Regina Abrami

Regina Abrami
  • Director, Lauder Global Program
  • Senior Fellow and Senior Lecturer

Contact Information

Overview

Dr. Regina M. Abrami is the Director of the Lauder Institute’s Global Program and Head of its International Studies faculty at the University of Pennsylvania. At the Lauder Institute, she is broadly responsible for interdisciplinary curricular development in support of the university’s joint-degree MBA-MA program in International Studies. Dr. Abrami brings to the Lauder Institute a passion for, and expertise in, experiential education, with focus on issues of political economy, intercultural group dynamics, strategic foresight, and qualitative field-based learning.

Dr. Abrami holds appointments in the Departments of Political Science and Management as Senior Lecturer and Senior Fellow, respectively. Prior to Wharton, Dr. Abrami served on the faculty of Harvard Business School for 11 years in various capacities. These include co-designer of its “Doing Business in China” course, inaugural faculty chair of its international immersion program, and faculty member in its “Business, Government, and International Economy” unit. HBS honors include appointment as a Hellman Faculty Fellow, awarded for distinction in research, and the Robert F. Greenhill Award, given in recognition of distinguished service.

Dr. Abrami has authored dozens of HBS case studies, and continues work on the political economy of economic governance, national innovation, and the geopolitics of national economic security, with special focus on China. Her published work has appeared in Comparative Politics, Journal of East Asian Studies, Harvard Business Review, Marketwatch (WSJ), the China Policy Institute, the Oxford Handbook of Asian Business Systems. In 2014, her book, Can China Lead? Reaching the Limits of Power and Growth (co-authored with William C. Kirby and F. Warren McFarlan) was published by Harvard Business Review Press (published in Chinese in 2017).

Dr. Abrami earned her Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley, where she was both a Reinhard Bendix and John L. Simpson Memorial Fellow. She is a member of the Pacific Council on International Policy, Phi Beta Kappa, and a former Fellow of the Social Science Research Council and the Fulbright-Hays Program.

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Teaching

Current Courses

  • MGMT6120 - Management Of Emerging Enterprises

    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 )

Past Courses

  • INSP4997 - Senior Capstone

    This senior-year research course is designed to facilitate the completion of a thesis or project as part of the Huntsman Program's senior capstone experience. Students in the Huntsman Program should consult with the Huntsman Program advisors for more information.

  • INSP4999 - Honors Thesis

    The senior thesis course is a capstone for seniors in the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business. Students in the Huntsman Program should consult with the Huntsman Program advisors for more information.

  • INTS7210 - Gbl Bus through Humanities

    Drawing on theories within the fields of international relations, international law, and international political economy, plus history, this course equips students with insight into the legal, economic, and historical legacies that are important to understanding the nature of global business today.

  • MGMT2880 - Mnging & Compet in China

    This course primarily relies on case studies to explore China’s market environment, the expanding global footprint of Chinese enterprises, and China’s economic relations with the world. Students will not only acquire contextual intelligence related to China’s domestic market, but also a series of frameworks for thinking about competition within it and with Chinese businesses at home and abroad. We consider questions such as what, if anything, distinguishes the Chinese market? How do Chinese firms innovate? How does China’s political system influence market strategy? How do private firms thrive in China, including foreign-owned businesses? We will also discuss the growing use of economic statecraft, its impact on global competition, and U.S.-China economic relations, especially. Against this backdrop, students will not only explore leading ideas in strategic management, organizational behavior, and global competition, but also deepen their understanding of the geopolitics that influence international business decision-making today. Students with a general interest in doing business in emerging markets, the impact of national innovation systems, managing government-business relations, and the rise of emerging market multinationals will benefit from exposure to the issues and case studies presented in this class.

  • 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.

  • MGMT7880 - Mnging & Compet in China

    This course primarily relies on case studies to explore China’s market environment, the expanding global footprint of Chinese enterprises, and China’s economic relations with the world. Students will not only acquire contextual intelligence related to China’s domestic market, but also a series of frameworks for thinking about competition within it and with Chinese businesses at home and abroad. We consider questions such as what, if anything, distinguishes the Chinese market? How do Chinese firms innovate? How does China’s political system influence market strategy? How do private firms thrive in China, including foreign-owned businesses? We will also discuss the growing use of economic statecraft, its impact on global competition, and U.S.-China economic relations, especially. Against this backdrop, students will not only explore leading ideas in strategic management, organizational behavior, and global competition, but also deepen their understanding of the geopolitics that influence international business decision-making today. Students with a general interest in doing business in emerging markets, the impact of national innovation systems, managing government-business relations, and the rise of emerging market multinationals will benefit from exposure to the issues and case studies presented in this class.

Awards And Honors

  • Wharton Teaching Excellence award, 2020

In the News

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Nobel Laureate Richard Thaler’s New Take on the Classic ‘Winner’s Curse’

Behavioral economists Richard Thaler and Alex Imas visited Wharton to talk about their new book, an update to Thaler's 1991 classic 'The Winner’s Curse.'…Read More

Knowledge @ Wharton - 2026/01/20
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Awards and Honors

Wharton Teaching Excellence award 2020
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