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Ethne Swartz

Professor, Management, Feliciano School of Business

Office:: School of Business
Email:: swartze@montclair.edu
Degrees:: BA, University of Cape Town, South Africa; MS, Manchester Metropolitan University, U.K.; PhD, University of Manchester, U.K.
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Ethné Swartz, Ph.D., is Professor of Information Management and Entrepreneurship and a 2018-2019 Fulbright Scholar in South Africa where she is based at the University of Pretoria's Gordon Institute of Business Science. She joins the Feliciano School of Business from Fairleigh Dickinson’s Silberman College of Business where she was on the faculty from 2000 to 2018, holding the rank of full professor and serving as a Sam Walton Fellow and Advisor to the FDU Enactus Chapter. From 2006 to 2014, she chaired the Marketing and Entrepreneurship Department and then served as an associate dean in the Silberman College of Business. She earned a Ph.D. in in Management from the University of Manchester, Manchester, UK and an MS in Information Systems from Manchester Metropolitan University. A South African native, she holds a B.A. (Hons) in Sociology from Rhodes University, South Africa and a B.A. in Psychology/Sociology from the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Her research and teaching interests include strategic management, entrepreneurship and innovation, management of technology, business continuity and crisis management.

Dr. Swartz was a Fulbright Scholar based at Zeppelin University in Germany during the spring of 2014. She will be based at the University of Pretoria’s Gordon Institute of Business Science during spring and summer of 2019, focusing on women’s entrepreneurship in sub-Saharan Africa. She also conducts research on how women who own or manage high-growth companies can best participate in negotiating term sheets for capital investment in their companies.

Dr. Swartz is an active contributor to New Jersey’s entrepreneurial organizations and ecosystem. She has been active in the United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), serving as a board member and as the Vice President of Conference for the annual conference in January 2011. She has served as USASBE’s Vice President of Publications, most recently creating the USASBE Annals of Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy, published by Edward Elgar. She is the co-author of two books and her research articles have appeared in the International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship, Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, Long Range Planning, Risk Management: An International Journal, Journal of Applied Management Studies, Leadership and Organisational Development Journal, Business Horizons, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour and Research, Facilities, Education and Training; ET&P. She serves on the editorial board of the Annals of Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy and previously served as an associate editor for the Journal of Small Business Management. From 1994 to October 1999, Dr. Swartz taught Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship at Leicester Business School, DeMontfort University, in Leicester, UK, where she was instrumental in setting up a center for research into business continuity management. Prior to her academic career, Dr. Swartz worked at General Motors (South Africa) and Kodak (South Africa).

Expertise

Women and Entrepreneurship, Business Continuity Management, International Entrepreneurship, Research Methodology, Entrepreneurship Support Organizations, Big Data and Ethics

Research

Swartz, E., Scheepers, C., Mathibe, M. (2025). A just green transition? Stakeholder Perspectives from South Africa. With colleagues at the Gordon Institute of Business Science, I am working on new research on the transition to a green economy in the sub-Saharan entrepreneurship ecosystem. Following on a policy paper at the Diana Conference in 2024, we are developing a full paper on environmental policies that encourage entrepreneurs to become involved in the green transition. We are analyzing qualitative interviews with entrepreneurs and stakeholders in finance and incubators. This version of the paper will feature a complete qualitative data analysis, and use of quantitative data from secondary sources. We are targeting the Diana International Conference in 2025.
Swartz, E. and Elliott, D. Business Continuity Management, 3rd Edition. Status: Routledge contract for an updated version of this text has been signed. The volume is due in fall 2026.
I am one of five editors working on a research volume on Africa. It is due in 2022 and the details are below: Swartz, E; Scheepers, C., Lindgreen, A., Yousafzai, S. and Matthee, M. (2023) (eds). Technological Leapfrogging and Innovation in Africa: Digital Transformation and Opportunity for the Next Growth Continent', Edward Elgar: Cheltenham, UK. Status: Book proposal accepted, contract signed and the book was published in 2023. https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/usd/technological-leapfrogging-and-innovation-in-africa-9781800370388.html ISBN: 978 1 80037 038 8
Boundary Spanners in Higher Education: Evidence from a Survey of U.S. Entrepreneurship Educators This study used survey data to investigate the role of boundary spanners in entrepreneurship education in U.S. institutions.
Collaboration with Dr. Dianne Welsh and Dr. Norris Krueger to present at International Council of Small Business annual conference and at the GCEC conference on entrepreneurship ecosystem developments.
Beyond the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor: South African Women Entrepreneurs and Negotiating for Capital Investment This is a second paper planned as an outcome associated with the 2019 Fulbright Scholar Award. The paper will continue with research conducted in 2014 in the USA and Germany that focused on the strategies women entrepreneurs used to negotiate term sheets for capital investment in growth companies.

Professional Experience

Professor, Fairleigh Dickinson University (2012 - 2018)
Associate Dean in Silberman College of Business, Fairleigh Dickinson University (2015 - 2016)
Chair of Marketing and Entrepreneurship Department, Fairleigh Dickinson University (2006 - 2014)
U.S. Scholar in Germany, Fulbright Scholar Program (2014 - 2014)
U.S. Scholar in Sub-Saharan Africa, Fulbright Scholar Program (2019 - 2019)
Member of National Screening Committee, Fulbright Scholar Program (2021 - 2022)
Research Associate, University of Pretoria Gordon Institute of Business Science (2019 - 2026)
Fulbright Specialist, Fulbright Specialist Program (2024 - 2024)
Chair - USASBE Ethics Commission, USASBE (2022 - 2024)

Consulting

Academic, Sage Publications. (March 2023 - July 2023). This project involves creating two cases that engage students in creating and interpreting data before making decisions informed by the data. The cases will be part of a new Sage initiative on data decisions across a number of disciplines, including entrepreneurship.
Academic, Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS). (June 2022 - August 2022). Evaluated a proposal for research to explore entrepreneurial venturing under conditions of crisis, specifically pertaining to the war in Ukraine. The goal of the research is to investigate the antecedents and consequences of compassion venturing.
Academic, University of Cape Town Graduate School. (May 2020 - Present). External Examiner
Academic, Zeppelin University. (March 2013 - May 2013). Visiting Professor
Academic, CETYS University. (January 2013 - March 2013). Visiting Graduate Professor
Academic, University of Iceland. (April 2011 - April 2011).
Academic, Excelsior College. (May 2021 - May 2021). External Reviewer for new master's program submitted to NYSED by Excelsior College's School of Graduate Studies.
Training/Education, Excelsior College. (May 2020 - May 2020). Together with two other external reviewers, I participated in a review of the online MS in Management program for the university. The work lasted for just over two days and I received a nominal compensation for this effort.
Academic, Fulbright/IIE.org. (July 2024 - July 2024). It is increasingly evident that emerging market economies are dependent on entrepreneurial ecosystems. During my current stay, I have been working with entrepreneurial organizations and it is clear that the financial support structure for growth companies in South Africa is inadequate. Early stage capital provided by angel investors forms an important component of any entrepreneurial ecosystem and I wish to serve as a connector between my university and the State of New Jersey's entrepreneurial ecosystem, and those in South Africa. Specifically, I am clear that entrepreneurs in areas such as the major commercial centers (Gauteng, Cape Town and Durban) would benefit from contact with angel investor syndicates based in the New Jersey/New York corridor. These syndicates and specific individuals in the Montclair State University network would assist in building capacity in South Africa. Of note is the existing links that I have at the University of Pretoria's Gordon Institute of Business Science and the academic research that we wish to stimulate through this collaboration. GIBS is well-placed to become a hub for research into angel investors and to disseminate this research through academic research, reports and through social media. We would establish a series of seminars to stimulate an academic network and to begin independent research in a field that is currently non-existent.

Honors & Awards

University of Cape Town Scholarship, University of Cape Town ( 1980)
Fulbright Grant, Fulbright ( 2014)
New Jersey Department of Education Grant - Curriculum Development, NJ D of E ( 2007)
Coleman Foundation Case Study Grant, Coleman Foundation ( 2004)
Research Council Award, Economic & Social Sciences Research Council and Science & Engineering Research Council ( 1990)
Ethel and Erik Eriksen Award, Rhodes University ( 1983)
Ford Motor Company Scholarship, Ford Motor Company ( 1980)
Fulbright Specialist Grant to University of Pretoria Gordon Institute of Business Science, J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board and World Learning (July 2020)
Fulbright Specialist Roster Appointment, United States State Department and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (October 2019)
USASBE Longenecker Fellow, USASBE (January 2019)
Fulbright Grant, Fulbright ( 2018)

Refereed Published Articles

E. Swartz, F. Amatucci, S. Coleman (2016). Using a multiple method and mixed mode approach to examine women entrepreneur negotiating styles. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship
E. Swartz, P. Brennan-Tonetta, R. Jain, M. Johnson, S. Mamonov, M. Hale, J. Jayaraman (2022). In search of pedagogical approaches to teaching business ethics in the era of digital transformation. Journal of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence
E. Swartz, C. Scheepers, T. Toeffy (2022). Women entrepreneurs’ opportunity identification of digital platform start-ups: Emerging evidence from South Africa. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship
J. Marks, E. Swartz, S. Dawa, J. Mitra (2022). African Entrepreneurial Ecosystems: Form, Function and Structure Special Issue Call. Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies
M. Johnson, R. Jain, M. Brennan-Tonetta, E. Swartz, D. Silver, J. Paolini, S. Mamonov, C. Hill (2021). Impact of Big Data and Artificial Intelligence On Industry: Developing A Workforce Roadmap for a Data Driven Economy. Global Journal of Flexible Systems Management
M. Johnson, R. Jain, m. Brennan, E. Swartz, D. Silver, J. Paolini, S. Mamonov, C. Hill (2021). Developing Big Data and AI Workforce Roadmap for A Data Driven Economy. Global Institute of Flexible Systems Management
E. Swartz, J. Marks, C. Scheepers (2020). Venture Support Organizations: Lighting a Path for Entrepreneurship in South Africa?. DeGruyter
E. Swartz, F. Amatucci (2018). Framing Second Generation Gender Bias: Implications for Women’s Entrepreneurship. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship
E. Swartz, F. Amatucci, S. Coleman (2016). Examining Women Entrepreneurs’ Negotiating Styles: A Multiple Method and Mixed Mode Research Approach. International Journal of Gender and Entrepreneurship
E. Swartz, F. Amatucci, S. Coleman (2016). Still a Man’s World? Second Generation Gender Bias in External Equity Term Sheet Negotiations. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship
E. Swartz, F. Amatucci (2016). Through a Fractured Lens: Women Entrepreneurs and the Private Equity Negotiation Process. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship
E. Swartz, D. Welsh, S. Tello, N. Krueger (2024). Engagement through Boundary Spanning: Insights from US Entrepreneurship Educators. International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Small Business

Published Proceedings

E. Swartz (5s). 2019. South Africa and Nascent Entrepreneurship: Heeding the Call for Context United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship
E. Swartz, R. Jain, M. Johnson (5s). 2022. Out of Africa: Tracking Women as Digital Entrepreneurs in Africa South of the Sahara Diana International Research Conference
E. Swartz (5s). 2022. “Exploring millennial identity as antecedent to opportunity identification of digital platform start-ups among women entrepreneurship in South Africa” The Diana International Research Institute, Center for Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership, Babson College, Wellesley, MA 02332 USA
E. Swartz, C. Scheepers, M. Mathibe (5s). 2024. Post-colonial feminist policy perspectives for a just green transition Babson College Diana International Research Conference

Books & Chapters

E. Swartz, C. Scheepers, F. Amatucci (2022). How Women Entrepreneurs Create Value in a Democratic South Africa. Edward Elgar
E. Swartz, F. Amatucci (2018). An Interdisciplinary Framework to Deconstruct Second Generation Gender Bias, in Yousafzai. Frances & Taylor/Routledge
E. Swartz, C. Scheepers, A. Lindgreen, M. M, Y. S (2023). Technological Leapfrogging and Innovation in Africa: Digital Transformation and Opportunity for the Next Growth Continent. Edward Elgar
E. Swartz (2025). Digital Entrepreneurship. Edward Elgar