Laurel Ofstein
Faculty Director, Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation | Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI, UNITED STATES
Laurel Ofstein's research examines creativity, innovation and strategy within ecosystems, specifically entrepreneurial teams and incubators.
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Biography
Laurel Ofstein is Faculty Director of the Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and Associate Professor-Fixed Term in the Department of Management. Prior to coming to Michigan State University, Dr. Ofstein was Associate Professor of Management at Western Michigan University, Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Operations Director of the student business accelerator. Her research examines creativity, innovation and strategy within ecosystems, specifically entrepreneurial teams, organizations, and incubators. Most recently, her research focuses on social entrepreneurship, both within an incubator setting, as well as within the community through cross-sector social partnerships. She recently concluded an academic sabbatical during which she researched community-based incubators focused on poverty alleviation and economic development and the financial and social challenges associated with these efforts.
Dr. Ofstein recently co-authored a white paper on growth strategies of successful women entrepreneurs in partnership with Babson College and Bank of America. Her research has been published in several academic journals, including the International Small Business Journal, the Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, and the International Journal of Management Education.
Dr. Ofstein has taught courses at both the graduate and undergraduate levels on entrepreneurship, family business, and strategy at Western Michigan University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and DePaul University. She has presented her research locally, nationally and internationally at academic and practitioner-focused conferences.
Before entering academia, Dr. Ofstein was a consultant in the financial services industry at Accenture, helping several Fortune 500 companies to streamline their financial processes and operations. She was also a Consulting Manager for a risk management company. Following her MBA degree at DePaul University, Dr. Ofstein served as the Assistant Director to the university’s Center for Creativity and Innovation and taught as adjunct faculty before pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Dr. Ofstein is a reviewer for several peer-reviewed entrepreneurship journals and has conducted editorial reviews of academic textbooks.
Industry Expertise (3)
Research
Education/Learning
Management Consulting
Areas of Expertise (3)
Management
Innovation
Entrepreneurship
Accomplishments (4)
Certificate of Excellence in Faculty Service (professional)
Haworth College of Business
Office of the Vice President of Research Support for Faculty Scholars Award (professional)
Western Michigan University
Family Owned Business Institute Research Scholar award (professional)
2013-2014
Best Student Paper Award (professional)
2010 Product Development Management Association Research Forum
Education (3)
University of Illinois at Chicago: Ph.D., Business Administration 2013
DePaul University, Kellstadt Graduate School of Business: M.B.A., Entrepreneurship and Marketing Management 2005
Kalamazoo College: B.A., Economics 1998
Affiliations (3)
- Academy of Management
- Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers
- United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship
Links (5)
News (1)
How Small Businesses Can Attract Holiday Shoppers in a Downturn
Harvard Business Review online
2022-12-16
As the threat of an economic downturn looms, many small business owners have become increasingly concerned about the impact of a potential recession on the critical holiday shopping season. These businesses often rely heavily on a winter sales bump to make ends meet. But this November, 73% of recently surveyed SMBs reported a sharp decline in consumer spending — and a record-breaking 41% were unable to pay their rent on time. What can small companies do to weather the storm and attract shoppers in a holiday season clouded by economic woes?
Journal Articles (5)
Change through chaos: using bricolage in cross-sector social partnerships
New England Journal of Entrepreneurship2021 The purpose of this paper is to explore bricolage as the missing link in understanding how cross-sector social partnerships form and operate in response to grand challenges. It is proposed that the weaving together of resources employed by members of cross-sector social partnerships (CSSPs) is bricolage in action and can be linked to Gray's (1985) facilitating conditions for collaboration. While existing research examines bricolage primarily at the individual level, this research studies collective bricolage, as implemented by a cross-sector social partnership in its process to address a grand challenge.
Direct and Indirect Effects of ICT Infrastructure, Skills, and Use on Entrepreneurship: A Cross-Country Empirical Investigation
Journal of Global Information Management (JGIM)2021 The information and communication technology (ICT) enabling infrastructure, requisite skills, and subsequent usage in the country could facilitate ease of doing business (EDB) and support the heterogeneous distribution of resources for new businesses to flourish and remain competitive. However, from a policy perspective, the pathways through which ICT impacts entrepreneurial activities in a country are not clearly understood.
SME response to major exogenous shocks: The bright and dark sides of business model pivoting
International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship2020 Within this short commentary, we explore the notion of pivoting; following major exogenous shocks, firms often contemplate business model pivoting where they change product or service offerings to capitalise on emerging opportunities. We assess the potential bright and dark sides of pivoting for new and existing firms in regard to quality of opportunities, fit with current capabilities and potential costs. The extant literature suggests that two forms of opportunities exist, arbitrage and innovation.
Coopetition among nascent craft breweries: a value chain analysis
Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development2018 The purpose of this paper is to employ an inductive approach to explore how small, nascent, firms in the craft brewing industry use cooperative behaviours with direct competitors to achieve their goals.
Perceived entrepreneurial munificence and entrepreneurial intentions: A social cognitive perspective
International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship2016 Adopting a social cognitive theory perspective, this article examines the factors that influence entrepreneurial intentions through the interaction between cognitive factors and perceived environmental munificence. Specifically, it introduces and demonstrates that the effect of one’s perceived ability to become an entrepreneur on the intention to engage in such a behaviour is contingent upon the perception of an environment rich in entrepreneurial munificence, in this case, within an incubator setting.
