Desmond Lo

Professor Lo's research interests cover distribution channels, business markets, and sales force. His research papers are published in prestigious journals in Marketing, Strategic Management, and Economics. His current research focuses on coordination and organizational governance in industrial, wholesale, retail, and knowledge firms. He has taught courses in marketing management, marketing strategy, distribution channels, sales force, and business marketing at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. He has received many teaching and research awards.

Externally, Professor Lo was an elected board member at the Society for Institutional and Organizational Economics (SIOE), and visiting research professors at Columbia University in New York and the University of Lyon in France. He has also been members of research groups at Kobe University and Kansai University in Japan and the University of Pompeu Fabra in Spain.

Prior to working in academia, he was business-unit manager at Hewlett Packard in China and Agfa in Asia. He also managed distribution channels for Toshiba and LG in China and Hong Kong. Professor Lo earned his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and M.A. in Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

RESEARCH INTERESTS

• Organizational Governance in Distribution Channels; Business Marketing; Salesforce Management; Contracting; Organizational Economics (Current focus: intra- and inter-firm coordination; allocation of authority; managerial attention)

Education

• PhD University of Michigan - Stephen M. Ross School of Business
• Master of Arts - MA UC Santa Barbara

Companies

• Chair, Marketing Department Santa Clara University (2018)
• Associate Professor Santa Clara University (2017)
• Visiting Research Professor Columbia Business School (2018 — 2018)
• Assistant Professor Santa Clara University (2010 — 2017)
• Visiting Professor Université Jean Monnet Saint-Etienne (2017 — 2017)
• Visiting Assistant Professor Santa Clara University (2008 — 2010)
• Business Unit Manager - Home PC China HP (2001 — 2001)
• Business Unit Manager - China, Hong Kong, Vietnam, & Philippines Agfa (1998 — 2001)
• Sales Manager LG Electronics (1996 — 1997)

PUBLICATIONS AND ACCEPTED PAPERS

• “The Incentive and Selection Roles in Sales Force Compensation Contracts,” Desmond Lo, Mrinal Ghosh, and Francine Lafontaine (2011), Journal of Marketing Research, 48(4), 781-798.
• “Pricing Formats for Branded Components in Business-to-Business Markets: An Integration of Transaction Cost Economics and the Resource-Based View,” Desmond Lo, Kellilynn Frias, and Mrinal Ghosh (2012), Organization Science, 23(5), 1282-1297.
• “The Double-Edged Effect of Knowledge Acquisition: How Contracts Safeguard Pre-Existing Resources,” Giorgio Zanarone, Desmond Lo, and Tammy Madsen (2016), Strategic Management Journal, 37(10), 2104-2120.
• “Price Delegation and Performance Pay: Evidence from Industrial Sales Force,” Desmond Lo, Wouter Dessein, Mrinal Ghosh, and Francine Lafontaine (2016), Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 32(3), 508-544.
• “The Strategic Use of Early Bird Discounts for Dealers,” Desmond Lo and Stephen Salant (2016), Quantitative Marketing and Economics, 14(2), 97-127.
• “Contracting to (Dis)incentivize? An Integrative Transaction-Cost Approach on How Contracts Govern Specific Investments,” Desmond Lo, Giorgio Zanarone, and Mrinal Ghosh, forthcoming in Strategic Management Journal.
• “Managing with Style? Micro-Evidence on the Allocation of Managerial Attention,” Desmond Lo, Francisco Brahm, Wouter Dessein, and Chieko Minami, forthcoming in Management Science.
• “Coordination and Organization Design: Theory and Micro-Evidence,” Wouter Dessein, Desmond Lo, and Chieko Minami, forthcoming in American Economic Journal: Microeconomics.