Your people watch what you do, not what you say
My doctoral research followed one founder-led company and found 24 small actions that shaped its culture more than any policy did.
Read the pieceFrom the boardroom to the classroom
I spent 25 years making business decisions. Now I teach students how to make them.
I came to academia after a career as an executive, general counsel and advisor to more than 500 startups. Here is what I see from the front of the room: the good, the bad, the ugly, and what we can change.
25+years in business before the classroom
Dr. Dirk RoskamAssistant Professor of Management, The Citadel, Baker School of Business
- 25+
- years in business before the classroom
- 500+
- startups advised and counseled
- 1,000+
- students taught since 2022
- 100%
- full-time placement for the consulting program's graduating seniors
What this site covers
The good, the bad, the ugly. And what could change.
The good01
Students rise to real stakes
Give students a real client, a real company to follow, or a real call to make about a teammate, and they do work that surprises everyone, including themselves.
Read moreThe bad02
Rules for the sake of a grade
A tight rubric tells students exactly what to hand in. It also tells them not to try anything new. Creativity and growth lose.
The ugly03
Work that isn't their own
Copied posts and AI answers passed off as original thinking. The tools changed fast. Our expectations of students have to change with them.
What could change04
AI as a trampoline, not a crutch
I want students to become fluent with AI without giving up independent thought. When they use it, the bar goes up, not down.
The pivot
From the boardroom to the classroom.
Then
- CxO roles, board seats and general counsel work across finance, law, manufacturing and hospitality
- Corporate turnarounds and startup strategy
- Hiring, restructuring and investment calls through the tech boom, the 2008 crisis and COVID
Now
- Assistant Professor of Management at The Citadel, Visiting Assistant Professor at Clemson
- Helped grow Clemson's student consulting program from 30 to 54 students and 5 to 8 partner firms
- Research on how founders shape culture through what they do, not what they say
Latest
Perspectives
Why this site
Most people who teach business came up through academia. I came up through business. I spent my career through the tech boom, the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID years, making hiring, restructuring and investment calls with real consequences.
That background shapes how I teach. My goal is to give management students an industry-like experience, where they have to think, evaluate, assess and make decisions even when it is uncomfortable.
This site is where I write about what I have learned on both sides, with an eye on the positive: what is working, and where higher education has room to get better.