Neck, Christopher P.
Dr. Christopher P. Neck, PhD, is currently an associate professor of Management at Arizona State
University, where he held the title “University Master Teacher.” From 1994 to 2009, he was part of
the Pamplin College of Business faculty at Virginia Tech. He received his PhD in Management from
Arizona State University and his MBA from Louisiana State University. Neck is author and/or coauthor
of 27 books, including Self-Leadership: The Definitive Guide to Personal Excellence (1st ed., 2017,
Sage; 2nd ed., 2019, Sage); Get a Kick Out of Life: Expect the Best of Your Body, Mind, and Soul at Any Age
(2017, Clovercroft Publishing); Fit to Lead: The Proven 8-week Solution for Shaping Up Your Body, Your
Mind, and Your Career (1st ed., 2004, St. Martin’s Press; 2nd ed., 2012, Carpenter’s Sons Publishing);
Mastering Self-Leadership: Empowering Yourself for Personal Excellence, 6th ed. (2013, Pearson); The
Wisdom of Solomon at Work (2001, Berrett-Koehler); For Team Members Only: Making Your Workplace
Team Productive and Hassle-Free (1997, Amacom Books); and Medicine for the Mind: Healing Words
to Help You Soar, 4th ed. (Wiley, 2012). Neck is also the coauthor of the principles of management
textbook, Management: A Balanced Approach to the 21st Century (1st ed., 2013, Wiley; 2nd ed., 2017,
Wiley; 3rd ed. 2021, Sage); an introduction to entrepreneurship textbook, Entrepreneurship (1st ed.,
2017, Sage; 2nd ed., 2020, Sage); an introduction to organizational behavior textbook, Organizational
Behavior (1st ed., 2017, Sage; 2nd ed., 2019, Sage), and an introduction to business textbook
(Introduction to Business, 2022, Sage).
Dr. Neck’s research specialties include employee/executive fitness, self-leadership, leadership, group
decision-making processes, and self-managing teams. He has over 150 publications in the form of
books, chapters, and articles in various journals. Some of the outlets in which Neck’s work has appeared
include Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, The Journal of Organizational Behavior,
The Academy of Management Executive, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, The Journal of Managerial
Psychology, Executive Excellence, Human Relations, Human Resource Development Quarterly, Journal of
Leadership Studies, Educational Leadership, and The Commercial Law Journal.
Neck is the deputy editor of the Journal of Leadership and Management. Due to Neck’s expertise in
management, he has been cited in numerous national publications including The Washington Post, The
Wall Street Journal, The Los Angeles Times, The Houston Chronicle, and the Chicago Tribune.
Dr. Neck was recently voted as a semi-finalist (out of 140 nominations) for the prestigious international
2020 Baylor University Cherry Award for Great Teaching. He finished in the top 6 of all nominations.
Neck was also the recipient of the 2007 Business Week Favorite Professor Award. He is featured on www
.businessweek.com as one of the approximately 20 professors from across the world receiving this award.
Dr. Neck has taught over 70,000 students during his career in higher education. Neck currently teaches
a mega section of Management Principles to approximately 900 students at Arizona State University.
Neck was the recipient of the 2020 John W. Teets Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award
(voted by W.P Carey students). Neck also received the Order of Omega Outstanding Teaching Award
for 2012. This award is awarded to 1 professor at Arizona State by the Alpha Lamda Chapter of this
leadership fraternity. His class sizes at Virginia Tech filled rooms up to 2500 students. He received
numerous teaching awards during his tenure at Virginia Tech, including the 2002 Wine Award for
Teaching Excellence. Also, Neck was the 10-time winner (1996, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006,
2007, 2008, and 2009) of the Students’ Choice Teacher of the Year Award (voted by the students for the
best teacher of the year within the entire university). Also, some of the organizations who have participated
in Neck’s management development training include Anavate Partners, Mountainside Fitness,
GE/Toshiba, Busch Gardens, Clark Construction, the United States Army, Crestar, American Family
Insurance, Sales and Marketing Executives International, American Airlines, American Electric
Power, W. L. Gore & Associates, Dillard’s Department Stores, and Prudential Life Insurance. Neck is
also an avid runner. He has completed 12 official marathons and over 100 unofficial ones, including
the Boston Marathon, New York City Marathon, and the San Diego Marathon. In fact, his personal
record for a single long-distance run is a 48-mile run.
Houghton, Jeffery D.
Dr. Jeffery D. Houghton completed his PhD in management at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) and is currently a professor of management at West Virginia University. Dr. Houghton has taught college-level business courses at Virginia Tech, Abilene Christian University (TX), Lipscomb University (TN), The International University (Vienna, Austria), and the U.S. Justice Department Federal Bureau of Prisons. Prior to pursuing a full-time career in academics, he worked in the banking industry as a loan officer and branch manager.
A member of the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, Dr. Houghton’s research specialties include human behavior, motivation, personality, leadership, and self-leadership. Dr. Houghton has published more than 50 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and his work has been cited approximately 5,000 times in academic journals. He currently teaches undergraduate, masters, and doctoral level courses in management, OB, and leadership. Dr. Houghton was named the 2013 Beta Gamma Sigma Professor of the Year for the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, awarded annually to one faculty member within the college as selected by a vote of the student members of Beta Gamma Sigma, and he received the 2008 Outstanding Teaching Award for the John Chambers College of Business and Economics, awarded annually to one faculty member for outstanding teaching.
In addition to his research and teaching activities, Dr. Houghton has done consulting and conducted training seminars for companies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, and the Bruce hardwood flooring company. In his spare time, Dr. Houghton enjoys traveling, classic mystery novels, racquetball, and snow skiing. Finally, Dr. Houghton has completed two marathons, the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC, and the Dallas White Rock Marathon.
Murray, Emma L.
Emma L. Murray, BA, HDip, DBS IT, completed a bachelor of arts degree in English and Spanish at
University College Dublin (UCD) in County Dublin, Ireland, followed by a higher diploma (HDip)
in business studies and information technology at the Michael Smurfit Graduate School of Business in
County Dublin, Ireland. Following her studies, Emma spent nearly a decade in investment banking
before becoming a full-time writer and author.
Emma has worked on numerous texts, including business and economics, self-help, and psychology.
She is the coauthor of the principles of management textbook, Management: A Balanced Approach
to the 21st Century (1st ed., 2013, Wiley; 2nd ed., 2017, Wiley; 3rd, ed., 2021, Sage); an introduction
to entrepreneurship textbook, Entrepreneurship (1st ed., 2017, Sage; 2nd ed., 2020, Sage); an introduction
to organizational behavior textbook, Organizational Behavior (1st ed., 2017, Sage; 2nd ed., [2019],
Sage; 3rd ed., 2024, Sage), and an introduction to business textbook, Introduction to Business (2024,
Sage). She lives in London, United Kingdom, with her husband and 2 children.
