James D. Thompson

James D. Thompson is the co-founder and director of the Wharton Social Entrepreneurship Program and Adjunct Associate Professor at the School of Social Policy and Practice of the University of Pennsylvania. His current areas of research focus are social innovation, future market growth, and investment under conditions of high uncertainty.

He teaches in Wharton Executive Education programs and works with management teams around the world to design and execute growth strategies that increase the value of their firms. Prior to joining the academic world, he was a divisional director of a public company, responsible for business unit turnarounds and new market development. In addition to academic interests he currently serves on the executive board of a venture capital-funded technology company in Philadelphia.

Jim holds a PhD from The Swiss Institute of Technology (EPFL) and is published in the Harvard Business Review, Journal of Management, Long Range Planning, Management Science, Organization Science, and the Research-Technology Management Journal. He is a recipient of Best Paper Awards in the Academy of Management and the American Marketing Association. He is the coauthor of The Social Entrepreneur’s Playbook, Expanded Edition: Pressure Test, Plan, Launch and Scale Your Social Enterprise (with Ian (Mac) MacMillan).

Course by the author

Wharton Executive Education