Exequiel (Zeke) Hernandez

Current Courses (Fall 2025)

• MGMT6120 - Managing Emerg Entrprse

  This course is about managing during the early stages of an enterprise, when the firm faces the strategic challenge of being a new entrant in the market and the organizational challenge of needing to scale rapidly. The enterprises of interest in this course have moved past the purely entrepreneurial phase and need to systematically formalize strategies and organizational processes to reach maturity and stability, but they still lack the resources of a mature firm. The class is organized around three distinct but related topics that managers of emerging firms must consider: strategy, human and social capital, and global strategy.

  MGMT6120001 ( Syllabus )

  MGMT6120002 ( Syllabus )

  MGMT6120003 ( Syllabus )

• MGMT8710 - Adv Global Strategy

  This class is designed to develop world class, globally-minded managers. Many of the most important business issues of today are global in nature. Both "macro" phenomena (e.g. nationalism, protectionism, demographic change) and "micro" trends (e.g. competition within and from emerging markets, distributed talent and innovation, digitization and automation) are inherently international issues. They require firms and managers to think, innovate, and organize globally. This class offers a comprehensive set of tools to evaluate opportunities and challenges in global markets, to leverage cross-country differences to enhance innovation and performance, to manage the complexities of a business spread across multiple countries, and to win against foreign rivals. The course will focus on both the formulation and execution of global strategy, with a heavy emphasis on current events and hands on activities. Sample topics include: quantifying opportunities and risks of foreign investments; formulating and executing strategies that balance local responsiveness, global efficiency, and innovation; exploiting differences across countries to enhance innovation while protecting intellectual property; managing organizational structure, culture, and people in multinational organizations; structuring and managing cross-national and cross-cultural teams; developing a global mindset among managers and employees. This course builds on the global management portion of MGMT 611 or MGMT 612, but taking those classes is not a prerequisite for MGMT 871.

  MGMT8710002 ( Syllabus )

All Courses

• MGMT4090 - Huntsman Capstone Study

  The objective of the capstone study is to provide participants with the opportunity to integrate the knowledge gained in various courses Huntsman students take in Wharton and the College in a focused application to a specific project. The project would have sufficient breadth and depth to require participants to draw upon multiple analytical perspectives, theoretical lenses, and stocks of empirical data to collaboratively develop distinctive insights in relation to a given problem. The end product is a paper summarizing the research/application journey of the students, as well as a group presentation highlighting key findings as well as their theoretical and practical implications. Prerequisite: This course is only open to students in the Huntsman Program.

• MGMT6110 - Managing Est Enterprise

  This course is about managing large enterprises that face the strategic challenge of being the incumbent in the market and the organizational challenge of needing to balance the forces of inertia and change. The firms of interest in this course tend to operate in a wide range of markets and segments, frequently on a global basis, and need to constantly deploy their resources to fend off challenges from new entrants and technologies that threaten their established positions. The class is organized around three distinct but related topics that managers of established firms must consider: strategy, human and social capital, and global strategy.

• MGMT6120 - Managing Emerg Entrprse

  This course is about managing during the early stages of an enterprise, when the firm faces the strategic challenge of being a new entrant in the market and the organizational challenge of needing to scale rapidly. The enterprises of interest in this course have moved past the purely entrepreneurial phase and need to systematically formalize strategies and organizational processes to reach maturity and stability, but they still lack the resources of a mature firm. The class is organized around three distinct but related topics that managers of emerging firms must consider: strategy, human and social capital, and global strategy.

• MGMT6130 - Manag Estab Enterprise

• MGMT8710 - Adv Global Strategy

  This class is designed to develop world class, globally-minded managers. Many of the most important business issues of today are global in nature. Both "macro" phenomena (e.g. nationalism, protectionism, demographic change) and "micro" trends (e.g. competition within and from emerging markets, distributed talent and innovation, digitization and automation) are inherently international issues. They require firms and managers to think, innovate, and organize globally. This class offers a comprehensive set of tools to evaluate opportunities and challenges in global markets, to leverage cross-country differences to enhance innovation and performance, to manage the complexities of a business spread across multiple countries, and to win against foreign rivals. The course will focus on both the formulation and execution of global strategy, with a heavy emphasis on current events and hands on activities. Sample topics include: quantifying opportunities and risks of foreign investments; formulating and executing strategies that balance local responsiveness, global efficiency, and innovation; exploiting differences across countries to enhance innovation while protecting intellectual property; managing organizational structure, culture, and people in multinational organizations; structuring and managing cross-national and cross-cultural teams; developing a global mindset among managers and employees. This course builds on the global management portion of MGMT 611 or MGMT 612, but taking those classes is not a prerequisite for MGMT 871.

• MGMT9350 - Netwrk Theory & Applicat

  This course explores network models and their applications to organizational phenomena. By examining the structure of relations among actors, network approaches seek to explain variations in beliefs, behaviors, and outcomes. The beauty of network analysis is its underlying mathematical nature - network ideas and measures, in some cases, apply equally well at micro and macro levels of analysis. Therefore, we read and discuss articles both at the micro level (where the network actors are individuals within organizations) and at the macro level (where the network actors are organizations within larger communities) that utilize antecedents or consequences of network constructs such as small worlds, cohesion, structural equivalence, centrality, and autonomy. We begin by examining the classic problem of contagion of information and behaviors across networks, and follow by considering the various underlying models of network structure that might underlie contagion and other processes The next two sessions address a variety of mechanisms by which an actor's position in a network affects its behavior or performance. Then, the following two sessions address antecedents of network ties via the topics of network evolution and network activation. We close with a "grab bag" session of articles chosen to match class interests.

• MGMT9550 - Foundations Mult Mgmt.

  The goal of the course is to provide you with a foundation in some of the major research areas that underpin the study of Multinational Management. International Business (and the study of MNCs) is an interdisciplinary field. As such, our survey of the seminal articles in the field will span a number of different theoretical and empirical approaches (i.e., economic, managerial, organizational and institutional). Much of our seminar discussions will focus on identifying and developing interesting research questions raised by this interdisciplinary literature, which offers many opportunities for systematic empirical study.

• WH2970 - Wh Industry Exploration

  WIEP features short-term courses that focus on various industries and feature visits to businesses, lectures, extracurricular activities, and networking opportunities with alumni. Students must apply online: https://undergrad-inside.wharton.upenn.edu/wiep/

• Wharton Teaching Excellence Award, 2020
• Best 40 Under 40 Professor, Poets & Quants, 2019
• Emerging Scholar Award, Strategic Management Society, 2018
• Core Teaching Award, “Goes Above and Beyond the Call of Duty,” 2018 MBA Program, Wharton, 2018
• Glueck Best Paper Award (overall best paper), BPS Division, 2017 Academy of Management Conference, 2017
• Emerging Scholar Award, Business Policy and Strategy Division, Academy of Management, 2017
• Teaching Commitment and Curricular Innovation Award, 2017 MBA Program, Wharton, 2017
• Emerging Scholar Award, International Management Division, Academy of Management, 2016 Description

  The IM Division Florida International University College of Business Emerging Scholar Award is given to a junior scholar, who has shown exemplary scholarship in international management research. The criteria for thisaward is demonstrated academic excellence in international management. Successful candidates for this award are within 5-8 years from the completion of doctoral degree, who have shown a strong record of publication and professional activity.

• Temple/AIB Best Paper Award, Academy of International Business, 2016 Description

  Awarded during the 2016 Academy of International Business meeting to the best conference paper, for "Immigrants and Firm Performance: Effects on Foreign Subsidiaries vs. Foreign Entrepreneurial Firms" (with Elena Kulchina).

• Runner Up, Best Paper Award, Strategic Management Society, 2015
• Finalist, Outstanding Faculty Member, Freshman Class of 2016, Washington University in St. Louis (University wide recognition), 2013
• Finalist, Outstanding Dissertation Research Award, BPS Division, Academy of Management, 2012 Description

  2012 Academy of Management Meetings

• Finalist, Outstanding Faculty Member, Freshman Class of 2015, Washington University in St. Louis (University wide recognition), 2012
• Best PhD Student Paper, Strategic Management Society, 2009
• Best Paper with Practical Implications, Strategic Management Society, 2009
• Finalist, Best Conference Paper, Strategic Management Society, 2009
• Excellence in Teaching Award, Carlson School of Management, 2009

• Effects of immigrants on cross-border investment, Scientific Sense Podcast - 07/18/2020
• When immigrants come to the U.S., investments often follow, Marketplace - 06/30/2020
• Why Uber is competing against companies it owns minority stakes in, Yahoo! Finance - 04/15/2019
• Lessons about the power of being a ‘headquarters economy’, Star Tribune - 03/10/2019
• With Uber in the pits, Lyft gains ground in ride-hailing fight, Travel Weekly - 10/29/2017
• How a Country the Size of North Carolina Became a Global Startup Hub, Inc - 03/13/2017 Description

  Second only to Silicon Valley, the Swedish capital has produced the most billion-dollar companies, per capita. It’s also the No. 2 city for fast-growing companies, according to the 2017 Inc. 5000 Europe.

• The “culture advantage” and how to build a rock star team with no budget - 01/30/2017
• How Stockholm Became a Unicorn Factory, Knowledge@Wharton - 11/09/2015
• Can Cloning Businesses Work? Ask Rocket Internet, Knowledge@Wharton - 10/12/2015
• Can Cloning Businesses Work? Ask Rocket Internet, Knowledge@Wharton - 10/12/2015
• The First Step to Successful Innovation? Choosing the Right Partners, Knowledge@Wharton - 07/23/2015
• Common Bonds: How Immigrants Can Influence a Firm’s Foreign Expansion, Knowledge@Wharton - 05/27/2014
• Where will China’s firms establish subsidiaries? Where there are Chinese, Organizational Musings - 04/01/2014
• How Government Incentives Are Boosting Latin American Films, Knowledge@Wharton - 10/01/2013
• The stock market generally hates acquisitions, but there is an exception to the rule, Forbes - 12/17/2010
• Yes, You Can Succeed in Academia and Still Have a Personal Life, Harvard Business Publishing Education - 01/01/1970

Knowledge at Wharton

• The Truth About Immigration | Zeke Hernandez, Knowledge at Wharton - 6/18/2024
• Is This the End of Globalization?, Knowledge at Wharton - 4/18/2022
• For the Win: How Immigrant Employees Boost Performance, Knowledge at Wharton - 12/14/2021
• Do Foreign Firms Thrive in Immigrant Enclaves? O Da!, Knowledge at Wharton - 11/18/2019
• How Immigrant Entrepreneurs Pave the Way for Foreign VC Investments, Knowledge at Wharton - 10/29/2019
• Could Increased Immigration Improve the U.S. Economy?, Knowledge at Wharton - 9/10/2019
• Why Strong Intellectual Property Laws Matter in a Globalized World, Knowledge at Wharton - 8/29/2018
• Where Immigrants Go, Economic Growth Follows, Knowledge at Wharton - 8/21/2018
• How Ties to Ethnic Communities Influence Global Firm Expansion, Knowledge at Wharton - 8/3/2018
• Network Synergy: A New Way to Value M&A, Knowledge at Wharton - 5/22/2018

Wharton Stories

• My Global Business Week Experience: Argentina, Wharton Stories - 05/30/2024
• From Engineer to International Investor: Making the Most of your MBA Internships, Wharton Stories - 11/10/2022
• Meet Dr. Frank Igwé, WG’20, One of Philadelphia Business Journal’s “Most Admired CEOs”, Wharton Stories - 07/18/2022
• 3 Lessons This Undergrad Learned from Arts and Entertainment Leaders in Los Angeles, Wharton Stories - 04/30/2019
• One Wharton Week Spotlights Immigration, Political Discourse, #MeToo, and More, Wharton Stories - 03/14/2019
• What Wharton Prof. Zeke Hernandez Wants EMBA Students to Learn about Global Strategy, Wharton Stories - 03/14/2019