Brett Young

Dr. Brett W. Young is an associate professor of management information systems in the School of Business. In 2016, he helped establish the Center for Emerging Business and Entrepreneurship (CEBE) at GGC. Young teaches the introductory management information systems (MIS) course, international management of IT, and system analysis and design.

In his MIS course, Young introduces SBA students to a variety of MIS / IT topics that impact organizations and also helps students enhance their analytical skills in using MS Excel. The course includes videos and in-class lectures, class discussions, and in-class hands-on instruction. The international management of IT course requires reading theoretical insights and practical cases involving diffusion of innovation. The course includes case analysis writing assignments and is a discussion-based seminar-style course. System analysis and design is the MIS course that incorporates all aspects of MIS and brings it all together for the MIS student. This course integrates programming, database design and system analysis. It provides students a realistic simulation of the business analyst’s role through individual and group projects. In all of Young’s classes, students can expect in-class group assignments, intellectual challenges, quizzes to test understanding and an engaging instructor who cares about his students.

Young’s research on IT-enabled process innovation received the JAIS Best Paper Award for 2016 and was published in the premier Journal for the Association of Information Systems. The paper was also nominated for the best paper award in information systems for 2017. He participated in multiple research presentations and publications while on the NSF-funded Organizational Participation Open Communities Project, including co-authoring a paper published in the top-tier international journal, Information Systems Research.

Young’s research reflects his interests in IT-enabled innovation, stakeholder perceptions of IT, user contributions in online communities, and entrepreneurship ecosystems and has been presented at conferences and published in top-tier journals. He has served as co-editor for the International Conference on Engaged Management Scholarship and as a reviewer for many information systems and entrepreneurship conferences and journals.

Young earned his Ph.D. in computer information systems at the Center for Process Innovation (CEPRIN) at Georgia State University and an MBA focused in finance, also from Georgia State University. While working in New York City in the late ’90s, he completed a graduate-level program in information technology and management from New York University. His undergraduate degree is in industrial management from Culverhouse College of Business at The University of Alabama.

Previously, Young worked in manufacturing management for three years while developing an ISO-9000-based quality system and then as an IT / ERP principal consultant in New York City, Boston, London, England and Angers, France (among other places). His clients included Prudential, NECX, Packard Bell, John Hancock and Motorola. In these various roles, he worked with small teams to deploy advanced technologies to manage, develop, customize, and implement enterprise applications and financial systems for organizations.

Young enjoys college football, pro sports and reading, and spends as much time as possible with his two daughters, Olivia and Eliza, and his beautiful wife of over 25 years, Jill.

• Doctorate – computer information systems – Georgia State University
• Master's – business administration – Georgia State University
• Graduate certificate – technology and management – New York University
• Bachelor's – industrial management / production and operations management – The University of Alabama

• Business process innovation
• Entrepreneurship
• Open-source communities
• Online community engagement
• Information management
• Action research

• JAIS Best Paper Award, 2016