Kent State University College of Business Administration Professor Named Senior Research Associate

KENT, Ohio - April 29, 2016 - PRLog -- Pratim Datta, associate professor and Ph.D. director of management and information systems, has been recently appointed as a senior research associate at the University of Johannesburg's School of Entrepreneurship and Management.

As a Senior Research Associate, Datta can be recognized for any publication in affiliation with the University of Johannesburg School Of Entrepreneurship and Management. He also attends the university once a year to speak at a graduate seminar.

"Looking forward, I want to create engaging relationships and educate students about a very different culture," said Datta. "As well as building a bridge of research between Johannesburg and Kent State University."

Research conducted by Datta and his partner, Cecile Nieuwenhuizen, Ph. D., chair of entrepreneurship and management at the University of Johannesburg's School of Entrepreneurship and Management, includes looking at the climate of small to medium businesses as well as the entrepreneur's sense of their own abilities in maintaining a business over time.

"We are currently looking at why small to medium businesses get out of the market over time, which we refer to as the 'Climate Commitment Model,'" said Datta.

The Climate Commitment Model explains what business owners think, or if they are even thinking, of getting out of business. It is not always researching why they fail, but who is the most likely to fail. Knowing exactly what to change can prevent companies from exiting the market.

Johannesburg has asked Datta to look at companies that have inventions, as well as the innovation that goes on inside firms to find out why innovation is not accurately tailored to a specific company. Furthermore, he is trying to create a better mechanism to converge creative innovation with a company's long-term strategic objectives.

"Employees are given time to create new innovative ideas. These creative ideas or innovations are not in sync with the company, and end up being a waste of the company's time and resources," said Datta.

Datta looks to South Africa, as they call it the new democracy, a post-apartheid world.

"It is creating an interesting dynamic because it is a country that is in the process of reinventing itself," said Datta. "When you think of a country that's reinventing itself and a company's willingness to concentrate on innovations, it creates a broader sense of both complexity and opportunity."

Datta has more than 11 sole-inventions and patent applications. He also was noted as one of the top three inventors at Kent State by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs in 2011. His most recent invention is called the "Single Finger Operated Tourniquet" which has a drop delivery system built in. It is currently in the process of being patented.

Datta is a two-time Farris Family Research Innovation Fellow and an associate professor of Information Systems and Supply Chains at Kent State University. He has more than 55 journal articles and conference proceedings with multiple best paper awards and is ranked among the top 40 researchers.

Datta concentrates on information systems and supply chain use, performance and security as well as cross-functional corporate decision-making. At Kent State's College of Business Administration he has won the Paul Pfeiffer Professional and Teaching Award, received the Outstanding MBA Professor Award and is a professor for the Executive MBA Program. Furthermore, Datta is the founder and director of SCITS (Supply Chain and IT Strategy), a collaborative research hub panning industry and academia.

His areas of expertise include Technology Management, Supply Chain Security and Corporate Strategy Decision-Making, ERP Systems and Business Process Reengineering (BPR) as an Integrated Value-Addition strategy.

For more information on Dr. Pratim Datta at Kent State's College of Business Administration, visit http://business.kent.edu/staff/pratim-datta

###

Kent State University's College of Business Administration is fully accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business International (AACSB) and one of the largest colleges of business in Ohio.  The College has more than 4,300 students representing 50 countries with over 106 full-time faculty from 16 countries.

The college grants undergraduate through graduate degrees, and is one of only three public colleges in Ohio with a comprehensive Ph.D. program.  The MBA program is offered with nine concentrations and five dual degree options. The Executive MBA program offer two tracks: one targeting corporate professionals and the other healthcare executives.  The M.S. in Accounting and M.A. in Economics are specialized master's degrees for those seeking advanced study in these disciplines.  The college boasts nine undergraduate majors, 12 minors and a Professional Sales Certificate program.

The college is listed as a Best Business School by Princeton Review, ranked as a Best Business College by U.S. News and World Report, one of only 23 accounting programs worldwide to be endorsed by the IMA (Institute of Management Accountants), ranked Top-Tier for Executive Education in North America by CEO Magazine and ranked fourth by the SEF (Sales Education Foundation) in Ohio for Professional Sales Education.

The college boasts an onsite Career Services Center and International Programs Office dedicated to business students, and operates the Global Management Center, the Center for Information Systems and the Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation all propelling scholarly research, establishing innovative industry partnerships and providing outreach to Northeast Ohio and beyond.

Media Contacts:
Michelle Parrish Manning, Director of Marketing Communications, (330) 672-2717, mparris3@kent.edu

Alyssa Ronyak, Marketing Communications Specialist, aronyak2@kent.edu, 330-672-1279