George Foster

George Foster holds undergraduate (with first-class honours and university medal) and graduate degrees in economics from The University of Sydney, and a doctorate from Stanford Graduate School of Business. He taught at the University of Chicago and the Australian Graduate School of Management prior to joining the GSB faculty at Stanford University.

His writings include over 50 research articles, over 100 cases, two monographs, as well as multiple editions of several textbooks. Foster’s early and continuing research was on the role of financial analysis in the valuation and growth of companies. He subsequently broadened his research interests to include management control systems, entrepreneurship/venture capital, and sports business management. His textbook writings include Financial Statement Analysis; Cost Accounting: A Managerial Analysis; The Business of Sports; and Sports Business Management: Decision Making Around The Globe.

Foster has worked extensively with the World Economic Forum and is a former chair of their Global Agenda Council on Fostering Entrepreneurship. He led the research team on the 2011 Forum publication on Global Entrepreneurship and the Successful Growth Strategies of Early-Stage Companies. He co-led the research team on the 2014 World Economic Forum publication on Entrepreneurial Ecosystems Around the Globe and Company Growth Dynamics. He has participated in WEF meetings in Switzerland, China, India, UAE, and USA.

Foster’s 2010 co-authored paper on “Building Sustainable High-Growth Startup Companies” won the 2011 Accenture Award for the article that “has made the most important contribution to improving the practice of management.” His co-authored paper on “The Rise and Fall of Startups” paper was cited as the paper with “exceptional quality and likely to have a substantial impact in the field of management research.” He has won multiple other research awards including the AICPA Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Accounting Literature (twice) and the Competitive Manuscript Award of the American Accounting Association (twice). He is a winner of the Distinguished Teaching Award at Stanford Business School and has been awarded honorary doctorates from the University of Ghent (Belgium) and the University of Vaasa (Finland).

A feature of Foster’s research and teaching is high involvement with the relevant business communities. In his three MBA classes at Stanford he brings over sixty senior executives each year to co-teach individual sessions as well as co-teaching each course with senior executives from the entrepreneurship and sports business communities. He is also actively involved with sporting organizations around the globe, including directing executive programs for the National Football League (NFL) and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA).