Ursula Y. Sullivan

Cynthia and Douglas Crocker Endowed Professor in Business

Department

Marketing

Education

  • Ph.D., Northwestern University, Marketing
  • M.S., Northwestern University, Marketing
  • B.B.A., University of Texas at Austin, International Business and Marketing

Awards

  • Cynthia and Douglas Crocker Endowed Professorship in Business, effective 2022
  • Northern Illinois University — College of Business Global Research Fellowship, 2014
  • Northern Illinois University — College of Business Global Research Fellowship, 2015
  • Marketing Management Association/MBAA Conference, 2013: Best Paper in Track award for the Global Marketing Track
  • Marketing Management Association/MBAA Conference for spring 2011: Best Paper in Track award for the Supply Chain Track
  • Irwin/McGraw Hill Distinguished Paper Award for the entire conference

Teaching Areas

  • Global marketing
  • Marketing strategy
  • Marketing principles

Research Interests

  • Marketing and brand strategy
  • Marketing distribution and channel alliances
  • Supply chain management

Publications

  • Krishnan Palghat, Vijaykumar, Sullivan, Ursula Y., and Aurand, Timothy W. (2022). “Shared Autonomous Vehicle Taxi Services: Unpacking The Route to Consumer Adoption.” Marketing Management Journal Volume 32, Issue 2, pp. 89-108).
  • Krishnan Palghat, Vijaykumar, Sullivan, Ursula Y., and Aurand, Timothy W. (2022). “Coca-Cola Chocolate Anyone? The Impact of Brand Trust Upon Brand Versatility,” Journal of Contemporary Business Issues, Volume 25, No. 2, pp. 43-52.
  • Oflaç, B., Sullivan, U.Y. and Kaya Aslan, Z. (2021), ""Examining the impact of locus and justice perception on B2B service recovery"", Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, Volume 36, Issue 8, pp. 1403-1414.
  • Sullivan, Ursula Y., Peterson, Robert M., Krishnan Palghat, Vijay (2012), “Value Creation and Firm Sales Performance: The Mediating Roles of Strategic Account Management and Relationship Perception” Industrial Marketing Management, Vol. 41, pp. 166-173.
  • Thomas, Jacquelyn S. and Ursula Y. Sullivan (2005), “Managing Marketing Communications with Multi-Channel Customers,” Journal of Marketing, Vol. 69 (October 2005), pp. 239-251.

Biography

Professor Sullivan's research focuses mostly on marketing strategy, including some very new analyses of customer preferences for autonomous vehicles. Some of her published research has been in multiple channels of communic ation, which includes one of the first papers to examine the omnichannel phenomenon and which really propelled her interest in engaging customers wherever they want to be. She has presented her research at several academic conferences and her publications can be found in various business journals including Journal of Marketing, Industrial Marketing Management, and Journal of Business and Industrial Marketing. She has also received Best Paper awards for her research on global distribution and supply chain alliances.

Her teaching covers many aspects of marketing strategy including multinational and global marketing, biotech marketing, international channel strategy, and purchasing and supply chain management. At Northern Illinois University, Professor Sullivan teaches marketing strategy (undergraduate), global marketing (undergraduate and graduate), content marketing (graduate) and buyer behavior (undergraduate). Her classes are both online and on campus.

In addition to her research and teaching, Professor Sullivan has work and consulting experience in the consumer-packaged goods (CPG), grocery wholesaling and food service industries.

She currently serves on the board of the Marketing Management Association (MMA) as well as the editorial review board of the Marketing Management Journal. Sullivan enjoys serving in varying capacities with the Ph.D. Project which encourages and mentors students of color as they work on their doctoral degrees. At NIU, she is the chair of the Department of Marketing Curriculum Committee and is the assistant chair on the College of Business Curriculum Committee. She is the faculty advisor for two student groups: Women in Business Professions, and the Hispanic Business Student Association. At the university-level, she serves on the University Assessment Panel and is an alumna of the Emerging Faculty Leadership Program. She is also an Authorized Departmental Representative for the Institutional Review Board at NIU.

Professor Sullivan is married and has two sons, one in college and one in high school. She volunteers her personal time with her youngest son’s extracurricular activities as well as at her church. She enjoys reading 19th-century English literature and “old-school” murder mysteries.

Contact Us

NIU College of Business
Barsema Hall
740 Garden Road
DeKalb, IL 60115

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