My name is Maung Min. I started my DBA program at Grenoble Ecole de Management (GEM) in Fall of 2009 with my US cohort, and successfully defended my dissertation in June 2013. My dissertation was entitled, “Does Corporate Social Responsibility really contribute to Corporate Financial Performance in the Pharmaceutical Industry?”
When I started my DBA journey, I was a 40 something global director for a Fortune 50 pharmaceutical company based in New Jersey, USA and managed its Sustainability program. Our corporate program was well recognized (ranked #1 by Corporate Responsibility Magazine, Best-in-Class by CDP).
Indebted to my employer for financing the lion share of my GEM DBA education and continuing to work for them after attaining my DBA I felt guilty of my urge towards potentially moving into academia. Starting in Spring’14, with my recent DBA, I was offered to teach an MBA capstone course at an AACSB accredited university in New York City (while still maintaining my full-time corporate position). I enjoyed it thoroughly and the experience confirmed my desire to enter the life of an academic.
So, when in 2016 I was offered a lucrative package by my pharmaceutical company I took it and went on a quest for a full-time position in academia. The opportunity came through within months! Since August 2016 I have been employed as Director of Business Programs/Assistant Teaching Professor at a campus of Penn State University. I serve as Program Lead running two degree programs, teaching three courses per semester, and serving as adviser to my business students.
A key reason for pursuing a DBA was that I wanted to make an impact through applied research. With my considerable experience in corporate sustainability strategy, I felt through DBA my contribution could be in the scholarly practice of sustainability, especially with managerial implications.
DBA education at GEM was extremely valuable. I was able to conduct a comprehensive literature review in sustainable business; acquire the necessary understanding and expertise in methods and techniques for research design, data collection, and data analysis – I conducted my primary research by developing a questionnaire with scientific rigor; published a paper in a quartile 1 academic journal using my DBA research findings.
Since my joining Penn State University, I have maintained a hefty research agenda. I have a multi-disciplinary research interest in Sustainable Business, and CSR Reporting. More recently, I have engaged in the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning (SoTL). My publication list continues to grow, having published nine papers in peer-reviewed academic journals. These include competitive journals such as: Sustainability Accounting, Management & Policy Journal; and Journal of Management Development.
I have also been fortunate in presenting papers at various conferences (Corporate Responsibility Research Conference (CRRC), which is dedicated to sustainability; Lilly Conference, dedicated to SoTL). In addition, I have facilitated and served as a panelist in various conferences as well. This includes the Engaged Management Scholarship conferences, which gathers doctoral students, alumni, and faculty from executive DBA programs (where GEM is a Board Member).
With my scholarly engagement, I strongly believe that I am making an impact not only in academia but also in business. I have been able to do so because of my DBA education, my vast corporate experience, along with my new career in academia.
Contact:
Dr. Maung Min - DBA 2013 Graduate
Director of Business Programs, Penn State University - Lehigh Valley campus
maungkmin@hotmail.com / +1 (609)751-1879 (US Eastern Standard Time), LinkedIn
