Pooja Thakur-Wernz

Professor Pooja Thakur-Wernz is a Strategic Management and International Business scholar and educator. She joined W&L faculty in July 2020, as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Business Administration. Prior to joining W&L, she was an Assistant Professor at Virginia Tech and Wichita State University. She completed her Ph.D. in Management from Rutgers University.

Professor Thakur-Wernz's research focuses on the impact of strategic choices made by firms on their international expansion and innovation related activities. Specifically, she has two streams of research: (1) impact of R&D offshoring and outsourcing strategies of multinational enterprises (MNEs) on their new product development projects, and (2) international expansion strategies and innovation by emerging economy MNEs. Professor Thakur-Wernz's industry focus is on the global bio-pharmaceutical industry, and her country focus is India, her home country, and one of the fastest growing emerging economies. Her research has been published in many well-known strategic management and international business journals.

Professor Thakur-Wernz has taught a variety of courses on strategic management, international business, and international management at the undergraduate, MBA and executive MBA level. She has taught these courses at Rutgers University, Virginia Tech, Wichita State University and W&L. She believes in encouraging her students to apply what is taught in class to real world scenarios, and thus her teaching philosophy is geared towards critical thinking. She also brings her experiences gained through extensive international travel to her classroom

Education

• Ph.D., International Business, Rutgers University, 2010
• M.B.A., Indiana University of Pennsylvania, 2003
• B.Com. with Honors, Osmania University, India, 2001

Companies

• Assistant Professor Washington and Lee University (2020)
• Assistant Professor Wichita State University (2018 — 2020)
• Assistant Professor Virginia Tech (2010 — 2018)
• Doctoral Candidate Rutgers Business School (2005 — 2010)

Research & Teaching Interests

International Business: Offshoring and outsourcing, backsourcing, pharmaceutical industry, orphan drugs, MNCs from emerging markets

Selected Honors & Awards

Finalist for Academy of International Business Best Dissertation Award 2010

Best Doctoral Thesis Proposal Award, European International Business Academy 2008

Promising Dissertation Proposal Award, International Management Division, AOM 2008

Second Place Runner Up, Best Proposal, TAMIU Doctoral Consortium 2007

Selected Publications

Thakur-Wernz, P. & Wernz, C. (2022) Impact of Stronger Intellectual Property Rights Regime on Innovation by Indian Bio-pharmaceutical firms: De Alio Versus De Novo Firms. Journal of Business Research. 138: 457-473.

Samant, S., Thakur-Wernz, P. & Hatfield, D. (2021) The Impact of Differences in Internationalization Processes on Innovation in Emerging Economy Firms. International Journal of Emerging Markets. DOI 10.1108/IJOEM-11-2020-1331.

Thakur-Wernz, P. & Wernz, C. (2020) Does R&D Offshore Outsourcing Improve Innovation in Vendor Firms from Emerging Economies? A Study of Bio-pharmaceutical Industry in India. International Journal of Emerging Markets. DOI 10.1108/IJOEM-03-2020-0308.

Thakur-Wernz, P.,Bruyaka, O. & Contractor, F. (2020) Impact of Offshoring and Outsourcing of Complex Activities on Performance: Global Clinical Trials in Pharmaceutical R&D. Technovation, 90-91: 102097.

Samant, S., Thakur-Wernz, P. & Hatfield, D. (2020) Does the focus of Policy Impact the Nature of Innovation? Evidence from Renewable Energy Sector in Emerging Economies. Energy Policy, 137:111119.

Thakur-Wernz, P., Cantwell, J. & Samant, S. (2019) Impact of International Entry Choices on the Nature and Type of Innovation: Evidence from Emerging Economy Firms from the Indian Bio-Pharmaceutical Industry. International Business Review, 28(6):101601.

Thakur-Wernz, P. & Samant, S. (2019) Relationship between International Experience and Innovation Performance: Importance of Organizational Learning for EMNEs, Global Strategy Journal. 9(3): 355-487.

Thakur-Wernz, P. (2019) A Typology of Backsourcing: Short-Run Total Costs and Internal Capabilities for Re-internalization. Journal of Global Operations and Strategic Sourcing, 12(1): 42-61.

Thakur-Wernz, P. & Bruyaka, O. (2017) Evolution of Offshoring and Outsourcing Configurations: Evidence from the Biopharmaceutical Industry, Management International Review, 57(6): 909-946.

Gove, S., Junkunc, M., Bruyaka, O., Ricardo, L., Mingo, S., Song, Y., & Thakur-Wernz, P. (2017) Reexamining CEO Duality: The Surprising Problematic Issue of Conceptualization and Measurement, Corporate Governance: An International Review, 25(6): 411-427.

Thakur-Wernz, P. & Samant, S. (2015) Curvilinear Relationship between Internationalization and Innovation: Evidence from firms in an Emerging Economy, Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings, 2015(1): 18345.

Wernz, C., Thakur-Wernz, P. & Kongkiti P. (2014) Service Convergence and Service Integration in Medical Tourism, Industrial Management & Data Systems, 114(7): 1094-1106.

Bruyaka, O., Zeitzmann, H., Chalamon, I., Wokutch, R. & Thakur, P. (2012) Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility and Orphan Drug Development: Insights from the US and the EU Biopharmaceutical Industry, Journal of Business Ethics, 117(1): 45-65.

Newburry, W. & Thakur, P. (2010) Multi-Level Impacts on Perceived Career Opportunity from Global Integration, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 21(13): 2358-2380.