Ph.D.–Arizona State University
M.B.A.–Arizona State University
B.S.–Arizona State University

In 1983¸ Dr. Desman received his Doctor of Philosophy degree in Management from Arizona State University. He also holds Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science degrees in Management from Arizona State University; granted in 1971 and 1970 respectively.

Formerly a member of the faculties at Arizona State University and the Pepperdine University Graduate School of Business Administration¸ Dr. Desman is currently a member of the graduate faculty of the Kennesaw State University Michael J. Coles School of Business Administration. He has taught courses in Small Business¸ General Management¸ Organization Theory¸ Policy and Strategy¸ Organization Analysis and Change¸ Training and Development¸ and International Management. He has also conducted workshops and seminars on Decision Making¸ Control¸ Culture¸ Entrepreneurship¸ Consulting¸ Community Planning¸ The Art of Asking¸ Strategic Planning¸ Leadership¸ Constituency Building¸ Family Enterprise¸ Managing Diversity¸ and Strategic Management.


Dr. Desman has held several management positions in industry including Vice President¸ International¸ for a Japanese communications and electronics company¸ in which he was a principal¸ and Corporate Director of Human Resources for a Fortune 50 conglomerate. His international experience includes work in Canada¸ Mexico¸ Singapore¸ The Peoples Republic of China¸ Japan¸ The Russian Federation¸ Germany¸ and Switzerland. He has created development programs for the Hospital Council of Southern California¸ the Neuropsychiatric Institute of the U.C.L.A. Medical School¸ the American Nephrology Nurses Association¸ the National Association of Sash and Door Jobbers¸ the International Federation of Women´s Travel Clubs¸ the Maricopa County Adult Probation Department¸ the City of Marietta¸ Georgia¸ Jaingsu Province Economic Training Cadre of Nanjing¸ Peoples Republic of China¸ and The Oil & Gas Transportation Ministry of The Commonwealth of Independent States. His consulting activities have included both public and private sector organizations; the largest being the United States Post Office and the smallest¸ a private school with a staff of seven.


Formerly Associate Director of the Kennesaw State College Family Enterprise Center¸ editor of the Family Business Bibliography and founder and co–director of the Family Business Research Consortium¸ Dr. Desman designed the curriculum of the first Family Business Academy¸ which won the prestigious LERN award for creative programming and was a member of the Academy faculty. Dr. Desman is the founder and Director of IntEnt¸ the Kennesaw International Entrepreneurship Program¸ and Co–founder and Co–director of the Enterprise Pan America International Business Tournament. He is a member of the International Council for Small Business¸ USASBE¸ the Academy of Management and the Decision Sciences Institute and has participated in the "Career/Education Opportunities for Black Youth" and "You and the American Economy" programs for high school students¸ several United Way committees and programs¸ and the Governor’s Advisory Committee for State Employee Compensation. At the request of the Soros Foundation¸ he represented the academic perspective at the Nizhny–Novgorod conference for defense conversion of the Russian military industrial complex.


Among Dr. Desman’s publications and presentations are The Tribal Organization: Implications for SMEs in Emerging Economies; International Geo–Expansion and Factor Matching¸ The Sociopathology of Entrepreneurial and Professional Criminal Behavior¸ Organization Utility: Implications for New Venture and Small Business Success¸ The Entrepreneur as a Niché Hunter¸ The Frankenstein Dilemma¸ Corporate Culture¸ and Other Helpful Metaphors; When Sled Dogs Become Watchdogs; and Life in the State–of–Choice¸ Family Business: The State of the Notion (1992¸ 1993)¸ Toward a Concept of Organization Utility. In addition¸ he has co–authored International Geo–Expansion And The Small Business: Entry¸ Coordination And Competitive Advantage; Enterprise Pan America: Anatomy of a Successful Business / Government / Higher Education Joint Venture; La Forrestal (An International Business Case); Corporate Philanthropy: A Strategic Approach to the Bottom–Line; Family Business: The State of the Notion 1990; Problem Solving and the Tendency to Control; Personal Selling: Chicken or Egg; The Academician as a Consultant; and The 60–Minute MBA Dr. Desman was a contributing author to Family Business Magazine and has been quoted in Working Woman Magazine (12/92) and The Wall Street Journal (2/92) on the subject of family enterprise. He was the National Research Paper Chair for the 1992 annual meeting of the Family Firm Institute. He is co–author of Strategy in Three Dimensions¸ a strategic management text and Managing In Three Dimensions: A Management Primer¸ an introductory management text.