Laurel Ofstein

Faculty Director, Burgess Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation Michigan State University

  • East Lansing MI

Laurel Ofstein's research examines creativity, innovation and strategy within ecosystems, specifically entrepreneurial teams and incubators.

Contact

Michigan State University

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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

Research
Education/Learning
Management Consulting

Areas of Expertise

Management
Innovation
Entrepreneurship

Accomplishments

Certificate of Excellence in Faculty Service

Haworth College of Business

Office of the Vice President of Research Support for Faculty Scholars Award

Western Michigan University

Family Owned Business Institute Research Scholar award

2013-2014

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Education

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

  • Academy of Management
  • Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers
  • United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship

News

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?

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Journal Articles

Change through chaos: using bricolage in cross-sector social partnerships

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

2021

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.

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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.

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SME response to major exogenous shocks: The bright and dark sides of business model pivoting

International Small Business Journal: Researching Entrepreneurship

2020

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.

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