-going research on the governance of family businesses is on understanding the dynamics of managing the family and the business dimensions of a family business enterprise.
In their own wordsOn becoming interested in this particular topic:
[My] interest in this topic stems from two sources; first, from prior corporate governance research in which [I have] argued that governance entails balancing the need for monitoring managers with the need for empowering them so that they can enhance firm value. The family business context serves as a rich context in which to explore this idea. Second, personal experience balancing work and family serves as a motivation for [my] interest in family business dynamics, where the family and the business needs have to be harmonized for optimal performance. This stream of research (based on conceptual and qualitative work) will have immediate applicability to the entrepreneurial community, particularly for those managing family businesses.
