Dr. Ben Lawrence is the Aziz Hashim endowed Professor in Franchise Entrepreneurship. Lawrence focuses on topics that intersect service operations and marketing with a particular interest in franchise relationships . Lawrence’s broad domains of interest include the impact of organizational form on performance, consumer coproduction, and service innovation. He has published research articles in such journals as Industrial Marketing Management , International Journal of Research in Marketing. Journal of Advertising, Journal of Operations Management, Journal of Retailing, Service Science and the Cornell Hospitality Quarterly.
Prior to joining Georgia State University, he was on the faculty at Cornell University where he was honored with the Hotel School Teacher of the Year Award for freshman core in 2013 and 2015. He has won best paper awards from Service Science in 2015 and the International Society of Franchising in 2016. He currently serves as VP and Treasurer of the lnternational Society of Franchising and VP of Programs for the POM College of Service Operations.
Connect with Dr. Lawrence on LinkedIn.
Minal Patel, Hospitality Professional at MP Hospitality.
Connect with Minal on LinkedIn.
Geoffrey Graybeal, Ph.D, is a clinical assistant professor in the Robinson College of Business at Georgia State University, where he teaches courses on entrepreneurship through the Entrepreneurship and Innovation Institute.
Dr. Graybeal is a media management scholar and entrepreneur who uses management theory to explore issues of media sustainability. He studies entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial education, online and mobile strategy, new business models, micropayments and crowdfunding, among other topics. He has published research in journals such as the International Journal on Media Management and Journal of Media Business Studies. He is the Immediate Past Head of the Media Management, Economics & Entrepreneurship division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication.
He co-founded Lede, LLC, a social media and business model innovation consultancy, while earning his doctorate. Prior to coming to Georgia State, Dr. Graybeal taught courses on entrepreneurship and media management for several years, served as a mentor to a number of startups, developed and led a student pitch competition, and contributed to developing an emerging entrepreneurial ecosystem in West Texas.
