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2210 Pittsburg Building
- mcderm3@rpi.edu
About
Margaret “Peggy” McDermott is a Senior Lecturer in the Lally School of Management and Coordinator of Lally’s Graduate Pathways Program. She holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Studies/Management from the University at Albany and a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Duke University.
Before entering academia, Dr. McDermott worked at the intersection of technology and business, serving in technical marketing at Fairchild Space, where NASA was a client, and in product development at Alcatel Network Systems. She draws on this industry experience to help students understand how organizations translate technological capabilities into business strategy, innovation, and competitive advantage.
Dr. McDermott’s research interests include strategic and organizational competencies, technology innovation, digital marketing, and supply chain innovation, particularly within small businesses and entrepreneurial ventures. Her scholarship has also examined the strategic use of Advanced Practice Providers in medical groups and the relationship between organizational investments, capabilities, and performance.
At Lally, Dr. McDermott teaches courses in management and supports undergraduate students pursuing accelerated and co-terminal graduate pathways. In her role as Graduate Pathways Program Coordinator, she helps students integrate their technical undergraduate education with advanced study in management and prepare for careers that bridge technology, leadership, and business.
Ph.D. in Management, University at Albany;
B.S. in Electrical Engineering, Duke University
Research
Dr. McDermott’s research examines how organizational capabilities, strategic priorities, and investments influence performance across a variety of organizational settings. Her work spans strategy, operations management, innovation, and entrepreneurship, with particular attention to service organizations, small and medium-sized enterprises, and early-stage ventures. Her research has explored topics including competitive priorities, value-chain activities, innovation orientation, organizational resources, and the relationship between operations strategy and the survival of entrepreneurial firms.
Her current research focuses on healthcare delivery, particularly the strategic use of Advanced Practice Providers, such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants, within U.S. health systems and medical practices. This work examines how organizational characteristics and staffing decisions affect access to care, quality, and group performance. She has also contributed to research on management education, including the use of experiential and blended-learning approaches in introductory management courses.
Strategic Management
Teaching
My teaching emphasizes the integration of business fundamentals with technology, analytical thinking, and real-world decision-making. In Management in the Digital Age, I introduce students from a range of academic disciplines to the core functional areas of business, including strategy, economics, accounting and finance, marketing, operations and supply chain management, entrepreneurship, and business analytics.
I use an applied, interdisciplinary approach that combines lectures and readings with case analyses, simulations, team-based consulting activities, current business issues, and industry guest speakers. Students learn to research companies and industries, evaluate complex business problems, integrate knowledge across functional areas, and develop evidence-based recommendations for managers. Because effective leadership also requires strong interpersonal skills, my courses emphasize collaboration, professional communication, class discussion, and presentations.
My goal is to create an engaging and supportive learning environment in which students move beyond understanding individual business concepts to recognizing how those concepts interact within an organization. This approach is particularly valuable at RPI, where many students are preparing for careers that require them to bridge technology, management, and leadership.
MGMT 1100: Management in the Digital Age
As Coordinator of Lally’s Graduate Pathways Program, Professor McDermott advises undergraduate students who are interested in integrating graduate study in management with their technical or disciplinary education at RPI. She helps students evaluate available accelerated and co-terminal pathways, understand program eligibility and application requirements, and develop an academic plan aligned with their undergraduate degree requirements and professional goals.
Her advising includes guidance on course selection, application timing, and the strategic use of eligible graduate coursework through RPI’s credit-sharing provisions. She works with students to identify courses that may satisfy applicable undergraduate requirements while also contributing toward a future Lally graduate degree, helping them make efficient and informed progress through both programs. In collaboration with academic departments, program directors, and student-support offices, Professor McDermott also connects students with appropriate resources related to degree planning, financial aid, career development, and graduate admissions.
Beyond academic planning, she mentors students as they explore how advanced management education can complement their backgrounds in engineering, science, economics, and other fields and prepare them for leadership roles at the intersection of technology and business.