Greg Fisher

Larry and Barbara Sharpf Professorship
Professor of Entrepreneurship

Department: Management and Entrepreneurship

Campus: Bloomington

Areas of Expertise

Theory development, early-stage entrepreneurship, new venture resourcing, entrepreneurial resourcefulness, entrepreneurial strategy

Academic Degrees

PhD, University of Washington, 2012
MBA, Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, 2004
BComm (Hons), University of Johannesburg, 2002
BAcct, University of KwaZulu-Natal, 1997

Professional Experience

Senior Lecturer in Entrepreneurship, Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Expert Contributor and Advisor, Entrepreneur Magazine, South Africa
Cofounder and Director, Learninglab Inc.
Senior Manager, Deloitte

Awards, Honors & Certificates

2024 Kelley School of Business Management and Entrepreneurship Department Research Award
2023 Eyster Teaching Award at the Kelley School of Business
2023 Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award
2022 Named among the “Favorite Business School Professor Teaching MBAs” by Poets and Quants
2022 MBA Teaching Excellence Award at Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
2022 Helena Yli-Renko Research Impact Award from the Greif Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at the University of Southern California (recognizes an entrepreneurship paper that appeared in the top-tier management and entrepreneurship journals six years ago and received the highest citations in the five years following publication)
2021 MBA Teaching Excellence Award at Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
2021 Kelley School of Business Doctoral Program Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award, Indiana University
2021 Global Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers: Excellence in Entrepreneurship Teaching and Pedagogical Innovation
2021 Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award
2018 Emerging Scholars Award from Academy of Management Entrepreneurship Division
2018 MBA Teaching Excellence Award at Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
2018 Eyster Teaching Award at the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
2017 Article of the Year from the Journal of Business Venturing for the article entitled “Legitimate to Whom? Audience Diversity and Venture Legitimacy”
2017 Developmental Reviewer of the Year Award for Academy of Management Review
2017 Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability (ARCS) Conference Outstanding Paper Award
2017 Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award
2016 – 2021 John and Donna Shoemaker Faculty Fellowship in Entrepreneurship
2016 Outstanding Reviewer Award for Academy of Management Review
2016 Named among the “Favorite Business School Professor Teaching MBAs” by Poets and Quants website.
2015, 2014 & 2013 Nominated for the Indiana University Trustees Teaching Award.
2014 Named among the “40 Most Outstanding B-School Profs under 40 in the World” by the Poets and Quants website
2013 MBA Teaching Excellence Award at Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
2013 Best Paper Award at the Sustainability, Ethics and Entrepreneurship Conference, Denver, CO.
2011 MBA Teaching Award for best instructor in the full time MBA program at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa
2011 Outstanding Instructor for the Business Fundamentals program at the University of Washington, Foster School of Business.
2011 Best Doctoral Student Paper Award at the Western Academy of Management meeting.
2011 Best Paper Award in the Ethics/Diversity track of the Southern Management Association Meeting.
2010 MBA Teaching Award for best instructor in the full time MBA program at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, University of Pretoria, South Africa.
2010 Academy of Management Entrepreneurship Division IDEA Award in the Research Promise Category.
2010 Kenneth E. Clark Student Research Award from International Leadership Association.
2009 Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice Award for the Best Conceptual Paper for the Annual Meeting of the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management.
2009 Doctoral Student Paper award at the Southern Management Association meeting (Entrepreneurship/Innovation Track).

Selected Publications

Majzoubi, M., Zhao, E., Zuzul, T., and Fisher, G. (2025). The Double-Edged Sword of Exemplar Similarity. Organization Science, 36(1), 121–144.
Fisher, G., Josefy, M., and Neubert, E. (2024). Event-based entrepreneurship. Journal of Business Venturing, 39(1), 106366. View Full Text

Abstract

Many entrepreneurial opportunities are associated with events, including sports competitions, races and tournaments, concerts and music festivals, and conferences and exhibitions, yet this variant of entrepreneurship has not been specifically accounted for in the literature. We integrate insights from entrepreneurship research with research on temporary organizational forms, stakeholder theory, and platform strategy to define Event-Based Entrepreneurship (EBE) and propose factors that account for the founding and scaling of event-based ventures. In so doing, we lay the conceptual foundations and offer theoretical and practical directions for an expanded research agenda on EBE.
Fisher, G. (2024). Resourcefulness Enactment: The Sensemaking Process Underpinning Resourceful Actions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 48(4), 911-940.
Wood, M., Bakker, R., and Fisher, G. (2024). Unreasoned, Non-Deliberative, or Temporally Uncertain? Elaborating Time-Calibrated Entrepreneurial Action. Academy of Management Review, 49(2), 440-445.
Stevenson, R., Burnell, D., and Fisher, G. (2024). The Minimum Viable Product (MVP): Theory and Practice. Journal of Management, 50(8), 3202-3231.
Fisher, G., and Neubert, E. (2023). Evaluating Ventures Fast and Slow: Sensemaking, Intuition, and Deliberation in Entrepreneurial Resource Provision Decisions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 47(4), 1298–1132.
Burnell, D. S., Stevenson, R., and Fisher, G. (2023). Early-stage business model experimentation and pivoting. Journal of Business Venturing, 38(4), 106314. View Full Text

Abstract

Recent literature suggests entrepreneurs struggle to pivot—or fundamentally change aspects of their venture—due to identity-based resistance to change. Yet, when entrepreneurs receive negative feedback, overcoming this resistance may be important to pivoting their business model. We adopt a convergent, mixed methods research design to explore when and why some entrepreneurs overcome resistance to change in response to negative feedback during early-stage business model experimentation. Building upon qualitative data that we gathered and analyzed, we theorize entrepreneurs may resist pivoting their value proposition relative to other business model components despite receiving negative feedback on this aspect of their business model. However, we find three factors – entrepreneurial experience, startup mentoring, and team size – may enable entrepreneurs to pivot in response to negative feedback. We theorize that these factors broaden a startup team's perspective, enabling value proposition pivoting during early-stage business model experimentation. We test these relationships with quantitative data from 80 startups engaged in business model experimentation and find support across hypotheses. We contribute to understanding when and why entrepreneurs pivot aspects of their business models in response to negative feedback during early-stage business model experimentation.
Murray, A., and Fisher, G. (2023). When more is less: Explaining the curse of too much capital for early-stage ventures. Organization Science, 34(1), 246–282.
Wood, M., and Fisher, G. (2023). A Collective-Evolutionary Alternative for Appraising Entrepreneurship Theory. Strategic Organization, 21(2), 416–428.
Mathias, B., and Fisher, G. (2022). That’s our beer! Contentious category blending to create collegiate beer. Journal of Management, 48(3), 693-737.
Marvel, M., Wolfe, M., Kuratko, D. F., and Fisher, G. (2022). Examining Entrepreneurial Experience in Relation to Pre-launch and Post-Launch Learning Activities Affecting Venture Performance. Journal of Small Business Management, 60(4), 759-785..
Kotha, S. Shin, S., and Fisher, G. (2022). Time to Unicorn Status: An Exploratory Examination of New Ventures with Extreme Valuations. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 16(3), 460-490.
Kuratko, D. F., Fisher, G., and Audretsch, D. B. (2021). Unraveling the entrepreneurial mindset. Small Business Economics, 57, 1681–1691. DOI: 10.1007/s11187-020-00372-6
Fisher, G. (2021). New Venture Legitimacy. In Oxford Encyclopedia of Business and Management. Oxford University Press.
Fisher, G., Neubert, E., and Burnell, D. (2021). Resourcefulness Narratives: Transforming Actions into Stories to Mobilize Support. Journal of Business Venturing, 36(4), 106122.
Wood, M., Bakker , R. and Fisher, G. (2021). Back to the Future: A Time-Calibrated Theory of Entrepreneurial Action. Academy of Management Review, 46(1), 147–171.
Fisher, G., Stevenson, R., Burnell, D., Neubert, E. and Kuratko, D. (2020) Entrepreneurial Hustle: Navigating Uncertainty and Enrolling Venture Stakeholders through Urgent and Unorthodox Action. Journal of Management Studies, 57(5), 1002-1036.
Fisher, G. (2020). The Complexities of New Venture Legitimacy. Organization Theory, 1(2), 1-25.
Younger, S., and Fisher, G. (2020). The Exemplar Enigma: New Venture Image in an Emerging Organizational Category. Journal of Business Venturing, 35(1), 1-19.
Obstfeld, D., Ventresca, M., and Fisher, G. (2020). An Assembly Perspective of Entrepreneurial Action: Social Networks in Action. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 14(2), 149-177.
Murray, A., Kotha, S. & Fisher, G. (2020). Community-Based Resource Mobilization: How Entrepreneurs Acquire Resources from Distributed Non-Professionals via Crowdfunding. Organization Science, 31(4), 960–989.
Fisher, G. (2019). Online Communities and Firm Advantages. Academy of Management Review, 44(2), 279-298.
Liu, D., Fisher, G. & Chen, G. (2018). CEO Attributes and Firm Performance: A Sequential Mediation Process Model. Academy of Management Annals, 12(2), 789–816.
Zhao, E. Y., Fisher, G., Lounsbury, M., and Miller, D. (2017). Optimal distinctiveness: Broadening the interface between institutional theory and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 38(1), 93-113.
Fisher, G., Kuratko, D.F., Bloodgood, J., & Hornsby, J.S. (2017). Legitimate to Whom? Audience Diversity and Individual-Level New Venture Legitimacy Judgments. Journal of Business Venturing, 32(1), 52-71.
Fisher, G. & Aguinus, H. (2017). Using Theory Elaboration to Make Theoretical Advancements. Organizational Research Methods, 20(3): 438-464.
Kuratko, D.F., Fisher, G., Bloodgood, J. & Hornsby, J. (2017). The Paradox of New Venture Legitimation within an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem. Small Business Economics Journal, 49(1), 119-140.
Li, J., Chen, X., Kotha, S. & Fisher, G. (2017). Catch Fire and Spread It: A Glimpse into Entrepreneurial Passion in Crowdfunding Campaigns. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(7), 1075-1090.
Fisher, G., Kotha, S. & Lahiri, A. (2016). Changing with the Times: An Integrated View of Identity, Legitimacy and New Venture Life Cycles. Academy of Management Review, 41(3), 383-409.
Waldron, T., Fisher, G., & Pfarrar, M. (2016). How Social Entrepreneurs Facilitate the Adoption of New Industry Practices. Journal of Management Studies, 53(5), 821-845.
Fisher, G. & Kotha, S. (2015). Entrepreneurial Identity and Resource Acquisition: The Role of Venture Identification. In Eds Hitt, M., Zhou, J. & Shally, C., Oxford Handbook on Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Waldron, T., Fisher, G. & Navis, C. (2015). Institutional Entrepreneurs' Social Mobility in Organizational Fields. Journal of Business Venturing, 30(1), 131-149.
Waldron, T., Navis, C. & Fisher, G. (2013). Explaining Differences in Firms' Responses to Activism. Academy of Management Review, 38(3), 397-415.
Fisher, G. (2012). Effectuation, Causation and Entrepreneurial Bricolage: A Behavioral Comparison of Emerging Theories in Entrepreneurship Research. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 36(5), 1019-1051.

Edited on February 20, 2025