Terry McGovern, DBA, DM

Teaching Interests

In teaching undergraduates, I strive to help them learn basic concepts and use a variety of means to ensure this happens including quizzes, real-world site visits, case-based homework, hands-on activities, and assignments where students teach chapters to the class and present findings on their interactions with businesses. With graduate and blended students, I focus on the adult learning theory and center my teaching to help them make sense of experiences they have had and how the advanced concepts they are learning apply to the real world. I help non-traditional students connect their experiences to the content. Typically, I do this by requiring job-related assignments, journaling, essay questions, and giving graduate students choices in the types of projects they wish to accomplish that best align with their educational goals.
Analytical, creative, ethical, and systemic thinking are part of every course I teach at each level. I do not just preach life-long learning. Through my consulting work, writing, conferences, continued education, and traveling, I aim to lead by example the importance of learning as a way of being.
I let students know they belong in the classroom, they are fortunate to be in it, I expect their best, I will give them my best, and their development is of the utmost importance to me. I push them by challenging them and holding them accountable for their work, their attending class, and delivering projects on time. I do this with deep-felt respect for education and a sincere concern for the students I teach.

Research Interests

Areas of interest:
• Primary: professional development (executive development, digital badges and employment)
• Secondary: strategy (succession planning, academic entrepreneurism) and case research.
Current research: Human capital development
• Digital badges and employer interest: Résumé audit study.
In the late spring of 2019, I applied to 1,848 entry level jobs using three versions of a résumé. A control version with basic skills, a version with 9 advanced business skills that were verified with academic digital badges, a third résumé with the same 9 advanced business skills but they were not badged. Results showed employers were more likely to be interested in candidate with badged skills; results were highly significant. Target journal: Academy of Management Journal.

• Heroically Reactive Family Small-Business Patriarchs: Two Career Journeys. Examination of two case studies about two different men facing retirement and their ambivalence toward succession planning. Presented at the Academy of Management’s annual meeting 2019. Targeted journal: Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice.

• Rock Valley PT: Capital financing for strategic growth. A case study concerning a successful Midwest Physical Therapy company looking to double revenues from $30M to $60M through growth. They are considering three options to obtain capital to finance M&A as well as de novo ventures: private equity (PE), an employee stock option program (ESOP), or a hybrid of PE and ESOP while balancing succession concerns. Target journal: Case Research Journal

Consulting Interests

I have consulted in the areas of strategic planning, leadership development, professional development, employee feedback systems, family business succession planning, and multi-generational workplaces.

Selected Publications

2023: The Veteran and the Election, North American Case Research Association (90 pp.)

2022: Student, Interrupted: Can Digital Badging Improve Programmatic Agility and Help IS Students During Crises?, Communications of the Association for Information Systems (25 pp.)

2021: People Development Institute: Selecting a Digital Badging Platform, Case Research Journal (22 pp.)

2021: YellowStarr Financial: Refocusing on Talent Management, Case Research Journal (18 pp.)

2020: Rock Valley Physical Therapy: Private Equity and Culture, Case Research Journal (34 pp.)

2019: Academic Digital Badges: Industry, Employment, and Prospects , ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (126 pp.)

2019: An Overview of the Global Open Educational Badge Movement: Opportunities and Challenges [Abstract]., Informing Sciences Institute (185-186 pp.)

2019: Skip Breitbach Feed & Seed: Pretty Soon?, Case Research Journal (34 pp.)

2019: Using data to uncover operational inefficiency., Informing Sciences Institute Muma Case Review (1-17 pp.)

2018: Micro-credentials and work skills development for adult victims of domestic abuse: An illustrative case study., Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE)

Research/Creative Awards

2021: Recognized for quality of editorial reviews for academic case studies submitted to the Case Research Journal. The arduous review process ensures high-quality cases and instructor manuals are accepted for publication by the journal and distribution through case outlets including Harvard Business Publishing. , Best New Academic Case Reviewer 2021, North American Case Research Journal

2019: This program provides Fellowships to doctoral students and early-career academics in the first three years of a tenure-track or equivalent appointment, to be trained in case research, writing, and teaching at the Annual Meeting of the North American Case Research Association. 8% selection rate. , Paul R. Lawrence Fellowship, North American Case Research Association