Meet Our Instructors

Dr. Derrek Schartz

Photo of Dr. Derrek Schartz

Biography and Education

Derrek Schartz is a Senior Lecturer at the McCoy College of Business Administration: Center of Professional Sales at Texas State University. He is pursuing a Doctor of Business Administration at Neman University in Wichita, KS. His current research is centered on the motivation of salespeople from generation Z. Derrek taught full time at Hesston College and served as an adjunct for several years at Dallas Baptist University and Newman University. He has over 30 years of successful executive sales and marketing management experience as a proven performer in growing revenue and corporate visibility. Most recently Derrek was the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Legend Senior Living, a leading provider of senior care in North America. He also served as the Senior Vice President of Sales for FLEETCOR Technologies, an S&P 500 company, where he engineered and led the dramatic sales growth of their lodging services division. Derrek also served in sales and marketing executive roles for companies in the telecommunications space such as Axis Teknologies, Lucent Technologies, Stratus Telecommunications, and Alliance Systems. Derrek graduated with honors from Wichita State University with a Master of Business Administration and has a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Friends University.

Teaching Interests

  • Personal Selling
  • CRM Technology in the Sales Process
  • Sales Management
     

Dr. Linda Alkire

Photo of Linda Akire

Biography and Education
Dr. Alkire (née Nasr) earned her Ph.D. from the Alliance Manchester Business School, The University of Manchester, UK, where she was awarded the highly competitive and prestigious Manchester Business School Doctoral Studentship. 
Dr. Alkire received her MBA (Highest Distinction) from the Lebanese American University (Lebanon) and a B.A. in Business Marketing (Highest Distinction) from Notre Dame University (Lebanon). Dr. Alkire has been awarded full scholarships for all her three degrees (B.A., MBA, Ph.D.).

Before joining the marketing faculty at Texas State University, Dr. Alkire was an Assistant Professor at the University of Manchester, UK. 
 

Teaching Interests
Although motivated by research, Dr. Alkire is also highly committed to teaching and training the next generation of managers and executives by equipping them with cutting-edge knowledge and necessary skills to plan, reflect, and execute successful business strategies.

Dr. Alkire has strong international teaching experience. She taught undergraduate and graduate-level courses in Lebanon, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States.

At the McCoy College of Business, Dr. Alkire teaches Professional Selling and Services Marketing. In the classroom, Dr. Alkire strives to bring the latest business developments and sales knowledge to her students. Through her collaboration with the Sales Center Corporate Partners, she is keen on translating the needs of today’s leading business organizations into practical skills that students can excel at. She engages students in applied learning through role-play exercises and hands-on activities. Finally, Dr. Alkire emphasizes the importance of the international perspective as well as ethical workplace skills. At the University of Manchester, Linda taught undergraduate and graduate-level courses such as Critical Marketing, Relationship Marketing, and Customer Experience Management.

Dr. Alkire has also supervised a number of Masters dissertations and is currently supervising a Ph.D. dissertation. 
 

Research Interests
Dr. Alkire’s research interests include Transformative Service Research (TSR), Service and Sales Strategy, and Technology and Service.

In particular, Dr. Alkire is working on further exploring TSR-related topics. TSR has been identified as one of the top service research priorities. Dr. Alkire’s interest in TSR is also dictated by a deep and personal conviction that researchers should contribute to the well-being of the service community and society in general by offering transformational insights to service providers.

In addition, Dr. Alkire is interested in transdisciplinary research, in particular, the usage of novel technology interfaces within service deliveries and the role of technology in shaping service experiences.

Dr. Alkire has published more than 25 articles in peer-reviewed academic journals, including the Journal of Service Research, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, The Journal of Business Research, Journal of Interactive Marketing, Journal of International Marketing, The Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Journal of Service Management, International Journal of Bank Marketing, The Journal of Services Marketing, The Service Industries Journal, among others.

For her research, Dr. Alkire has been awarded a number of prestigious awards, such as:

  • Brandon Dee Roberts Excellence Endowed Professor, (2021-2024)
  • Responsible Research in Business and Management Honor Roll (2022)
  • Best Article Award, Journal of Service Research (2021)
  • Highly Commended Paper, Journal of Service Management (2019)
  • Robert Johnson Award - Outstanding Paper, Journal of Service Management (2018).
  • Highly Commended Paper, Journal of Services Marketing (2018).
  • Young Scholar submission, 2018 Organizational Frontline Symposium (2018).
  • Best "Service Consumer Paper" Award, Journal of Services Marketing- 2016 SERVSIG conference.
  • Liam Glynn Research Scholarship Award, Arizona State University Center for Services Leadership (2014).

Dr. Alkire has been a guest speaker at international academic and industry conferences and has presented in the United Kingdom, Sweden, Australia, and the United States.