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Turner College Management Professor Kevin Hurt Offers Research-Based Approach to Graduate Business Education

Turner College management professor Kevin Hurt offers his students a unique research-based approach to graduate education. In addition to assigning academic readings and a research requirement in his MSOL classes, his students are also assigned movies and/or TED Talks to watch, after which they are tasked with diagnosing whether a particular leader demonstrates servant leadership. In completing this assignment, Hurt's students must go beyond a simple "yes" or "no" answer and instead link their perspective back to the academic literature to justify their positions. Students are then graded on how well they defend their positions with the academic literature, not on the correctness of their conclusion. These diagnosis papers yield the additional benefit of stimulating interesting conversations between the students. Hurt's research-approach to MSOL education also extends to the scholarship of teaching. In fact, when it comes to conducting research with current and former MSOL students, Hurt is usually the first person that comes to mind. Hurt continued his practice of working with Turner College graduate students into 2026 with two additional journal publications. First, his research with Pierce Ippolito and Joshua Kay on the effect of servant leadership and psychological safety on employee commitment and workplace engagement appears in a recent issue of the Journal of Values-Based Leadership. Second, Hurt's work with Aryn Clark on servant leadership as an indicator for project success has been accepted for presentation at the 2026 International Academy of Business Disciplines Conference in Phoenix, Arizona. In addition to these successes, Hurt and Robert Jimerson presented their research on fostering group identity after trauma at the 2025 Midwest Academy of Management Conference in Cleveland, Ohio. That project is now being revised for resubmission to an academic journal. Currently, Hurt has two other research papers with MSOL graduate students that are being modified to be submitted to an academic conference. One of these, with Ted Martin, builds a conceptual model of servant leadership and community building in the wake of misaligned strategic decisions. The other, with Noah Shedd, examines how servant leadership promotes empowerment and fosters confidence and connection through positive youth development. As Hurt explains, "In addition to teaching students through research, which focuses on developing their critical thinking skills to defend or support the propositions they develop, those who aspire to go beyond the classroom are encouraged to do so. I continue to work with those students, helping them refine their research and assisting them with mentorship, preparing and delivering their presentations."  
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