Mark Desjardine

Mark is an Assistant Professor of Strategy and Sustainability at Pennsylvania State University’s Smeal College of Business. Prior to joining Smeal, Mark was an Assistant Professor of Strategy and Business Policy at HEC Paris, where he taught and oversaw Strategic Management in the MBA program.

Focusing on corporate short-termism, Mark’s research intersects strategy, sustainability, and finance. His primary focus is on understanding how investors shape the sustainability of companies and their actions toward other stakeholders. His work has been published in: 1) leading academic journals, such as the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, and Strategic Management Journal; 2) media outlets, such as Reuters, the New York Times, Bloomberg, Forbes, and the Financial Times; and 3) specialist outlets, such as Harvard Business Review, Principles of Responsible Investing, and Institutional Investor.

Mark has won won numerous awards for his research, including Best Paper Awards (AOM, SMS, ARCS) and People's Choice Awards (ARCS), as well as the Sumantra Ghoshal Research and Practice Award from the Academy of Management (Strategic Management Division). In 2021, Mark won two Emerging Scholar Awards, one from the Academy of Management (Organizations and the Natural Environment Division) and another from the Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability, a Responsible Research in Management Award from the Academy of Management Fellows Group, and the Best Article Award from the FIR-Principles of Responsible Investment.

Mark serves on the Editorial Boards of Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science, and Organization & Environment, and is a Representative-at-Large of the Stakeholder Interest Group of the Strategic Management Society.

Mark is a CFA Charterholder and holds a PhD from Western University’s Ivey Business School, where he was awarded the Governor General’s Gold Medal. Outside work, Mark is an avid outdoorsman who enjoys mountain biking, kayaking, and camping.

Education

• Ph D, Strategy and Sustainability, Western University, 2016
• CFA Charterholder, CFA Institute, 2013

Selected Publications

• Desjardine M. R., Shi W., Sun Z., "Different Horizons: The Effects of Hedge Fund Activism versus Corporate Shareholder Activism on Strategic Actions." Journal of Management, 2021
• Shi W., DesJardine M. R., "Under Attack! CEO Implicit Motives and Firm Competitive Responses Following Short Seller Activism." Organization Science, 2021
• DesJardine M., Shi W., "How Temporal Focus Shapes the Influence of Executive Compensation on Risk Taking." Academy of Management Journal, vol. 64, no. 1, 2021, pp. 265-292
• DesJardine M. R., Marti E., Durand R., "Activist Hedge Funds Target Corporate Social Responsibility." Academy of Management Insights, 2020, journals.aom.org/doi/epub/10.5465/amj.2019.0238.summary
• DesJardine M., Marti E., Durand R., "Why Activist Hedge Funds Target Socially Responsible Firms: The Reaction Costs of Signaling Corporate Social Responsibility." Academy of Management Journal, 2020
• DesJardine M. R., Durand R., "La vérité sur l’impact des fonds spéculatifs activistes." Harvard Business Review France, 2020, www.hbrfrance.fr/chroniques-experts/2020/02/29317-la-verite-sur-limpact-des-fonds-speculatifs-activistes/
• DesJardine M., Durand R., "Disentangling the Effects of Hedge Fund Activism on Firm Financial and Social Performance." Strategic Management Journal, vol. 41, no. 6, 2020, onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smj.3126
• Best Paper (ARCS 2019)
• DesJardine M., Bansal P., Yang Y., "Bouncing Back: Building Resilience Through Social and Environmental Practices in the Context of the 2008 Global Financial Crisis." Journal of Management, vol. 45, no. 4, 2019, pp. 1434–1460, doi:10.1177/0149206317708854
• DesJardine M., Bansal P., "One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: How External Evaluations Can Shorten Organizational Time Horizons." Organization Science, 2019, pubsonline.informs.org/doi/full/10.1287/orsc.2018.1259
• DesJardine M., "Under Pressure: The Causal Effect of Financial Analyst Coverage on Long-Term Capital Investments." Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings, 2015
• Sumantra Ghoshal Research and Practice Award by STR Division (Academy of Management).
• Bansal P., DesJardine M., "Business Sustainability: It is about Time." Strategic Organization, vol. 12, no. 1, 2014, pp. 70-78
• 5-year SO! WHAT Award (Best Paper)