Doctoral Student Receives Fellowship
Tammy Beck, a doctoral student with a concentration in organization and management studies, received a Presidential Dissertation Fellowship for 2005-2006 from the UTSA Graduate School. She was selected from among 35 applicants.
Beck’s dissertation is an effort to break new ground in the intersecting arenas of strategy, inter-organizational relationships and trust. She is investigating the role of swift trust in achieving high performance among organizations engaged in temporary alliances.
Part of her data is from the shuttle tragedy of 2003. Beck completed 19 interviews in three days with leaders involved with that incident. Her data collection will be done by the end of the year and she hopes to complete her dissertation by August.
A CPA by profession, Beck had accumulated work experience with Arthur Andersen, Luby’s and Clarke American before beginning the Ph.D. program at UTSA. “I always knew I wanted to get a Ph.D.,” said Beck who received her bachelor’s in accounting from UT-Austin and her MBA from the University of Houston. “My dad was the first in his family to receive a degree, and he encouraged all of his children. I attended classes with my dad during his bachelor’s and MBA.”
Most recently Beck had a paper titled “Adaptive Fit Versus Robust Transformation: How Organizations Respond to Environmental Change,” accepted for publication in the Journal of Management. The paper was co-authored by Cynthia Lengnick-Hall, professor of management.
“This is the best job that anyone could ever have,” she said. “You are constantly thinking and exploring new ideas. I have developed a strong bond with the faculty and my classmates that will last a lifetime.”
Please send your comments to: wendy.frost@utsa.edu
