Michael R. Smith

Advisor: Dr. Ronald G. Downey

Description of Research

Small businesses serve an important function in many communities around the globe, and entrepreneurship is a primary method to facilitate economic growth and job creation. My primary research interest lies in understanding entrepreneurship and the factors facilitating entrepreneurship at the individual and organizational levels. My dissertation research is focused on developing and validating a measure of entrepreneurial orientation. In particular, Situational Judgment Test (SJT) and Biographical Data (biodata) methodologies will be used to explore the underling dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation and provide insight into the life experiences, choices, and individual judgment play in understanding entrepreneurial orientation.

Additional areas of interest include job engagement and commitment. In particular, research concentrated on understanding how job engagement differs from alternative constructs of positive psychology and psychological wellness is a question of primary interest. Similarly, the extent to which job engagement is provides incremental prediction of important job related outcomes, such as performance and turnover intentions remains is of interest. Others areas that I find interesting include quantitative measurement of psychological phenomenon including test development, item analysis, and scale validation.

Representative Publications

See Attached Curriculum Vitae

Representative Presentations

See Attached Curriculum Vitae

Teaching Experience

Graduate Teaching Assistantship

Spring 2005

General Psychology Honors

Fall 2006

Forensic Psychology

Spring 2007

Psychology of Mass Communications

Research Experience

Graduate Research Assistantship

August 2010 – Present; August 2008- August 2009

School of Leadership Studies

August 2007 – August 2008

National Science Foundation Grant

Applied Experience

Valtera Corporation, Selection Intern

August 2009 – August 2010

Participated in a number of projects related to job analyses, risk assessment, technical report development, and client consultation (See Vitae for more detailed discussion)

Education

Ph.D. - Psychology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS; Expected May 2011

Dissertation Title: Entrepreneurial orientation: Initial development and validation of the entrepreneurial orientation profile inventory (EOPI).

M. S. - Psychology, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS; May 2007

Thesis Title: Vigor in relation to turnover: Mediation and moderation approaches.

B. S. (Dual) - Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS; May 2005

Psychology
Business Administration – Management Information Systems (MIS)

Personal Information

Pittsburg, Kansas
Pet cat named Mia
Fan of the Oakland Raiders