Publications

Research Summary

Overview

By: Brian L. Trelstad

The focus of my research is on the systems of social innovation. How small groups of individuals come up with new products and services targeting important problems; how they finance these initial efforts, and convert prototypes into viable organizational strategies;... View Details

Teaching Interest

Field Course: Social Innovation Lab

This course provides students an opportunity to address a social enterprise topic with the discipline of business tools and techniques. Students will work in teams, choosing among three types of projects: a) developing a business plan for your own social enterprise;... View Details

2016
Article

The Mirroring Hypothesis: Theory, Evidence, and Exceptions

By: Lyra J. Colfer and Carliss Y. Baldwin

The mirroring hypothesis predicts that organizational ties within a project, firm, or group of firms (e.g., communication, collocation, employment) will correspond to the technical dependencies in the work being performed. This article presents a unified picture of... View Details

Keywords: Modularity; Mirroring Hypothesis; Organization Design; Conway's Law; Knowledge Boundaries; Relational Contracts; Open Source Software; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Boundaries; Knowledge Management; Applications and Software

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July–August 2013
Article

How Experts Gain Influence

By: Anette Mikes, Matthew Hall and Yuval Millo

In theory, the risk management groups of two British banks—Saxon and Anglo—had the same influence in their organizations. But in practice, they did not: Saxon's was engaged in critical work throughout the bank, while Anglo's had little visibility outside its areas of... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Banking Industry

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June 2020
Case

RBC: Transforming Transformation (A)

By: Ethan Bernstein, Francesca Gino and Aldo Sesia

In 2017, the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), a Canadian financial icon, mandated a swat team of “enablers of collaboration” (their job description) to support the personal and commercial bank in the enterprise-wide RBC Cultural Transformation initiative. Historically,... View Details

Keywords: Service Delivery; Information Technology; Transformation; Change Management; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Innovation and Management; Decision Making; Human Resources; Management Systems; Organizational Design; Organizational Structure; Groups and Teams; Management Teams; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Canada

April 2021 (Revised June 2021)
Case

Balancing Act: Deborah Lovich (A)

By: David G. Fubini and Patrick Sanguineti

Deborah Lovich, Partner at the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), has been given the opportunity of a lifetime: to join the firm's Executive Committee as its youngest member and only current woman, as well as just the second woman in its history. Encouraged by her mentors,... View Details

Keywords: Work/life Balance; Work/family Balance; Work-Life Balance; Family and Family Relationships; Personal Development and Career

2017
Book

Extreme Teaming: Lessons in Complex, Cross-Sector Leadership

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Jean-François Harvey

Today's global enterprises increasingly involve collaborative work by teams of experts operating across different professions, organizations, and industries. Extreme Teaming provides new insights into the world of complex, cross-industry projects and the ways... View Details

Keywords: Groups and Teams; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Leadership; Complexity

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25 Jun 2019
Research & Ideas

The Powerful Strategic Tool Companies Should Not Try to Control

cultivate, support, or even just observe their fan groups stand to gain valuable insights and build loyalty at a much lower cost." In a new working paper, Why Do User Communities Matter for Strategy?,... View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost

September 2017 (Revised July 2023)
Case

Adaptive Platform Trials: The Clinical Trial of the Future?

By: Ariel D. Stern and Sarah Mehta

In July 2017, Dr. Brian M. Alexander, president and CEO of the AGILE Research Foundation, was preparing to launch a new type of clinical trial—an adaptive platform trial—to study potential therapies for glioblastoma (GBM), an aggressive form of brain cancer.... View Details

Keywords: Clinical Trials; Cancer; Adaptive Platform Trials; Platform Trials; Adaptive Trials; Glioblastoma; Health; Health Care and Treatment; Health Testing and Trials; Business Strategy; Innovation Strategy; Health Industry; United States

2017
Working Paper

Discretionary Task Ordering: Queue Management in Radiological Services

By: Maria Ibanez, Jonathan R. Clark, Robert S. Huckman and Bradley R. Staats

Work scheduling research typically prescribes task sequences implemented by managers. Yet employees often have discretion to deviate from their prescribed sequence. Using data from 2.4 million radiological diagnoses, we find that doctors prioritize similar tasks... View Details

SSRN

September 2009 (Revised April 2011)
Supplement

Integrated Project Delivery at Autodesk, Inc. (C)

By: Amy C. Edmondson and Faaiza Rashid

Describes Autodesk's engagement in Integrated Project Delivery—a new model of risk management, inter-firm teamwork, and multi-objective (aesthetic, cost, and sustainability) optimization in building projects. In 2008, Autodesk, Inc. the world's largest design software... View Details

Keywords: Risk Management; Groups and Teams; Goals and Objectives; Collaborative Innovation and Invention; Integration; Construction Industry

29 Jul 2008
First Look

First Look: July 29, 2008

Working PapersTraveling Agents: Political Change and Bureaucratic Turnover in India Authors:Lakshmi Iyer and Anandi Mani Abstract We develop a framework to examine how politicians with short-term electoral pressures control bureaucrats... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

22 Sep 2003
Research & Ideas

How Businesses Can Respond to AIDS

Asia: Building Sustainable Partnerships," held September 4 and 5, brought together over seventy participants from business, government, non-governmental organizations, and activist groups to share experiences and offer a strong... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace

08 Dec 2006
Working Paper Summaries

When Learning and Performance are at Odds: Confronting the Tension

Keywords: by Sara J. Singer & Amy C. Edmondson

Research Summary

Overview

My research lies in the intersection of economic growth and political economy focusing on the role of historical legacies, biogeography and culture in shaping contemporary economic performance. As growth economists our understanding of comparative economic development... View Details

Keywords: Institutions; Ethnicity; Economic Growth; Development Economics; Macroeconomics; Culture; Religion; Africa; Asia

Research Summary

Cooperation and Solidarity

A third line of work explores the determinants of cooperative behavior within groups specifically the phenomenon of solidarity, which is understood as pro-social helping behavior which is not likely to be reciprocated directly by the receiver. Such behavior can be... View Details

Research Summary

Top Management Teams

Michael Roberto is studying how senior management teams function, and how chief executives lead these teams effectively. Many chief executives can identify their top management team, but this set of executives does not necessarily perform critical tasks and make... View Details

April 2010
Case

School of One: Reimagining How Students Learn

By: Stacey M. Childress, James Weber and Matthew Adams Haldeman

School of One was a start-up with a new approach to learning. Instead of one teacher delivering the entire math curriculum to a class of 20-25 students, School of One utilized a technology platform that allowed several teachers to collectively oversee the learning of a... View Details

Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Learning; Innovation and Invention

February 2006 (Revised June 2007)
Case

Atheros Communications

By: Thomas R. Eisenmann and Lauren Barley

Managers at Atheros, a leading provider of wireless local area network chipsets, must decide whether to join a special interest group (SIG) proposed by Intel to end an impasse over standards for the 802.11n (11n), the next generation of "Wi-Fi" technology. Two factions... View Details

Keywords: Intellectual Property; Standards; Wireless Technology; Semiconductor Industry; United States