Eric R. Kushins, PhD
Associate Professor of Management
Campbell School of Business
Berry College
Mt. Berry, GA
TEACHING
I infuse my entrepreneurship and management courses with theoretical and methodological rigor from the tenets of sociology and social psychology. I bring robust empirical studies from management as well as the social sciences to challenge my students' assumptions and understandings of how business works.
Both MBA and undergraduate students leave my classroom with a greater adeptness at team collaboration, effective oral communication and the capacity to produce spirited analytical writing.
I consistently receive high evaluations from students. My ratings are among the top faculty university wide, and for several years I have been on the "Teaching Honor Roll."
COURSES
Entrepreneurship
The process of moving from idea generation, to team building, to business execution. Harnessing creativity and developing expertise in marketing, pricing, accounting and personal selling to successfully launch a new venture.
Organizational
Behavior
Starting with the individual, we explore how personality traits and habits influence work performance. Situating the individual within the organization, we unpack the influence of business structures, leadership, diversity, and organizational cultures on sensemaking among employees and its impact on business outcomes.
Team Dynamics
Through a variety of team building activities and team exercises, we come to understand the characterstics of high performing teams. We explore the influence of ambidextrous leadership, how to harness the power of diversity, making effective decisions, avoiding groupthink, and how to fix team dysfunctions and becoming a "one minute" team manager.
Negotiations
Learn to frame negotiating as interpersonal problem solving . Overcome functional fixedness bias to work towards win-win solutions. Regularly test personal negotiation styles in negotiation simulations and applying techniques for effective one-on-one and multi-party negotions, as well as in-person and online problem solving.
Business Communications
Learn how to select the appropriate form of media to communicate your message as well as how to properly craft that message. Two minute elevator pitches, effective LinkedIn profiles, email etiquette, developing effective slide decks, the influence of body language, and audience presentation are all practiced.
TESTIMONIALS
"The instructor was extremely knowledgeable and kept the material going. He made it interesting and was extremely well spoken."
- Undergraduate Student, Negotiations
"This is one of the best courses I've taken. The materials and topics were interesting, the structure of the class was highly interactive and the quality of instruction was first class."
- Undergraduate student, Entrepreneurship