Marketing Department

Thomas S. Robertson
Dean, The Wharton School; The Reliance Professor of Management & Private Enterprise, Professor of Marketing and Management

Tom is returning to Wharton after a number of years. He was previously the Pomerantz Professor of Marketing and Chair of the Marketing Faculty. At Wharton, he served as Associate Dean for Executive Education and led the effort that built a major conference center on campus, designed an innovative set of new senior management programs, and substantially increased financial contributions.

Most recently, Tom was Chair of International Strategy at Emory University. He took responsibility for considering strategic alliance opportunities, international points of presence, new international and joint degree programs and the creation of international advisory boards. He also launched Emory’s Institute of Developing Nations – a joint venture research initiative with The Carter Center and President Jimmy Carter.

Tom was Dean of the Goizueta Business School at Emory University from July 1998 through December 2004. Under his leadership the Goizueta School built the intellectual capital of its faculty, raised student quality indicators, designed a new Ph.D Program and a new Modular Executive MBA, created international alliances, substantially increased its endowment, and completed a major addition to the Goizueta campus.

Before assuming the responsibility of leadership at Goizueta Business School, he was the Deputy Dean at London Business School responsible for the school’s portfolio of world-class degree and executive education programs. He was also the inaugural Sainsbury Professor and head of the Marketing faculty.

Tom’s business relationships have included a broad range of international companies as a board member, consultant, expert witness, and speaker. His expertise is in marketing strategy, innovation, market entry and market defense. His clients have included British Airways (UK), Dentsu Advertising (Japan), IBM, Procter & Gamble, Rolls Royce (UK), Schlumberger (France), Standard Life (UK), and The Federal Trade Commission.

Tom earned his Ph.D. at the Kellogg School, Northwestern University, and has also held academic positions at Harvard Business School, and UCLA’s Anderson School. His career as a scholar has encompassed research on the launch of technologies and innovations, as well as issues of marketing strategy under changing competitive environments. He has published in major international journals, authored a number of books, and lectured at universities throughout North and Central American, Europe, Asia and Australia. He has been recognized with awards as one of the most influential and cited marketing scholars.

Research Areas Marketing strategy and competitive behavior; diffusion of innovation; market signaling and competitive defense

Recent Consulting Procter & Gamble, IBM, Roche Laboratories, T. Rowe Price, Nestle Findus, ScottishPower, Standard Life, Merck, British Airways, and Verizon

Academic Positions Held Wharton: 2007-present, 1971-94 (Dean, 2007-present; named Reliance Professor of Management and Private Enterprise, 2007; Associate Dean, Executive Education, 1984-88; Chairperson, Marketing Department, 1978-84, 1988-1994; named the Pomerantz Professor of Marketing, 1987-94). Previous appointments: Executive Faculty Director, Institute for Developing Nations, Emory University, 2006-2007; Dean, Goizueta Business School, Emory University, 1998-2004; Deputy Dean, London Business School, 1994-98; Assistant Professor, Harvard Business School, 1968-70; Assistant Professor, Anderson School –UCLA, 1966-68

Career and Recent Professional Awards;

Teaching Awards American Marketing Association, best paper award, winter conference, 1996;

European Marketing Academy, best paper award, 1995; Planning Forum Award, first place prize article in Planning Review, 1993

Corporate and Public Sector Leadership 2003-2007

American Marketing Association;

Association for Consumer Research

Representative Publications

Handbook of Consumer Behavior, Thomas S. Robertson and Harold H. Kassarjian, eds., Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1991.

Perspectives in Consumer Behavior Thomas S. Robertson and Harold H. Kassarjian, eds., Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Fourth Edition, 1991.

"Winning the Take-Off Battle." European Business Forum Issue 20, pp.21-42 (with S. Kuester)(Winter 2005).

"Entry Strategy for Radical Product Innovations: A Conceptual Model and Propositional Inventory." (with E. Montaguti and S. Kuester)International Journal of Research in Marketing volume 19, pp.21-42 (2002).