Michael Pirson

Michael Pirson joined the Gabelli School of Business as an associate professor of management systems in 2008. A scholar of humanistic management, which holds that business and commerce ought to advance human dignity and society, Dr. Pirson helped to establish an undergraduate sustainable-business concentration at Fordham. He teaches courses such as Social Entrepreneurship, Fundamentals of Management and Principles of Management, and his work spans the undergraduate and graduate levels.

A native of Germany, Professor Pirson has worked and lived in Switzerland, France, China, Costa Rica and the United States. Before beginning his academic career, he worked for an international consulting group for several years and then started his own private consultancy. He has worked for and with businesses, nonprofits, embassies, political campaigns, and local and national governments.

Dr. Pirson is the social entrepreneurship track chair for the Oikos-Ashoka Global Case Writing Competition in Social Entrepreneurship. He is also a founding partner of the Humanistic Management Network, an organization that brings together scholars, practitioners and policymakers around the common goal of creating a 'life-conducive' economic system. In that capacity, he is the co-editor of the Humanism in Business book series, published by Palgrave-McMillan.

Dr. Pirson is a research fellow at Harvard University and serves on the board of three social enterprises in the United States.

Education

• PhD: Organizational Behavior, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland
• MPA: (Diplome de Sciences Po), Institute of Political Sciences Strasbourg, France
• MBA: University Erlangen-Nuernberg Germany, Indiana University, US
• BA: Economics University Erlangen-Nuernberg, Germany

Research interests

Trust and Well-Being in Organizational Contexts, Mindfulness, Social Entrepreneurship, Sustainability, Humanistic Management, Philosophy of Management

Publications

Refereed Journal Articles

• Turnbull, S., Pirson, M. A. (2012) Could the 2008 US financial crisis have been avoided with network governance? International Journal of Disclosure and Governance 9, 238-263 (August 2012)
• Pirson, M. A. (2012): New Governance Models, IESE Insight, (June 2012)
• Pirson, M. A. (2012) Social entrepreneurship as blueprint for management in the 21st century. Journal of Social Entrepreneurship.(February 2012)
• Pirson, M. A.; Langer, E.; Ie, A. (2012). Conditioned to see- the malleability of visual acuity Journal of Adult Development, in press.
• Pirson, M. A. , Turnbull, S.(2011) Corporate governance , Risk Management, and the financial crisis- an information processing view. Corporate Governance: An international review.
• Pirson, M. A., Turnbull, S. (2011) Towards humanistic governance, Journal of Business Ethics.
• Pirson, M. A., Malhotra, D. (2011) Foundations of Stakeholder Trust- What Matters to Whom? Organization Science.
• Pirson, M. A.; Bloom G.(2010): The social entrepreneurship lab- a new educational model for impact. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, (39), 103-111.
• Spitzeck, H., Pirson, M. A.(2010) Introduction to the Humanistic Management Network. Journal of Psychology. 218 (4), 246-248.
• Langer, E. J., Djikic, M., Pirson, M. A., Madenci, A., Donahue, R. (2010). Believing is Seeing. Psychological Science. 21(5), 661-666.
• Dierksmeier, C., Pirson, M. A. The modern Corporation and the idea of freedom. Philosophy of Management, 9, 3.
• Pirson, M. A., Lawrence, P. R. (2010). Humanism in Business- towards a paradigm shift? Journal of Business Ethics. 93,553-565.
• Langer, Pirson, M. A.; Delizonna, L. (2010). Creativity and the mindlessness of social comparisons. Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts. APA-4 (2), 68-74.
• Dierksmeier, C., Pirson, M. A. (2009). Aristotle on Wealth and Well being. Journal of Business Ethics. 88, 417-430.
• Anglin, L.; Pirson, M. A.; Langer, E. (2008). Mindful Learning: A Moderator of Gender Differences in Mathematics Performance. Journal of Adult Development, 15(3).
• Pirson, M.; Malhotra, D. (2008).: Unconventional Insights into managing stakeholder trust (Sloan Management Review, Summer 2008 issue, SMR Top Ten Bestseller; Translated into Chinese (Beijing University Management Journal), and Spanish, (Harvard Deusto Business Review)
• Pirson, M.: Social Justice and Emotions (Sociology of Justice Working Paper Series - Sociology Department, Harvard University)
• Pirson, M: Managing in the 21st century- new paradigms required, Henley Management Executive Education Papers (2007)

Books

• Dierksmeier, C.,Kimakowitz, E., Spitzeck, H., Pirson, M. A. Humanistic ethics in the Age of Globality, Palgrave McMillan, 2011
• Hamschmidt, J., Pirson, M.- Cases in Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship- the oikos collection, Greenleaf 2011.
• Pirson, M. A. (2011). In Humanistic Management NETwork (Ed.), Business Schools under Fire- The future of management education. Palgrave MacMillan.
• Kimakowitz, E., Spitzeck, H., Pirson, M. A., Dierksmeier, C. Banking with integrity- the winners of the financial crisis? Palgrave MacMillan (2011).
• Kimakowitz, E., Pirson, M., Spitzeck, H. Dierksmeier, C., Amann, W.: Humanistic Management in Practice, Palgrave McMillan, 2010.
• Spitzeck, H.; Pirson, M.;.et al. (2009). Humanism in Business. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Pirson, M. A. (2008). Facing the Trust Gap - Measuring and Managing Stakeholder Trust. Saarbrucken: VDM Verlag.
• Pirson, M. A. (2008). Facing the Trust Gap - Managing Stakeholder trust (pp. 320). EDIS.

Book Chapters/Cases

• Pirson, M.A. (2012) Mindfulness in organizational contexts, Mindfulness, Edward Elgar.
• Pirson, M.A. (2012) Public Trust and its determinants, Public Trust, Cambridge University Press.
• Pirson, M.A. (2011) Social Entrepreneurship and Finance Business Models, Responsible Finance, Wiley& Sons.
• Pirson, M. A. (2010). Chapter 4 on Global Business. Management by collaboration. Routledge.
• Pirson, M. A. (2010). Social Entrepreneurship as a model for sustainable value creation. Handbook for Appreciative Inquiry. (Editors: David Cooperider, Tojo Thatchenkery), Berrett-Koehler.
• Pirson, M. A. (2010). Establishing and managing a trusting relationship. Career Guide for MBA's. University of St. Gallen Press.
• Pirson, M. A. (2010). BracNet- Humanistic Management in Action (pp. 350). Palgrave McMillan.
• Pirson, M. A. (2010). Novo Nordisk- Humanistic Management in Practice (pp. 350). Palgrave McMillan.
• Pirson, M. A. (2010). ABN Banco Real-Humanistic Management in Practice (pp. 350). Palgrave McMillan.
• Pirson, M. A. (2010). Introduction-Humanistic Management in Practice (pp. 350). Palgrave McMillan.
• Pirson, M. A. (2010). Conclusion-Humanistic Management in Practice (pp. 350). Palgrave McMillan.
• Pirson, M. A. (2009). Social Entrepreneurship as a blueprint for humanistic management. Humanism in Business. Cambridge University Press.
• Pirson, M. A. (2009). Introduction- Humanism in Business. Cambridge University Press.
• Pirson, M. A. (2009). Concluding Remarks. Humanism in Business. Cambridge University Press.
• Kimakowitz, E., Spitzeck, H., Pirson, M. A. , Dierksmeier, C. Introduction- Banking with integrity- the winners of the financial crisis. Palgrave McMillan.
• Kimakowitz, E., Spitzeck, H., Pirson, M. A. Dierksmeier, C. Conclusion- Banking with integrity- the winners of the financial crisis. Palgrave McMillan.
• Pirson, M. A. (2010). The role of Business over time ,The MBA under siege- The future of management education. Palgrave McMillan.
• Pirson, M. A. (2010). Basis for a humanistic curriculum , The MBA under siege- The future of management education. Palgrave McMillan.
• Pirson, M. A. (2010). Introduction : The MBA under siege- The future of management education. Palgrave McMillan.
• Pirson, M. A. (2010). Conclusion : The MBA under siege- The future of management education. Palgrave McMillan.
• Dierksmeier, C.,Kimakowitz, E., Spitzeck, H., Pirson, M. A. –Introduction- Philosophical Groundings of Humanistic
• Management, Palgrave McMillan, 2011
• Dierksmeier, C.,Kimakowitz, E., Spitzeck, H., Pirson, M. A. –Conclusion- Philosophical Groundings of Humanistic Management, Palgrave McMillan, 2011
• Pirson, M. A. (2008). Managing Stakeholder trust sustainably. Doing well by doing good:The Human Face of the New Capitalism. Information Age Publishing.
• Hamschmidt, J., Pirson, M.- Introduction-Cases in Sustainability and Social Entrepreneurship- the oikos collection, Greenleaf 2011.
• Ebrahim, A.; Pirson, M., Mangas, P.: Brummer and BracNet, Harvard Business School Case on Social entrepreneurship/Base of the pyramid entrepreneurship. HBSP:9-309-065