George Ball

Associate Professor
Weimer Faculty Fellow

Department: Operations & Decision Technologies

Campus: Bloomington

Areas of Expertise

Product recall causes, effects and the recall decision-making process. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory policy, pharmaceutical, medical device, and automotive supply chain quality

Academic Degrees

Ph.D., Supply Chain and Operations, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, 2015
MBA, Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, 2003
BS, Aerospace Engineering, United States Naval Academy, 1994

Professional Experience

Associate Professor, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, 2021 - Present
Assistant Professor, Indiana University, Kelley School of Business, 2015 - 2021
Director of Manufacturing, AGA Medical Corporation, 2005 - 2010
Manufacturing Manager, Guidant Corporation, 1999 - 2005
US Naval Officer, 1994 - 1999

Awards, Honors & Certificates

MBA Teaching Excellence Award: 2024, 2025
Trustees Teaching Award, Kelley School of Business: 2017, 2022
Responsible Research in Management Award from the Academy of Management Fellows: 2022
Top 50 Undergraduate Professors, Poets and Quants: 2021
Journal of Operations Management, Jack Meredith Best Paper Award: 2019
Outstanding Junior Faculty Award, Indiana University: 2019
Alpha Kappa Psi Teaching Excellence Award, Kelley School of Business: 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021
Kristy Cua Doctoral Student Excellence Award and Fellowship: 2014
Carlson School Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship: 2013
Roger and Marlene Schroeder Doctoral Research Grant: 2013
Carlson School of Management Teaching Excellence Award: 2013

Selected Publications

Wowak, K., Busenbark, J., Ball, G., Natarajan, K. (2025). The Politics of Product Safety: Top Management Team Political Ideology and Serious Medical Product Recalls. Management Science, in press. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.03045
Noh, I., Gray, J., Ball. G., Wright, Z., and Park, H. (2025). Are All Generics Drugs Created Equal? An Empirical Analysis of Generic Drug Manufacturing Location and Serious Drug Adverse Events. Production and Operations Management, in press. https://doi.org/10.1177/10591478251319691
Wang, Y., Ball, G., Anand, G., and Park, H. (2025). Obligatory Responses to FDA Inspection Outcomes and Future Drug Shortages. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 27(3), 789-807.
Ball, G., Bavafa, H., Blanco, C., Park, H. P., and Wowak, K. (2024). Gender and Serious Drug Recalls: A Textual Sentiment Analysis of Drug Reviews on WebMD. Production and Operations Management, 34(4), 698-710.
Mayo, K., Webb, E., Ball, G., Bretthauer, K. (2024). Scheduling Smarter: Scheduling Decision Impact on Nurse-Aide Turnover. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 26(1), 182–196.
Darby, J., Ketchen, D., Ball, G., and Mukherjee, U. (2023). CEO Stock Ownership, Recall Timing, and Stock Market Penalties. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 25(5), 1909–1930.
Astvansh, V., Ball, G., and Josefy, M. (2022). The Recall Decision Exposed: Auto Recall Timing and Process Dataset. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 24(3), 1457-1473.
Mukherjee, U., Ball, G., Wowak, K., Natarajan, K., and Miller, J. (2022). Hiding in the Herd: The Product Recall Clustering Phenomenon. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 24(1), 392–410.
Mayo, K., Ball, G., and Mills, A. (2022). CEO Turnovers and Recall Risk Management in the Consumer Products Industry. Production and Operations Management, 31(2): 743-763. View Full Text
Wowak, K., Ball, G., Post, C., and Ketchen, D. (2021). The Influence of Female Directors on Product Recall Decisions. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 23(4), 895-913. View Full Text
Schmidt, C., Wuttke, D., Ball, G., Heese, H.S. (2020). Does Social Media Elevate Supply Chain Importance? An Empirical Examination of Supply Chain Glitches, Twitter Reactions, and Stock Market Returns. Journal of Operations Management, 66(6), 646-669. View Full Text
Ball, G., Shah, R., & Wowak, K. (2018). Product Competition, Managerial Discretion and Manufacturing Recalls in the U.S. Pharmaceutical Industry. Journal of Operations Management, 58-59(March), 59-72. View Full Text
Ball, G., Shah, R., & Donohue, K. (2018). The Decision to Recall: A Behavioral Investigation in the Medical Device Industry. Journal of Operations Management, 62, 1-15. View Full Text
Ball, G., Siemsen, E., & Shah, R. (2017). Do Plant Inspections Predict Future Quality? The Role of Investigator Experience. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 19(4), 534-550. View Full Text
Shah, R., Ball, G., & Netessine, S. (2017). Plant Operations and Product Recalls in the Automotive Industry: An Empirical Investigation. Management Science, 63(8), 2439-2459. View Full Text

Edited on May 27, 2025