Heather Elms Associate Professor Management
- Degrees
- B.A., University of California, Berkeley; M.A. Columbia University; Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
- Bio
- Heather Elms, Ph.D. is Associate Professor of Management at the Kogod School of Business, American University, Washington, DC. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in business ethics, business at the private/public intersection, critical thinking, and international business. Her research focuses on the relationship between business and stakeholder responsibility in the global context, including the role of professionals in those responsibilities. She has investigated that relationship and role in different industries (e.g., health care, security) and in different regions of the world (e.g., Central and Eastern Europe). Professor Elms has published her work in outlets including Academy of Management Review, Business & Society, Business Ethics Quarterly, Journal of Business Ethics, Organizational Research Methods, Strategic Management Journal, and Strategic Organization. She completed a 5-year term as an elected member of the Society for Business Ethics' Board of Directors (including as Annual Conference Chair in Anaheim, CA, 2016, and as President, 2016-17) in 2018, and was elected to the International Association for Business & Society's Executive Board in 2020, on which she recently served as Conference Chair for the 2022 Annual Conference in San Francisco, CA, as President, 2023-2024, and continues to serve as Immediate Past President of the Society. She is also a former Associate Editor of Business Ethics Quarterly, continues on as a member of Business Ethics Quarterly’s Editorial Board, and is also a longstanding member of the Editorial Boards of both Business & Society and International Journal of Emerging Markets.
- For the Media
- To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.
Teaching
Fall 2024
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CORE-107 Complex Problems Seminar: Competitive Advantage/Business
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MGMT-205 Business Ethics
Spring 2025
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CORE-105 Complex Problems Seminar: Competitive Advantage/Business
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MGMT-205 Business Ethics
AU Experts
Area of Expertise
International business; strategy; business ethics; corporate responsibility; stakeholder responsibility; corporate governance; corruption; the privatization of security; professionalization; emerging markets (Central and Eastern Europe and Eurasia)
Additional Information
Heather Elms is associate professor of international business, Kogod Research Professor, and chair of the International Business Department, Kogod School of Business. She teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in critical thinking, international business strategy, and peace through commerce.  Her research focuses on the relationship between corporate and stakeholder responsibility in the global context, including the role of professionals in those responsibilities. She has investigated that relationship and role in different industries (e.g., health care, security) and in different regions of the world (e.g., Central and Eastern Europe). Elms has published her work in outlets including Academy of Management Review, Business Ethics Quarterly, Organizational Research Methods, Strategic Management Journal, and Strategic Organization. She is an associate editor of Business Ethics Quarterly and on the editorial boards of Business & Society and International Journal of Emerging Markets.Â
For the Media
To request an interview for a news story, call AU Communications at 202-885-5950 or submit a request.