Duygu Phillips
Biography
Duygu Phillips is an assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the Alfred Lerner College of Business & Economics. She earned her Ph.D. in entrepreneurship from Oklahoma State University, where she also worked as a postdoctoral researcher, and holds an M.Sc. in marketing from the University of Birmingham, UK. Her research focuses on new venture strategy, examining how entrepreneurs strategically construct and communicate identities for their ventures to acquire legitimacy through the lenses of signaling, optimal distinctiveness and cultural entrepreneurship.
Beyond new venture identity construction and legitimacy, her work explores family business and entrepreneurial finance. Dr. Phillips has been published in esteemed journals including the Journal of Management, Journal of Business Research, Small Business Economics, Journal of Small Business Management, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, Journal of Business Venturing Insights, Frontiers of Entrepreneurship Research Proceedings and Academy of Management Proceedings. She has also co-authored four book chapters and two research translation articles. Her impactful contribution to the Entrepreneur & Innovation Exchange earned her the 2024/2025 Schulze Publication Award, and she received the 2020 Best Conceptual Paper Award from the Academy of Management’s Entrepreneurship Division.
Dr. Phillips frequently presents at major conferences such as the annual meeting of the Academy of Management, Babson College Entrepreneurship Conference, Diana International Conference, Southern Management Association Conference, Legitimacy Workshops and United States Association for Small Business Conference. She currently serves on the editorial review boards for Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Family Business Review and Group and Organization Management.
In the classroom, she teaches creativity and design thinking, drawing on fifteen years of experience in marketing consulting and her background as the founder of a branding and naming company. She is deeply passionate about researching and teaching new venture strategy, creativity and identity development.
Education
- Ph.D. in business administration with a major in entrepreneurship, Oklahoma State University
- M.Sc. in marketing, University of Birmingham
- B.A. in communications with a focus on public relations and advertising, Galatasaray University
Select Publications
- Arteaga-Fonseca, J., Rutherford, M. W., Phillips, D., & Hill, A. D. (2025). What is risk, exactly? Reviewing construct heterogeneity across business fields and implications for entrepreneurship research. Journal of Management, 51(6), 2245-2277.
- Phillips, D., Edwards, B. D., & Rutherford, M. W. (2025). Conformity or Differentiation: Optimal distinctiveness through mediating channels. Journal of Business Research, 189, 115154.
- Phillips, D., Moore, C. B., & Rutherford, M. W. (2025). Legitimating language and emotional tone in antenarratives: A cultural entrepreneurship perspective. Journal of Business Research, 186, 114988.
- Arteaga-Fonseca*, J., Phillips*, D., Rutherford, M., & Krukowski, K. (2024). From liability to asset: A receiver’s perspective on eponymy signals and market value. Journal of Small Business Management, 1-29. (*lead authors)
- Phillips, D., Madison, K., Wolf, S., Hack, A., & Kellermanns, F. W. (2024). Signaling the family firm brand in recruitment materials: The role of category-based cognitive processing on applicant attraction. Journal of Business Research, 183, 114818.
- Sanchez, P., Pidduck, R. J., Phillips, D., Daspit, J., & Holt, D. (2024) From modesty to market: shareholder reactions to humility rhetoric in family and nonfamily firms under media scrutiny. Small Business Economics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11187-024-00878-3
- Purtell, C., Rutherford, M., Phillips, D., Edwards, B., Pollack, J. (2024). The Role of Narrative Transportation in Pitching Success. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 22.
- Phillips, D., Bylund, P. L., Rutherford, M. W., & Moore, C. B. (2023). Cryptocurrency legitimation through rhetorical strategies: an institutional entrepreneurship approach. Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, 35(1-2), 187-208.
- Glosenberg, A., Phillips, D., Schaefer, J., Pollack, J. M., Kirkman, B. L., McChesney, J., Ward, M. K., & Foster, L. L. (2022). The relationship of self-efficacy with entrepreneurial success: A meta-analytic replication and extension. Journal of Business Venturing Insights, 18, e00342.
- Sanchez, P., Pidduck, R., Phillips, D., & Daspit, J. J. (2025, April 8). Using humble language can drive market success. FamilyBusiness.org. Retrieved September 28, 2025, from https://eiexchange.com/content/using-humble-language-can-drive-market-success
- Phillips, D., Madison, K., Wolf, S., Hack, A., & Kellermanns, F. (2025, March 20). Why some job seekers avoid family firms. FamilyBusiness.org. Retrieved September 28, 2025, from https://familybusiness.org/content/why-some-job-seekers-avoid-family-firms 20,262 views as of January 15, 2026
- Heupel, K., Phillips, D., & Rutherford, M. (2025). Online influencers’ role in building new venture legitimacy. In F.T. Lohrke, J. J. Cabral, & C. Frownfelter-Lohrke (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship and Digitization. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishers.
- Rutherford, M. W., & Phillips, D. (2023). Nonresponse bias in family business research. In K. H. Brigham & G. T. Payne (Eds.), The Field Guide to Family Business Research.
- Rutherford, M. W., Phillips, D., & Arteaga, J. (2022). The bootstrapping-bricolage interface. De Gruyter Handbook of Entrepreneurial Finance.
- Rutherford, M. W., & Phillips, D. (2021). Bootstrapping: Complementary lines of inquiry in entrepreneurship. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management.
Awards & Honors
- Schulze Publication Award in Research Insight Category, Entrepreneur & Innovation Exchange (EIX), “Using Humble Language Can Drive Market Success,” 2024/25
- Best Conceptual Paper Award, Annual Meeting of AOM, 2020
Curriculum Vitae
Download Duygu Phillips’ CV (PDF)