Rate My Professor Nastaran Simarasl

Dr. Nastaran Simarasl is the Director of the Singelyn Graduate School of Business and an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Strategic Management in the Management and Human Resources Department at the College of Business Administration, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona. She holds a Ph.D. in Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior from the University of Isfahan, Iran, an M.A. in Organizational Development and Change from Allameh Tabataba'ee University, Tehran, Iran, and a B.A. in Insurance Management from the College of Economic Affairs, Tehran, Iran. Prior to her faculty role, she worked as a Project Manager in an organizational alliance between two universities, a Senior Researcher at Iran’s Ministry of Commerce leading and implementing research projects to enhance the entrepreneurship ecosystem, and owned and managed her own insurance agency. At Cal Poly Pomona, she serves as the primary Faculty Advisor of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization (CEO) Club, Co-Chair of the Heterodox Academy Community Network, and Faculty Director of the College of Business Administration Dean's Research Seminar Series. In 2023, she was a Visiting Scholar at WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management, Vallendar, Germany.

Dr. Simarasl’s research focuses on entrepreneurship in understudied contexts, exploring how entrepreneurs succeed amid hardships, institutional biases, and resource constraints. Her scholarship has been published in top journals, including 'Constrained but not contained: How marginalized entrepreneurs overcome institutional bias and mobilize resources' (Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 2022, with Jiang, Pandey, and Navis), 'Unmasking the social ghost in the machine: How the need to belong and family business potency affect family firm performance' (Family Business Review, 2020, with Jiang, Kellermanns, and Debicki), 'Navigating hardships: Resilience-building coping strategies and actionable techniques for entrepreneurs' (Business Horizons, 2025, with Tabesh and Jessri), 'The paradox of resource access: Influence on location decision comprehensiveness and new venture performance' (New England Journal of Entrepreneurship, 2023, with Tabesh and Lee), 'Unveiled confidence: Exploring how institutional support enhances the entrepreneurial self-efficacy and performance of female entrepreneurs in constrained contexts' (European Management Journal, 2024, with Tabesh, Munyon, and Marzban), and 'Antecedents of business location decisions: The case of aspiring immigrant opportunity entrepreneurs' (Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 2021, with Moghaddam and Williams). She teaches Capstone Strategic Management, Introduction to Entrepreneurship, Social Entrepreneurship, Business Consulting, and Business Analytics, Innovation and Idea Development. Through her courses, her students have delivered consulting services to the Pomona Chamber of Commerce and non-profits such as Healed Women Heal, analyzing business challenges and support needs.