David Obstfeld

David Obstfeld is Associate Professor of Management at The Mihaylo College of Business and Economics, at California State University, Fullerton, and an Affiliated Research Scientist at the USC Center for Effective Organizations. Prior to joining California State University, Fullerton, he was on the faculty of New York University’s Stern School of Business and the University of California, Irvine’s Merage School of Business.

Through multi-method fieldwork, interviews, and surveys, Professor Obstfeld examines how innovators orchestrate networks and knowledge to create new products, launch entrepreneurial startups and initiate social and artistic movements. With several thousand citations in Google Scholar, Professor Obstfeld is among the most highly cited researchers in organizations and social networks. He has published in such journals as Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Research in the Sociology of Organizations, and Industrial and Corporate Change. The American Sociological Association gave him the W. Richard Scott Award in recognition of his work’s outstanding contribution to the organizational discipline over the preceding three years.

He has received a major grant from the National Science Foundation and current research with collaborators in Europe and the US exploring the micro-mechanisms of brokerage-based innovation just received a three-year, 480,000 EUR Academy of Finland grant. His most recent research applies his social network and social capital focus to improve the educational success of first generation and underrepresented minority students.

Professor Obstfeld has taught entrepreneurship and strategy courses to undergraduates, MBAs, and executives. He has developed and introduced two new courses on lean startup entrepreneurship, and student social capital and career success. Professor Obstfeld received his A.B. from the University of Chicago and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. Before entering academia, he served as Director of Training and Development at The Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae).

Professor Obstfeld’s new book, Getting New Things Done: Networks, Brokerage, and the Assembly of Innovative Action, was published by Stanford University Press in 2017.