Tom Cottrell

Tom is an associate professor in the Finance Area.  He holds a PhD in Business and Public Policy from the University of California at Berkeley and a baccalaureate from the University of Washington in Business Administration with a concentration in accounting.  He has been at Haskayne since 1993. 

Dr. Cottrell teaches advanced corporate finance and mergers & acquisitions at the undergraduate and master’s levels.  He teaches the compensation module in the undergraduate core, and provides occasional lectures on these subjects in Haskayne executive education programs.

Tom’s current research interest is in the area of private equity and real options, and agglomeration economies in the software industry.  Tom was honored to receive the Commerce Undergraduate Society Award for Outstanding Teaching & Learning in 2004-2005. 

After undergraduate work, Tom worked first at Deloitte as a staff auditor, earning his CPA designation, and then at Microsoft as a general accounting manager.  Tom currently serves on a number of boards: he was appointed by the Minister of Employment, Immigration and Industry as the public member of the Certified Management Consultants of Alberta, is a faculty representative on the board of the Calgary Portfolio Management Trust, the Treasurer of the Land’s End Chamber Music Ensemble and President of the board at Fire Exit Theatre.  

Research and Publications
Robinson, Michael and Cottrell, Thomas, 
“Investment Patterns of Informal Investors in the Alberta Private Equity Market” Journal of Small Business Management, 45(1), January, 2007

Cottrell, Thomas J., and Barrie Nault "
Product variety and firm survival in the microcomputer software industry
Strategic Management Journal, 25(10), October, 2004

Cottrell, Thomas J. and Gordon A. Sick 
"First mover (Dis)advantage and Real Options" 
Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, 14(2), Summer 2001.

Cottrell, Thomas J. and Kenneth W. Koput 
"Software variety and hardware value" 
Journal of Engineering and Technology Management, 15(4), 1998.

Cottrell, Thomas J. 
"Fragmented Standards and the development of Japan's Microcomputer Software Industry" 
Research Policy, February, 1994, p 143-174

• Courses