Head shot of Trent Williams

Trent Williams

Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship,
Management
Download Vita

Website: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=oWmwx8gAAAAJ&hl=en

To view contact information, verify you are human below:

Biography

Trent Williams is an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship. Prior to joining BYU, he held similar positions at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University. He obtained a BA in English and Philosophy from BYU, MS in OBHR / Strategic management from the Krannert School of Management (Purdue University), and an MS in Business and PhD in Entrepreneurship and Strategy at the Kelley School of Business (Indiana University). Prior to his career in academia, Trent worked with two startup firms before a career in management consulting with Deloitte Consulting and then PwC Advisory. His consulting work focused on facilitating corporate strategy processes and solutions, launching products / services as part of a corporate differentiation strategy (i.e., corporate entrepreneurship), and strategy implementation. These experiences shaped his interest in the tensions organizations (new and old) face in maximizing value from existing successes while simultaneously seeking to renew and improve organizations into the future.

Trent's academic career has focused predominantly on new venture emergence and creation processes, innovation, and social-psychological factors influencing entrepreneurial decision making. His research resides at the intersection of entrepreneurship and organization theories and focuses on community-organization emergence, value (social, environmental, and economic) from venturing, decision-making, venture growth / survival tradeoffs, resourcefulness, and resilience. His work as appeared in a variety of management and entrepreneurship journals (e.g., Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Journal of Business Venturing, Organization Science, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Journal of Management, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Academy of Management Annals, etc.) and books (MIT Press; CambridgeUniversity Press).

Trent has taught MBA, Executive MBA, and Undergraduate business classes and has also done consulting in helping organizations plan for and deliver rapid innovation processes through design sprints. He has taught courses and run workshops on the following topics: Design sprints for rapid innovation development, entrepreneurship, new venture strategies (launch, professionalize, pivot, grow, exit, etc.), business and corporate strategy, decision making under uncertainty, and strategies for organizational innovation and renewal.

Selected Publications

Awards

  • Article Impact Award Top 3 Finalist, Academy of Management Journal, 2024
  • Kelley School of Business Research Award, Kelley School of Business--Indiana University, 2022
  • Trustees Teaching Award Nominee, Kelley School of Business-Indiana University, 2022
  • Poets and Quants 40 under 40 Award, Poets & Quants, 2021
  • Best Paper Award, Babson College Entrepreneurship Research Conference, 2020
  • Emerging Scholar Award, AOM Entrepreneurship Division, 2019
  • Responsible Research in Management Presidential Award Winner, IACMR, 2019
  • Eyster Teaching Award, Kelley School of Business-Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, 2018
  • Whitman Diversity and Inclusion Research Grant Award, Syracuse University Whitman School of Management, 2018
  • Best Paper Award Winner, International Association for Chinese Management Research, 2017
  • Finalist--TUM Research Excellence Award in Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Leadership, Technical University of Munich (TUM) and the Peter Pribilla Foundation, 2017
  • Best Professor and Graduation Marshall, Whitman School of Management Graduate Defense Comptrollership Program, 2015
  • Guttag Junior Faculty Award, Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University, 2015

Languages

  • French

Professional Citizenship

  • Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice Journal, Editor, Associate Editor, 2021–2029
  • Journal of Business Venturing, Editorial Review Board Member, August 2017–2028
  • Academy of Management Review, Editorial Review Board Member, 2023–2026
  • Academy of Management Journal, Editorial Review Board Member, 2022–2025
  • Academy of Management, Officer (specify in Other), August 2024–August 2024
  • Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Editor, Associate Editor, 2019–2023
  • Journal of Business Venturing, Editor, Associate Editor, 2017–2021