Dr. Pat H. Dickson is a Professor of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship and Associate Dean of the undergraduate program in the School of Business at Wake Forest University. He has also served as a professor of strategy and entrepreneurship on the faculties of Georgia Tech and the University of Louisville. Prior to earning his PhD in 1997 from the University of Alabama, Pat spent fifteen years as an entrepreneur, co-founding companies in the automotive parts and service industry and as a corporate executive serving as Director of Franchising for a regional retail and manufacturing company in the same industry.

Pat is currently a Fellow and a past-president of the United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE) Dickson has two areas of unique expertise: New venture creation - including opportunity assessment, resource acquisition, technology commercialization and the strategic management of new ventures. He also has a specific expertise regarding strategic alliances - including formation and structure and the use of alliances for resource acquisition, technology transfer and internationalization. His research has appeared in top journals in the management and entrepreneurship fields and has been awarded a Certificate of Distinction for Outstanding Research by the Academy of Management and the National Federation of Independent Business.

Dr. Dickson has two areas of unique expertise: New venture creation?including opportunity assessment, resource acquisition, technology commercialization and the strategic management of new ventures; Strategic alliances?including formation and structure and the use of alliances for resource acquisition, technology transfer and internationalization.

• Ph D, University of Alabama (Management) - 1997
• MS, Mississippi College (Communications) - 1978
• BS, Mississippi College (Communications) - 1975

Research Interests

• Strategic Alliance Formation
• Structure and Performance
• Internationalization of Entrepreneurial Firms
• Entrepreneurial Orientation and Firm Strategy

Teaching Interests

• Strategic Management
• Entrepreneurship
• Technology Innovation
• International Entrepreneurship

• Tokman, M., Mousa, F. T.,  Dickson, P. (2020). The link between SMEs Alliance portfolio configuration and top management's entrepreneurial and alliance orientations. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 16 (3),  1001-1022.  | more information
• West, P.,  Dickson, P. (2018). Intending to implement entrepreneurship research: Thirty years after Bird (1988).  G. Javadian, V. K. Gupta, D. K. Dutta, G. C. Guo, AS. E. Osorio, & B. Ozkazanc-Pan (Ed.),  (pp. 127-154). London: Palgrave MacMillan.
• West, P.,  Dickson, P. (2018). Intending to implement entrepreneurship research: Thirty years after Bird (1988).  G. Javadian, V. K. Gupta, D. K. Dutta, G. C. Guo, AS. E. Osorio, & B. Ozkazanc-Pan (Ed.),  (pp. 127-154). London: Palgrave MacMillan.
• Dickson, P., Weaver, K. M.,  Vozikis, G. S. (2013). The impact of the institutional environment on SME internationalization: An assessment of the environmental assumptions of emerging integrated models of internationalization. Journal of Applied Business Economics, 15 (3),  43-55.  | more information
• Tokman, M., Richey, R. G., Morgan, T. R., Marino, L.,  Dickson, P. (2013). SME supply chain portfolios: Firm satisfaction and organizational resources. International Journal of Logistic Management, 24 (2),  271-300.  | more information
• Vozikis, G. S., Weaver, K. M., Dickson, P.,  Gibson, B. (2012). The Role of Empathy in the Family Firm: A Theoretical Framework. Journal of Organizational Psychology, 12 (2),  18.
• Dickson, P.,  Weaver, K. M. (2012). Alliance formation and structure: The interplay between entrepreneurial orientation and institutional environment.  T.K. Das (Ed.), Management Dynamics in Strategic Alliances (pp. 1-21). Charlotte, NC: Information Age Publishing.  | more information
• Dickson, P.,  Weaver, K. M. (2011). Institutional readiness and small to medium-sized enterprise alliance formation. Journal of Small Business Management, 49 (1),  124-146.  | more information
• Weaver, K., Marchese, A., Vozikis, G.,  Dickson, P. (2011). Promoting entrepreneurship across the university: The experiences of three diverse academic institutions. Journal of Small Business and Entrepreneurship, 23,  797-806.
• Steensma, H. K., Marino, L., Weaver, K. M.,  Dickson, P. (2010). The influence of national culture on the formation of technology alliances by entrepreneurial firms.  Ari Ginsberg (Ed.), Strategies for New Venture Development (pp. 403-425). Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.  | more information
• Kreiser, P. M., Marino, L. D., Dickson, P.,  Weaver, K. M. (2010). Cultural Influences on entrepreneurial orientation: The impact of national culture on risk-taking and proactiveness. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 34 (5),  959-983.  | more information
• Tang, Z., Dickson, P., Marino, L., Tang, J.,  Powell, B. C. (2010). The value of organizational ambivalence in an uncertain world. British Journal of Management, 21 (4),  809-828.  | more information
• Tang, Z., Marino, L., Dickson, P.,  Weaver, K. (2009). A hierarchical perspective of the dimension of entrepreneurial orientation. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 5 (2),  181-201.
• Dickson, P.,  Weaver, K. M. (2008). The role of the institutional enviornment in determining firm orientation towards entrepreneurial behavior. International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, 4 (4),  467-483.
• Dickson, P., Solomon, G.,  Weaver, K. M. (2008). Entrepreneurial selection and success: Does education matter? Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 15 (2),  107-124.
• Tang, Z., Powell, B., Marino, L., Tang, J.,  Dickson, P. (2008). The impact of organizational goal setting on the industrial munificence-goal attainment relationship for SMEs. International Journal of Business and Management, 3 (3),  107-124.
• Dickson, P. (2007). Going Global.   (Ed.),  (pp. 155-175). : Praeger.
• Weaver, K. M., Dickson, P.,  Solomon, G. (2006). Entrepreneurship and education: What is known and not known about the links between education and entrepreneurial activity.   (Ed.),  (pp. 113-156). : Small Business Administration .
• Dickson, P., Weaver, K. M.,  Hoy, F. (2006). Opportunism in the R&D alliances of SMEs: The roles of the institutional environment and SME size. Journal of Business Venturing, 21,  487-513.

• 2015 - Highly Commended Paper Award 2014, Journal of Logistics Management
• 2012 - Spirit Award, Wake Forest Schools of Business
• 2011 - Best Paper Award, Advances in Business-Related Scientific Rsearch Conference 2011
• 2011 - T.B. Rose Fellowship in Business Award, Wake Forest Schools of Business
• 2009 - 2009 Outstanding Paper Award, Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development
• 2008 - Fellow, Justin G. Longenecker Fellow, United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE)

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