Virginia Tech®home

Devi R. Gnyawali

Department Head
  • R. B. Pamplin Professor
Headshot of Department Head Devi Gnyawali
2007 Pamplin (0233)
880 West Campus Drive
Blacksburg, VA 24061
devi@vt.edu
(540) 231-6353

Academic Area(s)

Strategic Management, Entrepreneurship, Technology Management

Biography

Dr. Devi R. Gnyawali is the Department Head and R. B. Pamplin Professor of Management in the Department of Management, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech. He also serves as a member of the International Advisory Board at the Umea School of Business and Economics in Sweden. He got his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.

Dr. Gnyawali’s research seeks to understand how firms learn, innovate, and create competitive advantages through competition, cooperation, and co-opetition (simultaneous pursuit of competition and cooperation). His current research focuses on two core areas: (a) Why and how firms engage in co-opetition and what are the implications of co-opetition? And (b) How firms acquire external resources possessed by their alliance partners, how they develop internal resources such as technology and shared knowledge, and how they leverage external and internal resources to become better competitors, to innovate, and to create competitive advantages? His research has been published in premier journals, including Academy of Management Review, Academy of Management Journal, Information Systems Research, Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, Research Policy, British Journal of Management, and Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice.

Dr. Gnyawali recently completed his term as the Associate Editor of Journal of Management, which is one of the top journals in management. He also served for ten years on the Editorial Board of another premier journal Academy of Management Review. He has organized international conferences and delivered keynote speeches at such conferences, serves as a reviewer for several premier journals and national/international conferences, and has received awards for Best Paper and Best Reviewer.

Dr. Gnyawali’s primary areas of teaching are strategic management, management of technology and innovation, entrepreneurship, and international management. He has taught to undergraduate, MBA, PMBA, EMBA, and Ph.D. students and has received awards for teaching excellence. He has taken several groups of students to Asia (Japan, Hong Kong, South Korea, and China) for many years and recently took students to Cuba for study abroad. Dr. Gnyawali has many years of international experience and has traveled extensively. He has managed business consulting service organizations, and served as a consultant for government and non-government organizations in several countries including Germany, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, Malawi, and Nepal. He has helped several organizations to plan and implement entrepreneurship development programs and trained trainers and entrepreneurs worldwide. He has also trained and consulted on various aspects of strategic management.

Research and Teaching Interests

Innovation, interplay of competition and cooperation or co-opetition, strategic alliances and networks, organizational knowledge and capabilities, managerial cognition, competition dynamics

Education

  • Ph.D. in Strategic Management, Katz Graduate School of Business, University of Pittsburgh
  • MS in Business Administration and Management, Tribhuvan University, Nepal, 1983
  • BS in Commerce, Tribhuvan University, Nepal, 1979

Positions Held

  • 12/16 - Current: Head, Department of Management, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech
  • 8/11 - Current: R. B. Pamplin Professor of Management, Department of Management, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech
  • 6/10 - 8/16: Director of Graduate Studies, Department of Management, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech
  • 6/10 – 8/11: Professor, Department of Management, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech
  • 6/03 – 6/10: Associate Professor with Tenure, Department of Management, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech
  • 8/97 - 6/03: Assistant Professor, Department of Management, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech
  • 1/97 - 5/97: Visiting Instructor, College of Business and Commerce, West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia.
  • 6/96 - 6/97: Assistant Director, Institute for Industrial Competitiveness, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Partial List of External Professional Services

  • Associate Editor, Journal of Management (July 2014 – Current)
  • Member of the Editorial Board, Academy of Management Review (2009-Current)
  • Member of the Editorial Board, Journal of Management (2008-2014)
  • Conference Co-Organizer and Organizer of the Doctoral Workshop, 2016 Rome Special Conference of the Strategic Management Society on Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Competition.
  • Reviewer for Best Papers/ Research Awards: Strategic Management Research Foundation (2015), Strategic Management Society Conference (2015), Academy of Management Review (2011)
  • Co-Organizer, Conference on Coopetition Strategy, Umea, Sweden (2014)
  • Organizer, Mid-Atlantic Strategy Colloquium (2013)

Selected Honors and Awards

  • Member of the International Advisory Board, Umea School of Business and Economics, Umea University, Umea, Sweden (2013-current)
  • Keynote speaker, Global Space Innovation Conference of the International Astronautical Federation, Munich, Germany (2015)
  • Invited Speaker, Conference on Co-Opetition Strategy, Sweden (2014)
  • Keynote speaker, Conference on Co-Opetition Strategy, Poland (2012)
  • Erasmus Mundus Visiting Scholar, Umea University, Sweden (2011)
  • Keynote speaker, Conference on Co-Opetition Strategy, France (2010)
  • Research Download Award, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech (2012)
  • Faculty Research Excellence Award, Department of Management, Virginia Tech (2011, 2007, 2004)
  • Excellence in International Programs, Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech (2013, 2012, 2008)
  • Outstanding Faculty in Doctoral Education Award Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech (2011)
  • Pamplin Excellence in Teaching Award and Warren Holtzman Outstanding Educator Award Pamplin College of Business, Virginia Tech (2010, 2004)

Selected Publications

Gnyawali, D. R., & Ryan Charleton, T. 2018. Nuances in the Interplay of Competition and Cooperation: Towards a Theory of Coopetition. Journal of Management, 44(7): 2511-2535 https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206318788945

Song, Y., Gnyawali, D. R., Srivastava, M. K., & Asgari, E. 2018. In Search of Precision in Absorptive Capacity Research: A Synthesis of the Literature and Consolidation of Findings. Journal of Management, 44(6): 2343-2374.

Gnyawali, D. R., & Ryan Charleton, T. 2018. Nuances in the Interplay of Competition and Cooperation: Towards a Theory of Coopetition. Forthcoming, Journal of Management.

Song, Y., Gnyawali, D. R., Srivastava, M. K., & Asgari, E. 2018. In Search of Precision in Absorptive Capacity Research: A Synthesis of the Literature and Consolidation of Findings. Journal of Management, 44(6), 2343-2374.

Gnyawali, D. R. and Song, Y. 2016. Pursuit of Rigor in Research: Illustration from the Coopetition Literature. Industrial Marketing Management, 57: 12-22

Sanou, F.H., Le Roy, F. and Gnyawali, D. R. 2016. “How Does Centrality in Coopetition Network Matter? Empirical Investigation in the Mobile Telephone Industry”. British Journal of Management, 27, 1: 143-160.

Gnyawali, D. R., Madhavan, R.M., He, J. and Bengtsson, M. 2016. “The Competition-Cooperation Paradox in Inter-Firm Relationships: A Conceptual Framework.” Industrial Marketing Management, 53: 7-18.

Srivastava, M.K., Gnyawali, D.R. & Hatfield, D.E. 2015. “Unpacking the Behavioral Aspects of Absorptive Capacity: Impact of Alliance Portfolio Resources on Innovation.” Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 92: 346-358.

Park, B.J., Srivastava, M. K. and Gnyawali, D. R. 2014. “Impact of Balanced Coopetition and Coopetition Experience on Firm Innovation”. Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, 26, 8: 893-907.

Park, B.J., Srivastava, M.K. and Gnyawali, D. R. 2014. Walking the Tight Rope of Coopetition: Impact of Competition and Cooperation Intensities and Balance on Firm Innovation Performance. Industrial Marketing Management, 43: 210-221.

Srivastava, M. K. and Gnyawali, D.R. 2011. “When Do Relational Resources Matter? Leveraging Portfolio Technological Resources for Breakthrough Innovation.” Academy of Management Journal, 54, 4: 797-810.

Gnyawali, D.R. and Park, B. J. 2011. “Co-opetition between Giants: Drivers and Consequences of Collaboration between Large Competitors.” Research Policy, 40: 650-663.

Gnyawali, D.R., Fan, W., & Penner, J. 2010. “Competitive Actions and Dynamics in the Digital Age: An Empirical Investigation of Social Networking Firms.” Information Systems Research, 21, 3: 594-613.

Gnyawali, D. R. and Park, B.J. 2009. “Co-opetition and Technological Innovation in Small and Medium Enterprises: A Multi-Level Conceptual Model.” Journal of Small Business Management, 47, 3: 308-330.

Gnyawali, D. R. Singal, M. and Mu, S. 2009. “Knowledge Ties among Subsidiaries in MNCs: A Multi-level Conceptual Model.” Journal of International Management, 15, 4: 387-400.

Tyler, B. and Gnyawali, D. R. 2009. “Managerial Collective Cognitions: An Examination of Similarities and Differences of Cultural Orientations.” Journal of Management Studies, 46, 1: 93-126.

Gnyawali, D. R. Offstein, E. H., Lau, R. 2008. “The Impact of the CEO Pay Gap on Firm Competitive Behavior.” Group & Organization Management, 33: 453-484.

Mu, S., Gnyawali, D. R. and Hatfield, D.E. 2007. “Foreign Subsidiaries’ Learning from Local Environments: An Empirical Test.” Management International Review, 47, 1: 79-102.

Gnyawali, D. R., He, J. and Madhavan, R. 2006. “Impact of Co-opetition on Firm Competitive Behavior: An Empirical Examination”. Journal of Management, 32: 507-530.

Offstein, E. H. and Gnyawali, D. R. 2005. “CEO Compensation and Firm Competitive Behavior: Empirical Evidence from the U.S. Pharmaceutical Industry.” Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 22, 3: 201-225.

Madhavan, R., Gnyawali, D.R., and He, J. 2004. “Two’s Company, Three’s A Crowd”? Triads in Cooperative-Competitive Networks. Academy of Management Journal, 47: 918-927.

Gnyawali, D. R. & Stewart, A. C. 2003. “A Contingency Perspective on Organizational Learning: Integrating Environmental Context, Organizational Learning Processes, and Types of Learning.” Management Learning, 34, 1: 63-89.

Tyler, B. B. & Gnyawali, D. R. 2002. “Mapping Managers’ Market Orientations Regarding New Product Success.” Journal of Product Innovation Management, 19, 4: 259-276.

Gnyawali, D. R. & Madhavan, R. 2001. “Cooperative Networks and Competitive Dynamics: A Structural Embeddedness Perspective.” Academy of Management Review, 26: 431-445.

Gnyawali, D. R. 1996. “Corporate Social Performance: An International Perspective.” Advances in International Comparative Management, 11: 251-273.

Gnyawali, D. R. & Fogel, D. S. 1994. “Environments for Entrepreneurship Development: Key Dimensions and Research Implications.” Entrepreneurship: Theory and Practice, 18, 4: 43-62.