Dr. Pramodita (Dita) Sharma, Ph.D. (University of Calgary) is the Sanders Chair & Professor of Family Business at the Grossman School of Business, University of Vermont. She holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Witten/Herdecke in Germany. Her research on succession processes, governance, innovation, next generation commitment and entrepreneurial leadership in sustainable family enterprises has been honored with several international awards. Editor of the highly ranked Family Business Review, she is amongst the most frequently cited scholars in family business studies. She teaches Entrepreneurial Family Business in the MBA program.
What do you enjoy about teaching in The Sustainable Innovation MBA program?
The passion of students to launch and work in a mission-focused company, making our world a better place to live in.
What surprises you the most about the students?
Because of the nature of student who gets attracted to this program, their responses to family business dilemmas are uniquely different from what I hear from other students at UVM or beyond.
While there’s a great deal to learn in your course, what’s the single biggest idea or concept you hope students take away to use in their business careers?
What’s my “A” (assumption)? Everything we write, say or think has at least one underlying assumption. Making it a habit to ask and answer this question, shortens the pathway to have an impact in life and career.
For any organization, look for its founding mission, evolution, and who controls the ownership — management/governance now (that is, in whose hands is the remote control). That clarity can help to connect with them as humans and having an influence without authority.
What’s your media diet like lately? What are you reading, listening to, streaming, or watching?
The Origin of Species.
What do you do for fun when you’re not in the classroom?
Walk, hike, yoga.