Dr. Tim Pollock

Dr. Tim Pollock is a professor and researcher at Penn State. He is also a member of the Farrell Center.

Michael J. Farrell Chair in Entrepreneurship 

Dr. Pollock is a member of the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship and also a researcher at Penn State.  Broadly defined, his research focuses on the social construction of value in uncertain and ambiguous circumstances, particularly the contexts of corporate governance, executive compensation and entrepreneurial market environments, with a focus on the initial public offerings (IPO) market. He considers how social and political factors such as reputation, celebrity, social capital, impression management activities, media accounts, and the power of different actors influence IPO firm performance, survival, alliance formation activities, and executive recruitment and compensation. He is also interested in how entrepreneurs' experiences and organizational resource endowments influence their strategic decision making.

His research has won the 1997 INFORMS/Organization Science Dissertation Proposal Competition, the 2000 Lou Pondy Award from the Organization and Management Theory Division of the Academy of Management, the 2009 IDEA Thought Leader Award from the Entrepreneurship Division of the Academy of Management for the best recent entrepreneurship research and the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation Best Published Paper Award for 2010. It has also been selected as a finalist for the 2010Academy of Management Journal Best Paper Award. He has published articles in Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Strategic Organization, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Journal of Business Venturing, Human Communication Research, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Organizational Dynamics, Academy of Management Executive, British Journal of Management and Corporate Reputation Review.

He was an Associate Editor for the Academy of Management Journal from 2010-2013, and is a member, or has been a member, of the editorial boards of the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Business Venturing, Organization Science and Strategic Organization. He received outstanding reviewer awards for my reviewing activities from the Academy of Management Journal in 2004 and 2010 and from the Journal of Business Venturing in 2010. He also co-edited, along with Michael Barnett at Rutgers University, The Oxford Handbook of Corporate Reputation, published by Oxford University Press. He served a four-year term on the Executive Committee of the Organization Science division of INFORMS from 2006-2010, and served as Representative-at-Large on the Executive Committee of the Organization and Management Theory Division of the Academy of Management from 2006-2009. He is also an International Research Fellow of the Oxford University Centre for Corporate Reputation.

Prior to joining Smeal Dr. Pollock was an Assistant Professor at the Robert H. Smith School of Business of the University of Maryland from 2002-2004, and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business from 1998-2002. Dr. Pollock was the 2002 recipient of the Mabel C. Chipman Award for Teaching Excellence from the University of Wisconsin School of Business, and was named one of the Top Five MBA professors in 2000 by the Graduate Student Association. At Smeal he teaches an undergraduate elective on managing entrepreneurial start-ups and doctoral seminars on organization theory and organizational research design.

Dr. Pollock's current research focuses on the social construction of entrepreneurial market environments, particularly the initial public offerings (IPO) market. He considers how social and political factors such as reputation, celebrity, social networks, impression management activities, media accounts, and the power of different actors influence IPO firm performance, survival, alliance formations, and executive recruitment and compensation. He is also interested in sensemaking by entrepreneurs, and how entrepreneurs' experience and organizational resource endowments affect their strategic decision making.

For More Information Contact:

Dr. Tim Pollock                                                                                                                                            
Management and Organization
Smeal College of Business
The Pennsylvania State University
417 Business Building
University Park PA 16802-3603

Phone: 814-863-0740
Fax: 814-863-7261
E-mail:  

Publication List

Pollock, T.G., Lee, P.M., Jin, K. & Lashley, K., "(Un)Tangled: Exploring the asymmetric co-evolution of new VC firms’ reputation and status", Administrative Science Quarterly, 9/1/2015, 60(3), 482-517.

Acharya, A.G. & Pollock, T.G., "Shoot for the stars? Predicting the recruitment of prestigious directors by newly public firms",Academy of Management Journal, 10/1/2013, 56(5), pp. 1396-1419.

Boivie, S., Graffin, S.D. & Pollock, T.G., "Time for me to fly: Predicting director exits from large firms", Academy of Management Journal, 10/1/2013, 55(6), 1334-1359.

Lee, P.M., Pollock, T.G. & Jin, K., "The contingent value of venture capitalist reputation for entrepreneurial firms", Strategic Organization, 10/1/2013, 9(1), 33-69.

Pfarrer, M.D., Pollock, T.G. & Rindova, V.P., "A tale of two assets: The effects of firm reputation and celebrity on earnings surprises and investors' reactions", Academy of Management Journal, 10/1/2013, 53(5), 1131-1152.

Mishina, Y., Dykes, B.J., Block, E.S. & Pollock, T.G., "Why good firms do bad things: The effects of high aspirations, high performance and prominence on the incidence of corporate illegality", Academy of Management Journal, 10/1/2013, 53(4), 701-722.

Pollock, T.G., Chen, G., Jackson, E.M. & Hambrick, D.C., "How much prestige is enough? Assessing the value of multiple types of high-status affiliates for young firms", Journal of Business Venturing, 10/1/2013, 25(1), 6-23.

Pollock, T.G., Fund, B.R. & Baker, T., "Dance with the one that brought you? Venture capital firms and the retention of founder-CEOs",Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 10/1/2013, 3, 199-217.

Chen, G., Hambrick, D.C. & Pollock, "Puttin' on the ritz: Pre-IPO enlistment of prestigious affiliates as deadline-induced remediation",Academy of Management Journal, 10/1/2008, 51(5), 954-975.

J.R. Detert & T.G. Pollock, "Values, interests and the capacity to act: Understanding professionals' responses to market-based improvement initiatives in highly institutionalized organizations", Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 10/1/2008, 44(2), 186-214.

J.B. Wade, J.F. Porac, T.G. Pollock & S.D. Graffin, "Star CEOs: Benefit or burden?", Organizational Dynamics, 10/1/2008, 37(2), 203-210.

T.G. Pollock, V.P. Rindova & P.G. Maggitti, "Market watch: Information and availability cascades among the media and investors in the U.S. IPO market", Academy of Management Journal, April 2008, 51(2), 335-358.

T.G. Pollock & R. Gulati, "Standing out from the crowd: The availability enhancing effects of IPO-related signals on alliance formation by entrepreneurial firms", Strategic Organization, Winter 2007, 5(4), 339-372.

Y. Mishina, T.G. Pollock & J.F. Porac, "Are More Resources Always Better for Growth? Resource Stickiness in Market and Product Expansion", Strategic Management Journal, 12/1/2004, 25, 1179-1197.

T. Baker & T.G. Pollock, "Making the marriage work: The benefits of strategy's takeover of entrepreneurship for strategic organization", Strategic Organization, Fall 2007, 5(3), 297-312.

J.B. Wade, T.G. Pollock & C.A. O'Reilly III, "Overpaid CEOs and Underpaid Managers: Fairness and Executive Compensation",Organization Science, 9/1/2006, 17(5), 527-544.

J.B. Wade, J.F. Porac, T.G. Pollock & S.D. Graffin, "The Burden of Celebrity: The Impact of CEO Certification Contests on CEO Pay and Performance", Academy of Management Journal, 8/1/2006, 49(4), 643-660.

T.G. Pollock & H.M. Fischer, "Effects of Social Capital and Power on Surviving Transformational Change: The Case of Initial Public Offerings", Academy of Management Journal, 8/1/2004, 47, 463-481.

M.L.A. Hayward V.P. Rindova & T.G. Pollock, "Believing One's Own Press: The Antecedents and Consequences of Chief Executive Officer Celebrity", Strategic Management Journal, 7/1/2004, 25(7), 637-653.

T.G. Pollock, J.F. Porac & J.B. Wade, "Constructing Deal Networks: Brokers as Network 'Architects' in the U.S. IPO Market and Other Examples", Academy of Management Review, 1/1/2004, 29(1), 637-653.

V.P. Rindova, T.G. Pollock & M.L.A. Hayward, "Celebrity Firms: The Social Construction of Market Popularity", Academy of Management Review, 1/1/2006, 31(1), 50-71.

T.G Pollock, "The Benefits and Costs of Underwriters' Social Capital in the U.S. Initial Public Offerings Market", Strategic Organization, 11/1/2004, 2(4), 357-388.