Professor Michael A. Roberto

Michael Roberto is the Trustee Professor of Management at Bryant University in Smithfield, RI, where he teaches leadership, managerial decision-making, and business strategy. He joined the tenured faculty at Bryant after serving for six years on the faculty at Harvard Business School. He also has been a Visiting Associate Professor of Management at New York University's Stern School of Business.

Professor Roberto's research focuses on strategic decision-making processes and management teams.  Professor Roberto's new book, Know What You Don't Know:  How Great Leaders Prevent Problems Before They Happen, was released in February  2009 by Wharton School Publishing.  His previous book, Why Great Leaders Don't Take Yes For An Answer, was named one of the top 10 business books of 2005 by The Globe and Mail, Canada's largest daily newspaper. He also has published articles based upon his research in the Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, The Leadership Quarterly, Group and Organization Management, and Ivey Business Journal.  

Professor Roberto's research has earned several major awards. His 2004 article, "Strategic decision-making processes: Beyond the efficiency-consensus tradeoff," was selected by Emerald Management Reviews as one of the top 50 management articles of 2004, from among 20,000 articles reviewed by that organization in that year. His multimedia case study about the 2003 space shuttle accident, titled Columbia's Final Mission, earned the software industry's prestigious Codie Award in 2006 for Best Postsecondary Education Curriculum Solution. Finally, he received the Robert Litschert Best Doctoral Student Paper Award in the year 2000 in the Academy of Management's Business Policy Division. 

Professor Roberto has taught in the leadership development programs and consulted at a number of firms including Apple, Target, Morgan Stanley, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Mars, Novartis, Federal Express, The Home Depot, Siemens, Bank of New York Mellon, Royal Caribbean Cruises, and Edwards Life Sciences.  He also has presented at numerous government organizations including the FBI, NASA, EPA, and TSA. Over the past five years, Professor Roberto also has served on the faculty at the Nomura School of Advanced Management in Tokyo, where he teaches in an executive education program each summer.

Professor Roberto received an A.B. with honors from Harvard College in 1991. He earned an M.B.A. with High Distinction from Harvard Business School in 1995, graduating as a George F. Baker Scholar. He also received his D.B.A. from the Harvard Business School in 2000. 

Professor Roberto earned the Outstanding MBA Teacher Award at Bryant University on two occasions.  He earned the Allyn Young Prize for Teaching in Economics twice as a graduate student at Harvard.  Professor Roberto also received the Bryant University Faculty Mentor of the Year Award in 2009.  In the past, Professor Roberto worked as a financial analyst at General Dynamics, where he evaluated the firm's performance on nuclear submarine programs. He also worked as a project manager at Staples, where he played a role in the firm's acquisition integration efforts.

Professor Roberto lives in Holliston, Massachusetts with his wife, Kristin, and his three children - Grace, Celia, and Luke.  In his spare time, he enjoys gardening, running, hiking, and cooking. Professor Roberto also writes frequently on his blog, which has been named one of the top 50 business professor blogs in the world. 

For a copy of Professor Roberto's CV, click here.