Michael Obal

Michael Obal is an Associate Professor of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation at the Manning School of Business, University of Massachusetts Lowell. He holds a PhD from Temple University and teaches courses on marketing strategy, digital marketing, and innovation. His research focuses on disruptive technologies, new product development (NPD), and the diffusion of innovations. He has published extensively in journals like Journal of Business Ethics, Research-Technology Management, and Journal of Business Research. Obal has received numerous awards, including the 2024 UML Researchers and Scholars Investment and the 2023 AMA Promising Research Award.

Obal’s career spans academia and industry, transitioning from sales at the Boston Beer Company to digital marketing at iProspect before pursuing his PhD. He emphasizes the importance of adaptability in career paths and encourages students to build skills in emerging technologies. His research explores topics like remote work’s impact on business relationships, customer participation in NPD, and sustainability integration in innovation processes. He is an associate editor for Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing and serves on editorial boards for Industrial Marketing Management and Journal of Business Research.

Obal’s work also addresses challenges posed by technological disruption and global market dynamics. His recent studies analyze how remote work affects customer engagement and how firms navigate turbulent technological environments. He collaborates internationally through initiatives like the Global Entrepreneurship Exchange (GE2), fostering innovation ecosystems and cross-cultural entrepreneurship education.