His research focuses primarily on why things go wrong in organizations. Specifically his research concerns organizational decline, turnaround, survival and failure. His PhD dissertation from the University of Washington in 1989 won the Strategic Management Society Best Dissertation Award. He has published journal articles in the Journal of Management, Long Range Planning, Journal of Business Ethics and Social Science Research. Dr. Sheppard has presented papers at the Academy of International Business, Administrative Sciences Association of Canada, and the Academy of Management. His most recent work includes Strategic Management: Competitiveness & Globalization, 3rd Canadian Edition, with Hitt, Ireland, Hoskisson and Rowe.