Pamela Barr has been named Interim Chair of the Department of Managerial Sciences at Robinson College of Business. Barr has been a professor of managerial sciences since joining Robinson in 1997.
In her courses on strategic management, competitor analysis, and strategy formulation, Professor Barr’s goal is to help her students see that the answer to better firm performance is usually complex, difficult to pinpoint, and involves careful integration of value-creating activities within firms, as well as a strong understanding of the competitive environment.
Dr. Barr has conducted research demonstrating that how managers think is strongly associated with the timing and content of strategic action, a line of research that helped move this idea into the mainstream. With this understanding, businesses can better identify opportunities to help managers avoid common biases and blind spots in decision-making and develop ways of thinking that make them more effective.
Barr has a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign and an MBA and BS from Bradley University.
Dr. Barr was named interim chair in July when Dr. Todd Maurer, former chair of the department, stepped down to concentrate on a major research project for which he received a large grant.