United States Air Force Academy

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Dr. Kurt Heppard

Professor of Management

Department of Management

Dr. Heppard
Contact Information

(719) 333-2925

Email

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Bio

Dr. Kurt A. Heppard is a Professor at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado. Dr. Heppard grew up in Mount Holly, NJ and graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1982 with a BS in Management. He received his MBA from the Anderson Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles. He completed his doctoral dissertation on organizational adaptation and firm performance and received his PhD in Business Administration with an emphasis on Business Policy and Strategy from the Leeds School of Business at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

Education

PhD, Business Administration, University of Colorado – Boulder

Master Business Administration, UCLA

Bachelor of Science, U.S. Air Force Academy

Professional Experience

In addition to his teaching and educational experiences, Dr. Heppard also has a significant amount of applied management and leadership experience. While he was on active duty in the Air Force, he served as an acquisition officer for MILSTAR (a joint service communication satellite program headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base). He was an Education with Industry Fellow, a program sponsored by the Air Force Institute of Technology, at Hughes Aircraft Company and worked primarily in the Space & Communications Group. He was also a contracting officer for advanced and applied technologies at the National Reconnaissance Office. He worked primarily on highly classified, small satellite programs. Dr. Heppard has also been very active in a number of consulting projects. Most of this consulting has centered on strategic leadership and planning, new venture development, project management, and balanced scorecard performance measurement approaches.

Honors & Awards

Vern E. Francis Award for Outstanding Student Interaction (2012)

James R. Woody Award for Excellence in Teaching (2011)

Rita A. Jordan Award, Outstanding Career Achievement (2010)

Carl A. Janssen Award, Outstanding Contributor (2008)

Promoted to Full Professor of Management, USAF Academy (2007)

James R. Woody Award for Excellence in Teaching (2004)

William H. Heiser Award for USAFA Senior Outstanding Educator (2001)

Taylor Award for Outstanding Research in Management (2001)

Research and Scholarly Interests

Current research and teaching interests include strategic management, new venture strategies, management education, technological innovation, project management, and environmental, social, & corporate governance (ESG).

Publications

McKinney, E. H., Green, S. G., Heppard, K. A., & Wu, J. (2023). Improving Collaboration in Ambiguous Settings by Recognizing the Importance of a Common Domain Vocabulary: An Active Learning Exercise. Communications of the Association for Information Systems52(1), 31.

Heyler, S., Orlowsky, M., Levy, D., & Heppard, K. (2022). Elevating Performance In Organizations. Journal of Character and Leadership Development9(1).

Cycyota, C. S., Heppard, K. A., Green, S. G., Heyler, S. G., & Harting, T. R. (2020). Intentionally designed capstone courses: A typology to enhance student learning. Journal of Education for Business95(7), 458-468.

Green, S., McKinney Jr, E., Heppard, K., & Garcia, L. (2018). Big Data, digital demand and decision-making. International Journal of Accounting & Information Management26(4), 541-555.

Green, S. G., Ferrante, C. J., & Heppard, K. A. (2016). Using Open-Book Exams to Enhance Student Learning, Performance, and Motivation. Journal of Effective Teaching16(1), 19-35.

Armacost, A.P., Heppard, K.A., & Harting, T.R. (2016). Disciplined innovation. BizEd (AACSB International Journal), 15(1), 56-59.

Martin, J. A., Green, S. G., & Heppard, K. A. (2013). Improving international business education: Opportunities for experiential learning in emerging and developing markets. Journal of International Business Education8, 75-88.

Heppard, K.A. & Green, S.G. (2013). Space strategy and strategic management. In Space Strategy in the 21st Century: Theory and Policy. E. Saldeh (Eds). New York, NY: Routledge: 159-178.

Green, S.G. & Heppard, K.A. (2012). An expanded model of national competitive advantage: Embracing corporate social responsibility. Journal of Global Commerce Research, 3(5): 26-36.

Cycyota, C. S., Ferrante, C. J., Green, S. G., Heppard, K. A., & Karolick, D. M. (2011). Leaders of character: the USAFA approach to ethics education and leadership development. Journal of Academic Ethics9, 177-192.

Martin, J. A., Heppard, K. A., & Green, S. G. (2011). Taking international business education programs and pedagogy to new heights: Fundamental questions for educators and students. Business Horizons54(4), 355-363.

Koberg, C. S., Detienne, D. R., & Heppard, K. A. (2003). An empirical test of environmental, organizational, and process factors affecting incremental and radical innovation. The Journal of High Technology Management Research14(1), 21-45.

Meyer, G. D., & Heppard, K. A. (Eds.). (2000). Entrepreneurship as strategy: Competing on the entrepreneurial edge. Sage.