Donald Harter

Professor Harter is the Director of Business Analytics. He earned his PhD from Carnegie Mellon University, where he was on the research staff of the Center for the Neural Basis of Cognition. Prior to entering academia, he spent 18 years in analytics and IT consulting where he was the Senior Vice President/General Manager of the Midwest region for a global consulting organization.

Research Topics

• Project management
• Software process improvement
• Effect of information technology improvements on product quality
• Productivity
• Hiring
• Salaries
• Attrition
• Analytics
• Deep Learning

Professor Harter teaches the MBA courses in business analytics and project management, and a PhD seminar in research methods.

Professor Harter’s research focuses on project management, process improvement, and deep learning applications. Previous research examined the organizational benefits of process maturity on software quality, development effort, and development time. His work examined the effect of software improvements on personal issues, including hiring policies, salaries, promotions, attrition, management span of control, and organizational design. Current research is exploring the application of deep learning to industrial processes and biological neuroscience.

Selected Publications

• "Does Software Process Improvement Reduce the Severity of Defects? ALongitudinal Field Study", IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 38(4), 810-827, 2012 (with Kemerer, C., Slaughter, S.)
• "Impact of Budget and Schedule Pressure on Software Development Cycle Time and Effort", IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering, 35(5), 624-637, 2009 (with Nan, N.)

Awards and Honors

• Whitman Graduate Service Award - Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University (2017)
• Whitman Graduate Faculty of the Year - Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University (2011)
• Whitman Teaching Fellow - Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University (2010)
• Whitman DCP MBA graduation Marshall - Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University (2005)
• Whitman MBA graduation Marshall - Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University (2005)
• Faculty Recognition Award for Outstanding Research Mentorship - University of Michigan (2003)
• Teaching Fellow - Eberly Center for Teaching Excellence, Carnegie Mellon (1999)
• Business Administration Undergraduate Teaching Award - Carnegie Mellon (1998)
• University Graduate Teaching Award Honorable Mention - Carnegie Mellon (1998)
• Air Force Award for Excellence - Air Force (1991)
• Hewlett-Packard/Ford Motor Company "Best-in-Class" in Information Technology - Hewlett-Packard/Ford Motor Company (1991)
• US Army recognition for excellence - US Army (1981)