Firm innovation, university science and technology, and managing intellectual capital are the focus of Michael Roach’s work.

Dr. Roach examines the sources and mechanisms by which firms utilize extramural knowledge in their innovative actives. In particular, his current research investigates how firms use university research in R&D activities and the subsequent impact of these knowledge flows on innovative performance. He also investigates how firms manage and protect intellectual capital, particularly through the strategic use and enforcement of patents.

He teaches courses in entrepreneurial strategy, technological innovation and the management of intellectual capital.

Dr. Roach was an entrepreneur before he was became a professor. While in high school he co-founded a software start-up that specialized in the development of interactive educational programs for corporate executives and health care professionals. He was managing partner for seven years before he began his undergraduate studies at 25.

He also developed applications for handheld devices, including a system to aid primary health care workers in the diagnosis of communicable diseases. He consulted for government agencies in South Africa and Vietnam, and spent a year in Hanoi working with the Vietnamese Ministry of Health and the National Centre for Science and Technology.

He received his PhD in strategy from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and his BBA in decision sciences from Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business.