Skyler Clark-Hamel - Meet the Students - Ph.D.

Skyler Clark-Hamel (Darden MBA ’23) researches how firms compete for stakeholder support and how that competition shapes managerial decision-making, stakeholder treatment, and the ethical dynamics of strategy. His work draws on stakeholder theory, business ethics, and competitive dynamics to examine how viewing stakeholders as collaborators or competitors affects firm behavior and stakeholder outcomes.

His research has been presented at the Academy of Management, the Society for Business Ethics, and ACEDE. One of his papers, which integrates stakeholder theory with insights from music theory, was recognized as a Best Paper for the 2025 Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Copenhagen. Across projects, his work seeks to deepen our understanding of how firms navigate complex moral and strategic environments when pursuing stakeholder support.

Before entering academia, Skyler worked in the music industry as a touring and recording artist, entrepreneur, and agent at William Morris Endeavor in Nashville. He remains active in teaching and mentoring at Darden, contributing to courses such as “Leadership & Theatre: Ethics, Innovation, & Creativity,” and often draws on his background in the arts to inform his approach to ethics and strategy.

He lives in Charlottesville with his fiancée and their cat, Maestro, and enjoys writing and playing music, cooking, and visiting New England and Switzerland whenever possible.