🐢 Assistant Professor · Scholar · Paradoxical Thinker
Maria Luiza Carvalho de Aguillar Pinho
"I don't resolve contradictions. I teach people to grow inside them."
Brazilian roots. 15 years in global business. Now shaping the next generation of leaders at Widener University — one paradox, one student, one small action at a time. Because every small action plants a seed for a better future for all. 🌱
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Teaching
Rigor with heart · Real-world connections · Courses that challenge and care
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Research
Strategy · International business · Paradoxes of responsible global business
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Collaborate
Real projects · Student teams · Academic–practitioner partnerships
What I stand for
Six paradoxes that guide everything I do
I am a paradoxical thinker — because the most honest truths live in the tension between two things that seem to contradict each other. These are mine.
Push hard↔Hold close
Tough love is the most honest form of belief. I demand more than students think they can give — and I stay by their side the whole way through.
Rigor↔Care
High academic standards and genuine human warmth live in the same classroom. The bar is high because I believe you can reach it.
Grit↔Grace
I have rebuilt myself across countries, languages, and careers. I model grit because I have lived it — and extend grace because I have needed it.
Global↔Human
The world is the context. The student is the point. Brazilian roots, French MNE career, U.S. academia, research across four continents.
Scholar↔Practitioner
15 years in corporate strategy before becoming a researcher. I don't teach theory at students — I show them how it lives in the real world.
Belonging↔Challenge
Safety without challenge is comfort. Challenge without safety is fear. My classroom is both — you belong here exactly as you are, and you will grow.
"She is an amazing person who truly cares about her students and takes time to learn about each student, support them, and be their personal cheerleader."
— Student, MGT-452, Spring 2025 · Widener University
Three places to find me thinking out loud
Where ideas live
The Paradox Lab
For academics, researchers & PhD students navigating the hard questions
Where I think out loud about strategy, international business, and the tensions that make scholarly life both frustrating and beautiful.
My classroom is where rigor and warmth coexist — where students are pushed to think harder, reach further, and discover they are more capable than they thought. Every course is a shared journey.
Teaching philosophy
Why I teach the way I teach
Education as a shared journey of growth
My teaching philosophy is not static — it is dynamic, built on the conviction that education is something we do together. I do not want to simply teach. I want to mentor. To create an environment where students make discoveries through their own lens, supported at every step.
I bring 15 years of corporate experience across strategy, marketing, and international business into every course — not as stories, but as living evidence that theory and practice are not separate worlds. My students learn to think like strategists, not just students.
My ideal classroom is primarily a safe and comfortable place where students of diverse backgrounds are encouraged to clarify their thoughts and expose their assumptions for mutual examination. The learning process is always a mutual one.
Learning Competency 1
Business knowledge with depth
Bridging theory with real-world examples so students demonstrate genuine knowledge of their discipline.
Learning Competency 2
Critical thinking & decision-making
Teaching with rigor — supporting analytical skills so students become confident, competent decision-makers.
Learning Competency 3
Global & multicultural perspectives
My multicultural background is not background — it is method. Students navigate complexity through a global lens.
Learning Competency 4
Professional skills for life
Corporate experience translated into skills that help students succeed as professionals and responsible citizens.
Courses
What I teach
MGT-100
Understanding and Working in Organizations
Introduction to management for first-year students — building foundational knowledge of how organizations work and how people lead within them.
MGT-452
Management Policy & Strategy
The flagship capstone course for seniors. Students conduct real strategic analyses using Porter's Five Forces, VRIO, and SWOT — applied to actual company data.
MKT-406
Marketing Research
Students design and execute real marketing research projects, including live field data collection with partners like the Philadelphia Union.
BUS-605
Leading Organizations and People
Graduate-level leadership course integrating Harvard case studies, real-world frameworks, and executive perspectives.
High-Impact
Experiential Learning
Every course includes high-impact practices: guest speakers, alumni connections, field trips, simulations, and real-client projects.
Resources
Student Tools & Support
Clear syllabi, milestone-structured projects, Noodle Nuggets cheat sheets, and always — a professor who answers quickly and actually helps.
What students say
In their own words
She is an amazing person who truly cares about her students and takes time to learn about each student, support them, and be their personal cheerleader.
— Senior, MGT-452, Spring 2025
I love how personable and approachable Professor Pinho is. I can tell how much she really cares about all of her students, which I really find respectable and kind.
— Student, MGT-100, Fall 2024
She cares about her students and pushes them to do well. When they need help, she is happy to push them in the right direction in understanding material for assignments.
— Senior, Spring 2024
Working with a real company's data made the project feel like actual consulting work. It made me think about strategy in a way I can actually use in my career.
— Student, MGT-452, Spring 2025
The field trip to NY was a one-of-a-kind experience I will never forget. I learned so much, and it showed me how many opportunities there are out there.
— Student, MGT-452, Spring 2025
You've helped me learn a lot more than I thought I'd ever learn. Now I can see myself as a business — who am I? What am I selling in terms of abilities and perspective?
— Freshman, MGT-100, Fall 2023
Page 03 · Research
Research at the intersection of strategy, society & paradox
My scholarship lives where global business meets human responsibility — where the tensions organizations face are not problems to resolve, but paradoxes to navigate wisely.
Research agenda
What I study and why it matters
My research agenda lies at the intersection of strategy, international business, and societal challenges. I work across countries, partnering with doctoral students, peers, and senior scholars in North America, Europe, New Zealand, and Latin America.
Published · Journal Article
Organizational Agility: A Systematic Literature Review bridging the gaps
Journal of Business Research (2022) · Co-authors: Pinho C.R.A., Yaprak A., Liu L., Cavusgil S.T.
382+ citationsA-ranked journal
Published · Book Chapter
The Historical Evolution of International Business Teaching: A Longitudinal Analysis
Oxford/Springer Volume · Peer reviewed by Paul Beamish, S. Tamer Cavusgil & James Goodnow
"The longest and most comprehensive such analysis to date" — Raj Aggarwal (2025)
Under Review · Revise & Resubmit
Paradoxes of Responsible Global Business in Multinational Enterprises: An Integrative Review
International Business Review · ABDC Rating: A · R&R 2 expected November 2025
A-ranked · Pipeline
In Progress · Empirical Study
Balancing Acts: MNE Strategies for Reconciling Profitability and Responsibility
Co-authors: Pinho C.R.A., Yaprak A., Liu L., Cavusgil S.T. · Critical Perspectives on International Business
Active pipeline
In Progress · Symposium
Reclaiming Mary Parker Follett: Relational Philosophy & Contemporary Paradox Scholarship
AOM 2025 · Sponsored by OMT, CM & MH divisions · Co-author: Rebecca Bednarek
AOM accepted · 3 divisions
Community Impact
Entrepreneurship Guide for Brazilian Immigrants in the Southeast U.S.
Academic expertise connected to community empowerment · Ongoing engagement with immigrant entrepreneurs
Blog 01 · For academics, researchers & PhD students
The Paradox Lab
Where I think out loud about strategy, international business, and the tensions that make scholarly life both frustrating and beautiful. This is the messy middle of real academic work.
Latest thinking
Recent posts
Paradox theory
Why I stopped trying to resolve the tension between rigor and care — and what happened next
For years I thought being a serious scholar meant leaving the warmth at the door. Then I realized that was never the paradox I needed to solve.
Coming soon · The Paradox Lab
Research life
Mary Parker Follett and why a woman from 1920 is reshaping how I think about business today
She wrote about integration, power-with, and the whole being greater than its parts. The academic world largely forgot her. I think that was a mistake.
Coming soon · The Paradox Lab
PhD students
The revise-and-resubmit that broke me — and what I did with the pieces
An honest account of what it feels like to get R&R feedback that challenges your entire framework, and how you rebuild from there.
Coming soon · The Paradox Lab
International business
Can a multinational be truly responsible? An honest look at the paradoxes of global business
My research lives at the intersection of profitability and responsibility. Here is what the evidence actually says — and what it doesn't.
Coming soon · The Paradox Lab
Get new posts in your inbox
No algorithms. Just ideas, when they are ready. 🐢
Blog 02 · For professors, educators & practitioners
Between the Lines
Practical resources, honest reflections, and things that actually work in the classroom — shared because I wish someone had told me earlier. No performance, no pretending. Just real talk from someone in the trenches.
Resources & reflections
Recent posts
Teaching strategy
Why I scaffold every major project into milestones — and how it changed everything
The single structural change that reduced student overwhelm, improved final quality, and made my grading 40% less painful.
Coming soon · Between the Lines
Assessment
Specifications grading: what I kept, what I dropped, and why
I tried Specs grading for two semesters. Here is an honest breakdown of what works, what backfires, and the one element I will never give up.
Coming soon · Between the Lines
Student engagement
Bringing alumni into your classroom without it feeling like a corporate pitch
Guest speakers are only as good as how you prepare students before and debrief after. Here is my full protocol.
Coming soon · Between the Lines
New faculty
Teaching a course you inherited with two weeks' notice — a survival guide
It happened to me with MKT-406. I learned a lot that semester. Most of it was humbling. Some of it was actually useful.
Coming soon · Between the Lines
Get practical resources in your inbox
Tools and ideas for educators who care about doing it better. 📚
Blog 03 · For everyone navigating the beautiful mess of growth
Just Keep Swimming 🐠
A warm, honest corner of the internet. For students, fellow academics, and anyone who needs a reminder that every small action matters — even on the days when it doesn't feel like it.
Warmth, honesty & a little Dory energy
Recent posts
On growth
Every small action plants a seed — and you won't always see it grow
The student who emails you three years later. The concept that clicked in year two. Why the work matters even when the results are invisible.
Coming soon · Just Keep Swimming
On perseverance
What moving countries four times taught me about starting over with grace
Brazil. France. Georgia. Pennsylvania. Each time I had to rebuild — my language, my network, my sense of who I was professionally.
Coming soon · Just Keep Swimming
On belonging
Why I bring muffins to class — and what it has to do with belonging
It sounds small. But small things signal something big: I see you. You matter here. That is not soft teaching. That is strategic care.
Coming soon · Just Keep Swimming
On mental health
Showing up whole — what I wish academia talked about more openly
Mental health is part of how we show up as whole people. I have lived this personally. And I think it is time we talked about it out loud.
Coming soon · Just Keep Swimming
Keep swimming with me 🐠
Warm, honest posts for when you need a reminder to just keep going.
Page 05 · Let's Build Something
This is not about me. It's about my students.
I am not looking for consulting engagements. But if you have a real project and want to collaborate with talented, motivated students under faculty guidance — I genuinely want to hear from you.
Real problems. Real students. Real impact.
My students are curious, driven, and ready to do actual work — not simulations. When organizations bring real challenges into my classroom, something extraordinary happens: students rise to meet them, and organizations get fresh, rigorous perspectives they could not have generated internally.
I am not available for individual consulting. My time and energy belong to my students and my research. But if your project creates genuine learning opportunities for students, that changes everything.
Inspired by Mary Parker Follett's philosophy — the whole is greater than the sum of its parts — I believe the best outcomes emerge when academia and practice build something together, not in parallel.
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Research collaboration
Co-authorship on strategy, international business, or responsible business topics with faculty and graduate students.
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Live case studies
Your organization becomes the case. Students analyze real challenges using strategic frameworks and present recommendations.
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Student consulting teams
Capstone groups tackle real problems under faculty supervision. You get fresh eyes; students get real experience.
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Guest speaking & panels
Share your journey with students who are figuring out theirs. Alumni especially welcome — you were them once.
Book a 20-minute conversation
Tell me about your project. If there is a genuine fit with what my students need, we will figure out the rest together.
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Click below to open my Microsoft 365 Bookings calendar
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Choose a 20-minute slot that works for you
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Tell me briefly about your project in the notes field
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We talk. No commitment. Just a real conversation.
I respond to every genuine inquiry. My students are worth my time — and so are the people who want to invest in their growth.
