Northland College Faculty
Faculty are at the heart of Northland College. Click below to view individual profiles and to learn more about our incredible faculty.
Rajat Panwar
Title: Chapple Chair of Business and Social Responsibility
Office Location: Wheeler 318
Phone: (715) 682-1231
Email: rpanwar@northland.edu
At Northland Since: 2008
Hometown: Shamli, India
Education
- B.S., Meerut, India
- M.B.A., Lucknow, India
- Ph.D., Oregon, USA
Profile
My primary teaching interests are in Business and Society, and Entrepreneurship areas. Other teaching interests include Global Business Management, Social Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation, and an industry specific course Commercialization of Forest Resources and Sustainability.
There could be no better place for me to teach these courses than Northland College where the varied student interests and backgrounds allow me to not only focus on practical solutions to business problems but also explore big-picture topics affecting society, at large. In my Entrepreneurship course, for example, students first develop perspectives on macro-topics such as "Entrepreneurship in American Culture", "Immigrants Entrepreneurship", "Race, Gender and Entrepreneurship". They then focus on micro level topics such as "Opportunity Recognition" and "New Venture Creation". I don't just focus on teaching business skills; I teach how to make positive contributions in society through the power and tools of business.
And when I lead a foreign trip course, it is not only fun, but also an opportunity to cultivate serious thinking and cultural immersion. For example, when 14 Northland students embarked on a journey to India with me in 2010, they researched the question "Can India pursue its economic dreams without jeopardizing its physical environment and social system?" They did not just stay in hotels as tourists, they stepped outside the tourist grid, visited the remotest villages and immersed in culture. They interacted with civil society organizations, businesses, and spiritual leaders. They did not just visit India, they lived it. Click here to have a glimpse of the trip.
If you want to work with me for your senior thesis/senior capstone, please contact me well ahead of time. A list of senior capstone projects that I have supervised and student experiences will be coming soon.
Research
My research interests lie at the intersection of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship. Current projects include examining (i) relationships among firms' organizational ambidexterity, strategic capabilities and their CSR related absorptive capacity (an evolutionary theory perspective) (ii) effect of entrepreneurial orientation on micro-firms' CSR engagement and (iii) effect of expected business benefits of CSR on engagement in CSR activities (using a social cognition approach). Opportunities for student engagement in these projects are available; send me an email to learn more.
My research focuses on natural resource sector, particularly forest sector firms. In this area, my interest is to find pathways for reconciling commercial interests and sustainability goals. I am just finishing co-editing a book on "Understanding and Managing Change in Global Forest Sector", and am one of the focal resource persons studying the forest transition in India, an eight country consultation process organized by the Asia Pacific Association of Forestry Research Institutions (APAFRI). I am currently the Editor of the Journal of Forest Products Business Research and also an affiliate faculty at the College of Forestry, Oregon State University. If you are interested in pursuing graduate studies in forest products business area, I will be happy to discuss.
(I) Refereed, peer-reviewed publications
Panwar, R, E. Hansen, and R. Kozak. Forthcoming. Evaluating social and environmental issues by integrating the legitimacy gap with expectational gaps: An empirical assessment of the forest industry. Business and Society. (available online DOI: 10.1177/0007650312438884).
Amberla, T., L. Wang, H. Juslin, R. Panwar, E. Hansen, and R. Anderson. 2011. Corporate responsibility performance in the forest industries: A comparative analysis of student perceptions in Finland and the USA. Social Responsibility Journal. 7(3): 472 - 489.
Panwar, R., X. Han, and E. Hansen. 2010. A demographic examination of societal views regarding corporate social responsibility in the US forest products industry. Forest Policy and Economics. 12(2):121-128.
Thompson, D., R. Panwar, and E. Hansen. 2010. Differences in social responsibility orientation between society and industry executives. Management Decision. 48(1):156-171.
Panwar, R., E. Hansen, and R. Anderson. 2010. Students' perceptions regarding CSR success of the US forest products industry. Social Responsibility Journal. 6(1): 18 - 32.
Panwar, R. and E. Hansen. 2009. A Process for Identifying Social and Environmental Issues: A Case of the US Forest Products Manufacturing Industry. Journal of Public Affairs. 9(4):323-336.
Panwar, R. and E. Hansen. 2008. CSR in the Forest Sector. UNSYLVA: An International Journal published by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. 230(59): 45-48.
Panwar, R. and E. Hansen. 2007. The standardization puzzle: An issue management approach to understand corporate responsibility standards for the forest products industry. Forest Products Journal. 57(12): 86-91.
Panwar, R., T. Rinne, E. Hansen and H. Juslin. 2006. Corporate Responsibility: Balancing economic, environmental and social issues in the forest products industry. Forest Products Journal. 56(2): 4-12.
(II) Professional conferences
Panwar, R. 2012. CSR within a corrupt environment. Paper presented at the international conference on Business Sustainability: Issues and challenges organized by FORE School of Management, New Delhi, India. November 26-28.
Bhojvaid P.P. and Panwar, R. 2012. Forest Transition in India. An 8 country consultation process organized by the Asia Pacific Association of Forestry Research Institutions. Kualumpur, Indonesia. July 8.
Vlosky, R. and Panwar. R. 2012. Gaining competitive advantage in a post-recession era. A keynote presentation delivered at the 2012 IUFRO (Division 5.0) conference in Lisbon, Portugal. July 12.
Panwar, R. and Paul, K. 2012. Are privately-held firms considered more legitimate than publicly-traded firms? Paper presented at the Annual meeting of the International Association for Business and Society. Ashville, NC. June 14-17.
Panwar, R. and Kutnar, A. Moving targets of sustainability: from harvests to conservation based shifts in the global forest industries. 12th Management International Conference titled "Managing Sustainability" held at the Faculty of Management, University of Primorska, Slovenia. November 23-26, 2011.
Wu, X., K. Davidson, and R. Panwar. 2010. CSR in the Emerging Economies. Proceedings of the 2010 International Association of Business and Society Annual Conference: Business and the Sustainable Commons held in Banff, Alberta, Canada.
Panwar, R., E. Hansen and R.A. Kozak. 2009. A Framework Evaluating Social and Environmental Issues: Conceptual Refinement and Empirical Testing. Proceedings of the 2009 International Association of Business and Society Conference: Thinking like a Mountain - Nature, Humans, and Management held in Aspen, Colorado, USA. 7pp.
Panwar, R. 2006. Corporate social responsibility in extraction industries. Univ. of Oregon -Oregon State Univ. graduate students' forum at Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, Oregon, USA, March 4th .
Panwar, R. and E. Hansen. 2006. Corporate Social responsibility: What, why, when and how of this proposition? NICE Management College, Meerut, India. February 11th .
Panwar, R. and E. Hansen. 2005. Let us try it the other way: making socio-ecological justice a corporate agenda. In proceedings. A future beneath the trees: an academic symposium of the world experts on utilization and cultivation of non-timber forest products. Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC, Canada. August 25-27.
Panwar, R. and E. Hansen. 2005. Corporate social responsibility: a systemic approach.
1st Western graduate students forum on forest products marketing at Oregon State University, Corvallis, Oregon, USA, July 28-30.
Bhojvaid P.P and R. Panwar. 2003. Joint Forest Management or Joint Financial Munching. In proceedings of conference A decade of JFM: introspective and retrospective. Held April 2000 at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, India. Pp 248-252.
Bhojvaid P.P. and R. Panwar. 2001. Ban on harvest of medicinal plant for conservation: bane for collectors, boon for smugglers. Conservation and equitable utilization of Medicinal Plant: South Eastern Regional Conference. Pokhra, Nepal. January 21-23.
(III) Invited lectures
2013. Invited lecture on "Multi-stakeholder partnerships" at the Faculty of Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Information Technology, University of Primorska, Koper, Slovenia. March 20.
2013. Invited lecture on "Forest Products Business Research: A quest for relevance" Winter Speaker Series. Wood Science and Engineering Department, Oregon State University, Corvallis. February 14th.
2012. Invited speech focused on the economic impact projections of the Gogebic Taconite mining project organized by the Wisconsin League of Women Voters, Ashland, WI. March 17.
2012. Invited speech focused on the economic impact projections of the Gogebic Taconite mining project during Northland College sponsored Mining Education Week. Ashland, WI, January 25.
2010. Invited speech in the 2nd International Meet on Corporate Social responsibility organized by the Associated Chamber of Commerce (ASSOCHAM) of India. July, New Delhi, India.
2007. Invited lecture at India Working Executive Management Program. May, Indian Institute of Management, NOIDA campus.
(IV) Non-refereed publications
Panwar, R. and E. Hansen. 2007. Beyond the instrumental view of corporate social responsibility: integrating human rights and natural resource conservation. Policy Matters: The journal of the IUCN Commission on Environmental, Economic and Social Policy. 15: 323-333.
Panwar, R and E. Hansen. 2007. India: an emerging market. Northwest Woodlands. 23 (3): 24-28.
Panwar, R and E. Hansen. 2006. India: a sleeping giant. Western Forester. 51(3): 10-11.
(V) Media and industry publications
2012. Small firms must plan for recession-an editorial article published in the Duluth News Tribune (May 2nd edition)
2011. Featured interview as an expert on CSR in Forest Products Sector in Responsible Markets: A Newsletter of Rainforest Alliance and The Nature Conservancy joint project.
2011. Panwar, R. Multi-national citizens: Chase your job around the world-an editorial article published in the Duluth News Tribune (October 4 edition).
2010. Hansen, E., X. Han, and R. Panwar. The growing importance of corporate social responsibility. The Engineering Wood Journal.
2009. Panwar, R. Sustaining Sustainable Business. An editorial article published in The Daily Press, a leading newspaper in Northern Wisconsin.
2009. Panwar, R. and E. Hansen. Doing Business in a Changed Society-Part II. Research Brief prepared for the Industry Executives.
2008. Panwar, R. and E. Hansen. (November) Doing Business in a Changed Society-Part I. Research Brief prepared for the Industry Executives.
2007. Panwar, R. October issue. The softwood market in India: An overview. Monthly newsletter of the Oregon Wood Innovation Centre, Oregon State University.
2007. Panwar, R. and E. Hansen. April 15th issue. Business Sense: Awareness of corporate social responsibility issues in India must increase. Down to Earth (a leading environmental magazine in India)
(VI) Work in progress
Manuscripts under revision:
"Legitimacy of Publicly-traded versus privately-held firms". (First author). Revisions submitted to Journal of Business Ethics.
"Effect of market orientation, learning orientation and risk taking attitude on micro-firm social responsibility: Empirical findings from Norwegian bio-energy firms" (Second author). Revisions submitted to Business Ethics: A European Review.
"Market orientation, learning orientation and CSR engagement: A study of leading global forest sector companies" (third author). Manuscript submitted to the Scandinavian Journal of Forest Research.
"Innovation research in the global forest sector" (third author). Manuscript submitted to the Slovenian Journal of Wood Science and Technology.
Manuscripts in progress:
"Effect of expected CSR benefits, environmental dynamism, and firm financial performance on engagement in environmental initiatives: A social cognitive perspective". (First author). Manuscript in preparation.
"A magnified view of the virtuous -circle: examining the mediating role of firm's financial performance on the relationship between engagement in environmental and social initiatives" (First author).
"This or that: Comparing wood and concrete as alternative construction material using a social life cycle analysis (S-LCA)" (First author)
