Aaron R. Stephens
Phone Number
607-431-4939
Department
Business Administration and Accounting
Areas of Expertise

international trade, statistics, and marketing.

Education
Ph.D., Pusan National University; MBA, BS in Marketing, Ball State University

Aaron R. Stephens

Associate Professor of Business Administration and Department Chair

Dr. Aaron Rae Stephens earned an undergraduate degree in marketing (2005) and an MBA (2006) from Ball State University. He completed his Ph.D. (2016) in international trade at Pusan National University with a focus on strategic management. He has taught at the graduate or undergraduate level for over 13 years. In addition to 6 published books and 15 peer-reviewed publications, he has earned several industry certificates including, Just-in-Time Management (2020), Six Sigma (2023), Business Analyst (2020), American Sailing Association 101 (2021), ASA103 (2022), and ASA104 (2022), and FINRA’s Series 7 license (2006). Dr. Stephens is also a Fulbright Specialist with an award granted for the summer of 2023.

Dr. Stephens is an accomplished scholar with peer-reviewed publications in marketing, economic policy, and strategic management (marketing, HRM, and supply chain management). His publications have frequently focused on emerging markets in Asia (South Korea, North Korea, China, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam) and Africa (South Africa, and West Africa). His latest publications involve cross-cultural comparative studies between the East and the West. Additionally, Dr. Stephens is a cited scholar in public health policy regarding pandemic economic response; his research in that area predated COVID-19; thus, it was instrumental in government decision-making amid COVID-19 and remains valuable to current literature.

Dr. Stephens is an adroit and nimble lecturer having taught over 37 different university-level courses in multiple areas including, economics, marketing, finance, supply chain management, and international studies. Dr. Stephens continuously adapts his pedagogy to meet the needs of the department and our dynamic business world. Courses taught at Hartwick include Global Supply Chain Management with Just-in-Time Management, Quantitative Business, Quantitative Analysis in Operations with Six Sigma, Finance, Financial Modeling, Investment Analysis with Series 7 Preparation, Global Strategic Management with Business Analytics, Introduction to Business, Cross-Cultural Collaboration and many more.

Dr. Stephens enjoys spending time with his family in Oneonta. His hobbies include hiking, sailing, cross-country skiing, and traveling. He is an accomplished member of the American Sailing Association.

Recent courses taught:

  • BUSA 101 Introduction to Business
  • BUSA 260 Quantitative Business
  • BUSA 250 Global Strategic Management
  • BUSA 280 Finance
  • BUSA 328 Statistical Analysis in Operations with Six Sigma Certification
  • BUSA 350 Global Supply Chain Management with JIT Management Certification
  • FINA 325 Financial Modeling
  • FINA 450 Strategic Management in Finance
  • FINA 360 Investment Analysis in Finance
  • FLP 103 Cross-Cultural Collaboration
  • J Term (2022): Maritime History and Business Sailing in Florida
  • J Term (2023): Florence Italy Global Fashion

Distinctions (awards, fellowships, grants):

  • Best Dissertation Award, Korean Association of International Business Management
  • Fulbright Specialist Award (2023)

Selected publications:

Books:

  • Seong-am Moon, Dong-jin Kim and Aaron Rae Stephens (2014) “The Three Little Pigs and Pooling”, Kindle Direct Publishing.
  • Seong-am Moon, Dong-jin Kim and Aaron Rae Stephens (2014) “Pinocchio Becoming Human with the Theory of Constraints” Kindle Direct Publishing.
  • Seong-am Moon, Dong-jin Kim and Aaron Rae Stephens (2014) “The Emporer’s S-Curve”, Kindle Direct Publishing.
  • Seong-am Moon, Dong-jin Kim and Aaron Rae Stephens (2014) “Making the Match Girl Rich”, Kindle Direct Publishing.
  • Stephens, Aaron Rae, (2014) “Guide to a Healthy Living Wall”, Kindle Direct Publishing.
  • Stephens, Aaron Rae, (2016) “Strategic orientations and dynamic capabilities: Evidence from Korea”, LAP Lambert Academic Publishing

Academic Papers:

  • Tajekeev Z. and Stephens, A. R. (2023) The Central Asian Tiger: Export Specialization in Uzbekistan: Opportunities for Economic Diversification and Development, The
    European Journal of Applied Economics, 20(1): 22-38.
  • Robb, C. A., Stephens, A. R., and Kang, M. H. (2022) Comparative study of South Korean and U.S. firms’ supply chain resilience amid COVID-19 disruptions. Operations and Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 15(4): 565-581.
  • Stephens, A. R., Robb, C. A., and Kang, M. H. (2022) A comparative study of Korean and U.S. firms amid COVID-19 supply chain disruptions: The role of relational capital for improving ambidextrous innovation and firm performance. Journal of Global Business and Trade, 18(5): 77-99.
  • Stephens, A. R., Kang, M. H., and Robb, C. A. (2022) Building supply chain resilience and market performance through organizational culture: An empirical model utilizing the SOR model, Journal of East Asian Trade, 4(1): 1-18.
  • Stephens, A. R., Kang, M. H. and Robb, C. A. (2022). Linking supply chain disruption orientation to supply chain resilience and market performance with the stimulus-organism-response model. Journal of Risk and Financial Management – Special Issue: Infectious Disease Outbreaks, Uncertainties, Firms, and Financial Markets 15(5): 227: https://doi.org/10.3390/jrfm15050227.
  • Kang, M. H. and Stephens, A. R. (2022) Supply chain resilience and operational performance amid COVID-19 supply chain interruptions: Evidence from South Korean manufacturers, Uncertain Supply Chain Management, 10(2): 383-398. http://www.growingscience.com/uscm/online/uscm_2021_134.pdf
  • Robb, C. A., Kang, M. H., and Stephens, A. R. (2022) Supply chain ambidexterity, relational capital, and supply chain resilience amid COVID-19, Operations and Supply Chain Management, 15(1): 1-16. http://doi.org/10.31387/oscm0480326
  • Robb, C.A. and Stephens, A.R. (2021) The effects of market orientation and proactive orientation on the export performance of South African SMEs, Journal of Global Marketing.
  • Stephens, A.R. and Kasamanli, R. (2020) An analysis of North Korean trade amid warming global relations utilizing RCA, RSCA, and TBI, European Journal of Applied Economics, 17(1): 113-127.
  • Rhee, M.S. and Stephens, A.R. (2020) In-Press: Innovation-orientated technology assimilation strategy and Korean SMEs’ enhanced innovation capability,competitive advantage, and firm performance, International Journal of Innovation Management.
  • Hahn T.N., Stephens, A.R., and Lee, Y.C. (2019) Korean Brand Globalization: How it works for the Vietnamese market, The Journal of Asian Studies 22(4): 1-50.
  • Stephens, Aaron Rae, (2018) Emotional intelligence, self-efficacy, stress, and turnover: Evidence from service employees in China, Journal of China Studies, Vol. 21 No. 2
    pp. 79-99.
  • Stephens, Aaron Rae and Yoo, Seong-gyun, (2018) An exploratory study on the expansion of the African market by global firms focusing on Liberia utilizing the Balassa Index, The e-Business Studies, Vol. 19 No. 6, pp. 177-198.
  • Stephens, Aaron Rae, (2017) The need for emergency economic policy options to mitigate the economic impacts of epidemics: Ebola in West Africa and MERS in South Korea, Regional Economies and Policies, Vol. 2 No. 2, pp. 1-11.
  • Stephens, Aaron Rae and Kim, Seong-soo, (2015), A study on the effects of strategic orientations on dynamic capabilities and international performance: Evidence from Korean firms, Korean Academy of International Business Management, Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 243-275.