About the Author

Michael A. Roberto is Trustee Professor of Management at Bryant University in Smithfield, RI, where he teaches leadership, managerial decision-making, and business strategy. He joined Bryant’s tenured faculty after serving for six years on the faculty at Harvard Business School. He also has been a Visiting Associate Professor of Management at New York University’s Stern School of Business.

Dr. Roberto’s research focuses on strategic decision-making processes and senior management teams. He also has studied why catastrophic group or organizational failures happen, including the Columbia Space Shuttle accident and the 1996 Mount Everest tragedy. His research has been published in the Harvard Business Review, California Management Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, The Leadership Quarterly, Group and Organization Management, and Ivey Business Journal. His book, Why Great Leaders Don’t Take Yes for an Answer (Wharton), was named one of the year’s top 10 business books by The Globe and Mail, Canada’s largest daily newspaper.

Dr. Roberto has taught in the leadership development programs and consulted at Apple, Target, Morgan Stanley, Coca-Cola, Wal-Mart, Mars, Novartis, Federal Express, The Home Depot, Johnson & Johnson, Bank of New York Mellon, Royal Caribbean Cruises, and other leading firms. He has also presented at government organizations including the FBI, NASA, EPA, and TSA. Over the past five summers, he has served on the faculty of Tokyo’s Nomura School of Advanced Management executive education program.

Dr. Roberto resides in Holliston, Massachusetts with his wife, Kristin, and his three children—Grace, Celia, and Luke.