Publications
Articles
Ahuja, G., and Katila, R. (2004)
Where Do Resources Come From? The Role of Idiosyncratic Situations
Strategic Management Journal, 25(8-9): 887-907
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Abstract: In this paper, we examine the emergence of resources. Our analysis of technological capability acquisition by global U.S.-based chemical firms shows that the emergence of resources is inherently evolutional. We find that path-creating search that generates resource heterogeneity is a response to idiosyncratic situations faced by firms in their local searches. Two such idiosyncratic situations—technology exhaustion and expansion beyond national markets—trigger firms in our sample to create unique innovation search paths. We also find that along a given path firms experiment in order to find the correct investment—in fact, some organizations seem to take a step backward for two steps forward—further demonstrating the evolutionary nature of the resource creation process.
Ahuja, G., and Katila, R. (2001)
Technological Acquisitions and the lnnovation Performance of Acquiring Firms:
A Longitudinal Study
Strategic Management Journal, 22(3): 197-220
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Abstract: This paper examines the impact of acquisitions on the subsequent innovation performance of acquiring firms in the chemicals industry. We distinguish between technological acquisitions, acquisitions in which technology is a component of the acquired firm's assets, and nontechnological acquisitions: acquisitions that do not involve a technological component. We develop a framework relating acquisitions to firm innovation performance and develop a set of measures for quantifying the technological inputs a firm obtains through acquisitions. We find that within technological acquisitions absolute size of the acquired knowledge base enhances innovation performance, while relative size of the acquired knowledge base reduces innovation output. The relatedness of acquired and acquiring knowledge bases has a nonlinear impact on innovation output Nontechnological acquisitions do not have a significant effect on subsequent innovation output.
Bingham, C., and Eisenhardt, K. M. (2008)
Position, Leverage and Opportunity: A Typology of Strategic Logics Linking Resources With Competitive Advantage
Managerial and Decision Economics. In press.
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Abstract: The resource-based view's (RBV) contribution toward understanding competitive advantage remains unfulfilled. A reason is the confounding of the concept of resources with RBV’s strategic logic. We disentangle these by developing a typology of strategic logics that specify alternative theoretical pathways linking resources with competitive advantage. We clarify their market assumptions, relevant performance objectives, and managerial challenges. Besides introducing the logic of opportunity, we indicate the central insight that competitive advantage stems from the linkages among resources, not just their attributes. Thus, while VRIN resources may be useful for creating advantage, they may be neither necessary nor sufficient for competitive advantage to ensue.
Chen, E., Katila, R., and Eisenhardt, K. (2010)
Life in the Fast Lane: Origins of Competitive Interaction in New vs. Established Markets
Strategic Management Journal, 31: 1527-1547
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Abstract: Prior work examines competitive moves in relatively stable markets. In contrast, we focus on less stable markets where competitive advantages are temporary and R&D moves are essential. Using evolutionary search theory and an experiential simulation with in-depth fieldwork, we find that the relationship between performance and subsequent competitive moves depends on the type of market, not just on whether performance is high or low. High performers seek to maintain status quo, but this requires different strategies in different markets. They are conservative in established markets and bold in new ones. In contrast, low performers seek to disrupt the status quo. Again, this requires different strategies in different markets. Unlike high performers, low performers are bold in established markets and conservative in new ones where they lack understanding of how to disrupt rivals. Overall, our results incorporate unstable markets in theories of competitive dynamics and competitive interaction in theories of evolutionary search. By examining R&D moves, we also extend competitive dynamics research to include technology-based firms for whom temporary advantages are often essential.
Davis, J., Bingham, C., and Eisenhardt, K. M. (2007)
Developing Theory Through Simulation Methods
Academy of Management Review, 32 (2): 480-499
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Abstract: We describe when and how to use simulation methods in theory development. We develop a roadmap that describes theory development using simulation and position simulation in the "sweet spot" between theory-creating methods, such as multiple case inductive studies and formal modeling, and theory-testing methods. Simulation strengths include internal validity and facility with longitudinal, nonlinear, and process phenomena. Simulation's primary value occurs in creative experimentation to produce novel theory. We conclude with evaluation guidelines.
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Eesley, Charles E. (2010)
Are You Experienced: When Does Talent vs. Experience Drive Entrepreneurial Performance (with Edward B. Roberts)
in press, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal
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Abstract: The ultimate value of this study is to help us understand the economic impact of the entrepreneurial ventures of university graduates. We know that some universities play an important role in many economies through their core education, research and development, and other spillovers. However, in order to support economic growth through entrepreneurship, universities must create a culture and programs that make entrepreneurship widely accessible to students. While MIT’s leadership in developing successful entrepreneurs has been evident anecdotally, this study — one of the largest surveys of entrepreneur alumni ever conducted — quantifies the significant impact of MIT’s entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports firm start-ups. Furthermore, while MIT is more unique and unusual in the programs it offers and in its historical culture of entrepreneurship, MIT provides a benchmark by which other institutions can gauge the economic impact of their alumni entrepreneurs. The report also provides numerous examples of programs and practices that might be adopted, intact or modified as needed, by other universities that seek enhanced entrepreneurial development. The Appendix identifies several universities that have carried out surveys of alumni entrepreneurs.
Eisenhardt, K. M., and Galunic, C.D. (2000)
Coevolving: At last, a Way to Make Synergies Work
Harvard Business Review (January-February): 91-101
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Abstract: Capturing cross-business synergies is at the heart of corporate strategy, but synergies are notoriously challenging to capture. Companies including Shell, United Airlines, Amazon.com and PlanetAll have failed. Companies such as GE Capital and NovaMed Eyecare Management have successfully achieved synergies because they have mastered a corporate strategic process called coevolving. These companies routinely change the web of collaborative links--everything from information exchanges to share assets to multibusiness strategies. The term coevolution originated in biology but biological coevolution is just one kind of complex adaptive system. Recently, computer simulations have uncovered general laws of how these systems work, including social systems such as multicountry economies and multibusiness corporations. For today's multibusiness companies, coevolving means managers must: assume that links among businesses are temporary--the number of connections, not just their content, matters; set the context for collaborative strategy and don't try to control or predict it; and reward business units for individual performance, not for collaboration. The essentials of coevolving are: frequently reconnect the relationships among businesses; blur collaboration and competition; manage the number of connections, and uncover high-leverage links. Capturing cross-business synergies is an essential part of corporate strategy, yet many managers collaborate in too many areas or for too long, or they focus on the wrong opportunities. Coevolving is a subtle strategic process.
Eisenhardt, K. M. (2002)
Has Strategy Changed?
MIT Sloan Management Review, Winter: 88-91
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Abstract: The article cites a study finding that the powerful forces of globalization are fundamentally changing the nature and dimensions of strategy. The fundamental driver of the real New Economy is globalization. Whether the connections are cultural, environmental, technical, or financial, globalization is the increasingly deep interrelationship among countries, companies, and individuals. Together with free trade, transparent markets, and strong network effects, globalization is quietly transforming the economic playing field. The unstable, unpredictable, and ambiguous terrain of the new economic playing field suggests a fresh outlook at strategy. Programming the strategy from the top and then figuring out an organization to implement it may work in slow-moving markets. The new strategic watchwords are simplicity, organization, and timing. Strategy is still about being different, but the recipe for effective strategy must now focus on unique strategic processes with simple rules, on the modular patching of businesses to fleeting market opportunities, and on evolutionary timing for ongoing strategic moves.
Eisenhardt, K. M., and Brown, S. L. (1998)
Time Pacing: Competing in Markets that Won't Stand Still
Harvard Business Review (March-April): 56-69
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Abstract: This article looks at the practice of time pacing. Managers can learn a key lesson from Intel Corp., the world's premier microprocessor computer chip maker. Intel is certainly the most visible practitioner of time pacing, a strategy for competing in fast-changing, unpredictable markets by scheduling change at predictable time intervals. Small and large companies, high and low tech alike, can benefit from time pacing, especially in fast-changing markets. The authors spent almost a decade researching the drivers of success in high-velocity, intensely competitive industries. They tested the relevance of their ideas in other industries as well. What they found is that wherever managers were coping with changing business environments, time pacing was critical to their success, helping them resolve the fundamental dilemma of how often to change. They also found that there will always be a place for event pacing in any business that has to cope with inevitable surprises in the marketplace. And although time pacing is not the answer for every business, most companies, especially those in fast-changing markets, cannot afford to ignore it as part of their strategic arsenal. With time pacing, managers can avoid being left behind, gain ground by exploiting rhythms and transitions, and even set the pace of competition.
Eisenhardt, K. M., and Graebner, M. (2007)
Theory Building From Cases: Opportunities And Challenges
Academy of Management Journal, 50 (1): 25-32
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Abstract: This article discusses the research strategy of theory building from cases, particularly multiple cases. Such a strategy involves using one or more cases to create theoretical constructs, propositions, and/or midrange theory from case-based, empirical evidence. Replication logic means that each case serves as a distinct experiment that stands on its own merits as an analytic unit. The frequent use of case studies as a research strategy has given rise to some challenges that can be mitigated by the use of very precise wording and thoughtful research design.
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Eisenhardt, K. M., and Martin, J. A. (2000)
Dynamic Capabilities: What are They?
Strategic Management Journal, 21(10-11): 1105-1121
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Abstract: This paper focuses on dynamic capabilities and, more generally, the resource-based view of the firm. We argue that dynamic capabilities are a set of specific and identifiable processes such as product development, strategic decision making, and allowancing. They are neither vague nor tautological Although dynamic capabilities are idiosyncratic in their details and path dependent in their emergence, they have significant commonalities across firms (popularly termed 'best practice'). This suggests that they are more homogeneous, fungible, equifinal, and substitutable than is usually assumed. In moderately dynamic markets, dynamic capabilities resemble the traditional conception of routines. They are detailed, analytic, stable processes with predictable outcomes. In contrast, in high-velocity markets, they are simple, highly experiential and fragile processes with unpredictable outcomes. Finally, well-known learning mechanisms guide the evolution of dynamic capabilities. In moderately dynamic markets, the evolutionary emphasis is on variation. In high-velocity markets, it is on selection. At the level of RBV, we conclude that traditional RBV misidentifies the locus of long-term competitive advantage in dynamic markets, overemphasizes the strategic logic of leverage, and reaches a boundary condition in high-velocity markets.
Eisenhardt, K. M., and Sull, D. (2001)
Strategy as Simple Rules
Harvard Business Review, 79(1): 107-116
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Abstract: The secret of companies such as Yahoo!, eBay, and America Online, despite unattractive industry structure, few apparent resource advantages, and constantly evolving strategies, is strategy as simple rules. Strategy as simple rules makes sense for all kinds of companies because the new economy's most profound strategic implication is that companies must capture unanticipated, fleeting opportunities in order to succeed. Managers of such companies know that the greatest opportunities for competitive advantage lie in market confusion, so they jump into chaotic markets, probe for opportunities, build on successful forays, and shift flexibly among opportunities as circumstances dictate. Strategy as simple rules is about being different. That difference arises from focusing on key strategic processes and developing simple rules that shape those processes. These simple rules fall into five broad categories: How-to Rules, Boundary Rules, Priority Rules, Timing Rules, and Exit Rules. A company's particular combination of opportunities and constraints often dictates the processes it chooses.
Ferraro, F., Pfeffer, J, & Sutton, R.I. (2005)
Economic Language and Assumptions: How Theory Can Become Self-Fulfilling
Academy of Management Review, 30: 8-24
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Abstract: Social science theories can become self-fulfilling by shaping institutional designs and management practices, as well as social norms and expectations about behavior, thereby creating the behavior they predict. They also perpetuate themselves by promulgating language and assumptions that become widely used and accepted. We illustrate these ideas by considering how the language and assumptions of economics shape management practices: theories can "win" in the marketplace for ideas, independent of their empirical validity, to the extent their assumptions and language become taken for granted and normatively valued, therefore creating conditions that make them come "true."
Ferraro, F., Pfeffer, J., & Sutton, R.I. (2005)
Prescriptions Are Not Enough
Academy of Management Review, 30: 32-35
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Abstract: According to Bazerman, economics has achieved its position of dominance simply because it provides prescriptions whereas other social sciences do not. We challenge his argument by showing that other social sciences do offer prescriptive advice but are nonetheless rarely influential. We argue that the mechanisms through which economics and other social sciences gain influence and affect practice should be investigated more carefully by management scholars seeking to understand how to have greater impact on both public policy and management practice.
Galunic, D. C., and Eisenhardt, K. M. (2001)
Architectural Innovation and Modular Corporate Forms
Academy of Management Journal 44(6): 1229-1250
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Abstract: Based on an intensive and inductive study of a Fortune 100 corporation, this article describes how dynamic capabilities that reconfigure division resources--that is, architectural innovation--may operate within multibusiness firms. We suggest envisaging corporate divisions as combinations of capabilities and product-market areas of responsibility (charters) that may be recombined in various ways, highlighting the interplay of economic and social imperatives that motivate such recombinations. We detail the microsociological patterns by which such recombinations occur and then theorize about an organizational form, termed 'dynamic community,' in which these processes are embedded.
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Graebner, M. E., and Eisenhardt, K. M. (2004)
Other Side of the Story: Seller Choice in Entrepreneurial Acquisitions
Administrative Science Quarterly, 49(3): 366-403
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Abstract: In contrast to the prior acquisitions literature, which has emphasized the buyer's perspective, we examine the seller's perspective. This has important implications for understanding both the acquisition process and, more broadly, corporate governance in successful firms. Using a multiple-case, inductive study of 12 technology-based ventures, we find that acquisition occurs when sellers are pushed toward acquisition by difficult, albeit natural strategic hurdles, such as a chief executive search or funding round, and by strong personal motivations for sale, such as past failures and investments by friends. Sellers are also more likely to be pulled toward acquisition by attractive buyers that offer synergistic combination potential and organizational rapport, factors usually associated with the long-term interests of buyers. We reframe acquisition as courtship and corporate governance as a syndicate, indicating joint decision making with some common goals, and explore the generalizability of these views for private versus public firms and other contingencies. Together, courtship and syndicate suggest a behaviorally informed account of organization that belies the rhetoric of price and self-interest.
Hargadon, A. and Sutton, R.I. (2000)
Building an Innovation Factory
Harvard Business Review, (May-June):157-166
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Abstract: Ideas and innovation are the most valuable currency in the new economy. The authors spent five years studying businesses that innovate constantly, and found that the best of these innovators have systematized the generation and testing of new ideas--and the system they have devised can be replicated practically anywhere, because it has everything to do with organization and attitude and very little to do with nurturing solitary genius. The best innovators systematically use old ideas as the raw materials for one new idea after another. These companies employ what the authors call the knowledge-brokering cycle, which is made up of capturing good ideas, keeping ideas alive, imagining new uses for old ideas, and putting promising concepts to the test. The authors say that the most important lesson to be learned is that business leaders must change how they think about innovation and must change how their company cultures reflect that thinking.
Helfat, C., and Eisenhardt, K. M. (2004)
Inter-temporal Economies of Scope, Organizational Modularity, and Dynamics of Diversification
Strategic Management Journal, 25: 1217-1232
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Abstract: The article focuses on the intertemporal economies of scope derived from the redeployment of firm resources between businesses over time, as firms exit some product-markets while entering others. Inter-temporal economies of scope in dynamic markets can benefit from an organizational form that consists of a modular, decentralized organizational structure along with processes for recombining businesses among modular organizational units. This sort of repeated recombination of organizational units to match changing business opportunities is a form of patching that results in an evolving path of related diversification through time. Although firms can obtain intra-temporal economies of scope after diversification into related markets, the standard treatment of economies of scope does not deal directly with the dynamic aspects of related diversification. Furthermore, most empirical studies of diversification examine a crosssectional snapshot of company business portfolios. Only occasionally do studies analyze diversification moves from an existing product-market into another domain. In reality, managers often diversify their firms through a series of moves that occur over an extended time period.
Katila, R., Chen, E., and Piezunka, H. (2012)
All the Right Moves: How Entrepreneurial Firms Compete Effectively
Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal. In press.
Katila, R. (2008)
Technology Perspective on Network Resources
Academy of Management Review, 33: 550-553. Book symposium.
Katila, R. (2002)
New Product Search Over Time: Past Ideas in Their Prime?
Academy of Management Journal, 45(5): 995-1010
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Abstract: This study is an investigation of how the age of the knowledge that firms search affects how innovative they are. Two seemingly contradictory propositions are examined: (1) old knowledge hurts by making innovation activities obsolete and (2) old knowledge helps because its reliability and legitimacy promote innovation. Results based on longitudinal data on 131 robotics firms reconcile the contradictory propositions: while old intraindustry knowledge hurts, old extraindustry knowledge promotes innovation.
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Katila, R., and Ahuja, G. (2002)
Something Old, Something New: A Longitudinal Study of Search Behavior and New Product Introductions
Academy of Management Journal, 45(6): 995-1010
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Abstract: We examine how firms search, or solve problems, to create new products. According to organizational learning research, firms position themselves in a unidimensional search space that spans a spectrum from local to distant search. Our findings in the global robotics industry suggest that firms' search efforts actually vary across two distinct dimensions: search depth, or how frequently the firm reuses its existing knowledge, and search scope, or how widely the firm explores new knowledge.
Katila, R., and Chen, E. (2008)
Effects of search timing on product innovation: The value of not being in sync
In press, Administrative Science Quarterly
View Abstract | Working paper version
Abstract: This paper investigates how firms search for new products. While prior research takes a firm-centric view, we study how the firm's search depends on that of its competitors. Drawing on organizational learning theory, we argue and find that search timing relative to competitors
matters. Two seemingly contradictory views are tested: that competitors take away the exclusivity of search and therefore suppress innovation, or, in contrast, sharpen and validate the focal firm's search and thus promote innovation. Our analysis of 15 years of longitudinal data on 124 Japanese, European, and U.S. industrial automation organizations reconciles these views. In particular, firms introduce more new products if they search later than competitors, and they introduce innovative new products if they
search earlier than competitors. Interestingly, the most innovative firms combine these two out-of-sync approaches, but avoid searching in sync.
Katila, R., and Mang, P. (2003)
Exploiting Technological Opportunities: The Timing of Collaborations
Research Policy, 32(2): 317-332
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Abstract: High-technology companies that discover new technological opportunities face two critical decisions: whether and when to collaborate in exploiting these opportunities. Prior research has examined factors such as transaction costs that determine whether firms decide to collaborate. In this study, we aim to understand when firms collaborate in exploiting opportunities. To this end we study the history of 86 biopharmaceutical product-development projects. We find that factors that reduce articulation and appropriation uncertainties in these projects—patent protection, high R&D intensity of the discoverer, partners’ prior collaboration experience, and support infrastructures in the industry—can speed up collaboration. Interestingly, project-specific factors do not seem to affect timing.
Katila, R., Rosenberger, J., and Eisenhardt, K. (2008)
Swimming with sharks: Technology ventures, defense mechanisms, and corporate relationships
Administrative Science Quarterly, 53(2): 295-332.
View Abstract | Working paper version
Abstract:This paper focuses on the tension that firms face between the need for resources from partners and the potentially damaging misappropriation of their own resources. Taking a unique entrepreneurial lens, we study this tension at tie formation in corporate investment relationships in 5 technology-based industries over a 25-year period. Central to our study is the "sharks" dilemma - i.e., when do entrepreneurs choose partners with high potential for misappropriation over less risky partners. Our findings extend resource dependence theory in terms of multiple resources and contribute the uncertainty logic of resource misappropriation to the theory. They also offer novel insights about resource mobilization including the unique defense mechanisms (i.e., secrecy and timing) and surprising power of entrepreneurial firms.
Katila, R., and Shane, S. (2005)
When Does Lack of Resources Make New Firms Innovative?
Academy of Management Journal, 48: 814-829
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Abstract: We extend the resource-based perspective to explain innovation in new firms that have yet to develop resources. Using data on firms' efforts to commercialize technological inventions, we tested a model of the environmental conditions under which new firms' lack of resources alternately promotes or constrains innovation. We found that new firm innovation is greater in competitive and small markets, and in environments that do not demand extensive production assets.
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McEvily, S. K., Eisenhardt, K. M., and Prescott, John E. (2004)
The Global Acquisition, Leverage, and Protection of Technological Competencies
Strategic Management Journal, 25(8/9): 713-722
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Abstract: This article focuses on how managers acquire, leverage, and protect technological competencies in order to innovate successfully and enhance firm performance that is central to the field of strategic management. When tensions across acquisition, leverage, and protection activities are resolved and synergies are captured, the value derived from technological competencies can be used to fuel a virtuous cycle in which fewer resources are needed to perpetuate a firm's advantage. Technological innovation is crucial to a variety of important outcomes, including economic growth, firm performance, and industrial change. Hence, the ability to effectively innovate is a central challenge for firms. Firms with superior technological competencies (i.e., the ability to apply scientific and technical knowledge to develop and improve products and processes) tend to be more innovative, and thus perform at higher levels. The focus on acquisition, leverage, and protection processes emanates from themes in the strategic management, organizational theory, and economic literatures.
Okhuysen, G. A. and Eisenhardt, K. M. (2002)
Integrating Knowledge in Groups: How Formal Interventions Enable Flexibility
Organization Science, 13(4): 370-386
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Abstract: Recent perspectives have focused on the role of the firm in the generation and use of knowledge. These perspectives suggest that, while knowledge is "owned" at the individual level, the integration of this knowledge to a collective level is necessary. This integration of knowledge typically takes place in groups. In our experimental study, we examine how individuals in groups engage in micro-level interaction to effectively integrate knowledge by examining the effects of using three formal interventions: Information Sharing, Questioning Others, and Managing Time. In particular, we observe that simple formal interventions can improve knowledge integration when they lead to "windows of opportunity" for group members to consider ways to improve their work process that go beyond the formal intervention instructions. The most effective groups used these formal interventions to focus their attention into organized clusters of activity, during which they significantly changed their work process and improved their subsequent knowledge integration. In particular, groups in the Questioning Others and Managing Time conditions exhibited greater knowledge integration than groups in the Information Sharing and Control conditions. Groups with high-knowledge integration paced their attention to both adaptive improvements to their process and task execution. Overall, this study identifies simple structures, interruptions, and time pacing as central to the emerging concept of group flexibility by which members enhance their performance on novel and/or ambiguous tasks. We note links to complexity theory and knowledge-based thinking as well.
Pfeffer, J., and Sutton, R. (2006)
Evidence-Based Management
Harvard Business Review, 84: 62-74
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Abstract: The article discusses evidence-based management and creating effective medical organizations. In evidence-based management, there is a willingness not to rely on the half-truths of conventional wisdom and a commitment to gather the facts needed to make informed and intelligent decisions. Managers can become leaders in their organizations by supporting an evidence-based approach that reflects a proper mind-set. Executives who emphasize efficacy, communication, and organizational learning can nurture more disciplined thinking in their employees and develop the company's own evidence base. The same care that teaching hospitals take to implement evidence-based medicine should be used to implement evidence-based management. An example of evidence-based management is provided by a discussion of Kent Thiry's turnaround efforts at Da Vita dialysis centers, which are headquartered in California. An example is given showing the decision-making process used at Oxford's Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, which employs the first step of defining the situation in the form of an answerable question.
Pelled, Lisa H., Eisenhardt, K. M., and Xin, K. R. (1999)
Exploring the Black Box: An Analysis of Work Group Diversity, Conflict, and Performance
Administrative Science Quarterly 44(1): 1-28
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Abstract: In this paper the authors present an integrative model of the relationships among diversity, conflict, and performance, and they test that model with a sample of 45 teams. Findings show that diversity shapes conflict and that conflict, in turn, shapes performance, but these linkages have subtleties. Functional background diversity drives task conflict, but multiple types of diversity drive emotional conflict. Race and tenure diversity are positively associated with emotional conflict, while age diversity is negatively associated with such conflict. Task routineness and group longevity moderate these relationships. Results further show that task conflict has more favorable effects on cognitive task performance than does emotional conflict. Overall, these patterns suggest a complex link between work group diversity and work group functioning.
Roberts, Edward B., and Eesley, Charles E. (2011)
Entrepreneurial Impact: The Role of MIT - an Updated Report
Foundations and Trends in Entrepreneurship: Vol. 7: No 1-2, pp 1-149
View Abstract
Abstract: The ultimate value of this study is to help us understand the economic impact of the entrepreneurial ventures of university graduates. We know that some universities play an important role in many economies through their core education, research and development, and other spillovers. However, in order to support economic growth through entrepreneurship, universities must create a culture and programs that make entrepreneurship widely accessible to students. While MIT’s leadership in developing successful entrepreneurs has been evident anecdotally, this study — one of the largest surveys of entrepreneur alumni ever conducted — quantifies the significant impact of MIT’s entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports firm start-ups. Furthermore, while MIT is more unique and unusual in the programs it offers and in its historical culture of entrepreneurship, MIT provides a benchmark by which other institutions can gauge the economic impact of their alumni entrepreneurs. The report also provides numerous examples of programs and practices that might be adopted, intact or modified as needed, by other universities that seek enhanced entrepreneurial development. The Appendix identifies several universities that have carried out surveys of alumni entrepreneurs.
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Roberts, Peter W. Eisenhardt, K. M. (2003)
Austrian Insights on Strategic Organization: From Market Insights to Implications for Firms
Strategic Organization, 1(3): 345-352
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Abstract: Argues that the principal tenets of Austrian economics suggest the possibility of fresh strategic and organizational thinking at the firm level. Information on the market process in Austrian economics; Details of the market disequilibrium in Austria; Implications of Austrian economics for strategic organization.
Santos F. M., and Eisenhardt, K. M. (2005)
Organizational Boundaries and Theories of Organization
Organization Science, 16: 491-508
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Abstract: Organizational boundaries are a central phenomenon, yet despite their significance, research is dominated by transaction cost economics and related exchange-efficiency perspectives. While useful, it is time to engage in a broader view. Our purpose is to provide a deeper understanding of organizational boundaries. First, we develop four boundary conceptions (efficiency, power, competence, and identity) and their distinctive features including organizational and environmental assumptions, unique conception of boundaries, theoretical arguments, empirical validity, contributions, and limitations. Efficiency takes a legal-ownership view of atomistic boundary decisions. In contrast, the power conception emphasizes the sphere of influence of the organization, while competence focuses on the resource portfolio and its related configuration, and identity centers on the often unconscious mind-set by which organizational members understand "who we are." We also indicate relationships, both coevolutionary and synergistic, among the conceptions. Second, we juxtapose these conceptions with the current literature to create a springboard for a renewed research agenda. This agenda includes greater focus on nonefficiency perspectives, relationships (not competition) among boundary conceptions, studies that take the normative implication of theories more seriously, and problem-driven research on contemporary boundary issues such as contract employment and business ecosystems.
Sutton, R.I. (2001)
The Weird Rules of Creativity
Harvard Business Review. September: 94-103
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Abstract: For the past decade at least, managers have been emphasizing innovation, efficiency, and productivity, but this has not fostered creativity. As important as innovation is, it is not, and never will be, the primary activity of companies. The author believes that managing for creativity means discounting what is known about management. Managing for creativity begins with hiring people who make you comfortable, even those you don't like and those with skills you don't think you need. Next, encourage people to ignore and defy superiors and peers, and get them to fight among themselves. Rather than rewarding success and punishing failure, companies should reward both. Companies should demote, transfer, and even fire those who talk but don't act. Your company needs to be a place that generates and tests many disparate ideas. What makes for effective management practice can look very different, depending on whether the aim is to exploit already-proven ideas or explore new ones. These practices succeed by increasing the range of a company's knowledge, by causing people to see old problems in new ways, and by helping companies break from the past.
Sutton, R.I. (2004)
More Trouble Than They're Worth
Harvard Business Review, 83(2): 19-21
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Abstract: The article examines the toleration of business organization when it comes to hiring and promoting people. Some behavioral scientists refer to them in terms of psychological abuse, which they define as the sustained display of hostile verbal and nonverbal behaviors. The difference is that some organizations allow people to get away with abusing one person after another and even reward them for it. Certainly, a person can look like a sinner to one person and a saint to another. The difference between the ways a person treats the powerless and the powerful is as good a measure of human character. Research on both deviance and norm violations shows that if one example of misbehavior is kept on display, everyone else is more conscientious about adhering to written and unwritten rules. The problem is that people can hide their dark sides until they are hired, or even are promoted to partner or tenured professor.
Sutton, R. I. (2004)
Why These Ideas Work, But Seem Weird
Design Management Journal, 15(1): 43-49
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Abstract: To innovate, organizations need to enhance variance, see old things in new ways, and break from the past. They need to do things that make money later rather than now and to be open to creative failure. Robert Sutton refers to this as "organizing for exploration," and in this excerpt from a recent book, he posits 11½ "weird" ideas that nurture an innovative spirit managerial toys that expand the frontiers and fuel the long-term success of corporate activities.
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Sutton, R. I. (2004)
Prospecting for Valuable Evidence: Why Scholarly Research Can be a Goldmine for Managers
Strategy & Leadership, 32(1): 27-33
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Abstract: The main reason managers should pay attention to scholarly research is that actions based on sound evidence trump those based on intuition, war stories, even downright useless studies that are advertised as "breakthroughs". Too many gurus and consultants use such flawed research to back bold claims about how business ought to be done. Many management consultants don't have the idea how to do and judge research either, but that does not stop them from writing books and creating PowerPoint decks that make bold "evidence-based" recommendations. Even when people in these jobs are well-trained researchers, the temptation to sell books and consulting services can entice them to make overblown claims.
Sutton, R. I. (2002)
Why Innovation Happens When Happy People Fight
Ivey Business Journal, 67(2): 1-6
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Abstract: Focuses on promoting, managing and sustaining innovation in organizations. Concept of constructive conflict; Effects of destructive conflict on the organization; Benefits of humor and positive emotion in work environments.
Sutton, R. I. (2002)
Weird Ideas that Spark Innovation
MIT Sloan Management Review, 43(2): 83-87
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Abstract: Focuses on promoting, managing and sustaining innovation in organizations. Concept of constructive conflict; Effects of destructive conflict on the organization; Benefits of humor and positive emotion in work environments.
Sutton, R. I. (2002)
When Ignorance is Bliss
Industrial Management, 44(1): 8-12
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Abstract: Discusses ways of encouraging innovation in business. Arguments for the claim that people who are ignorant about a process or industry may be the best source of innovative ideas; Virtues of using outside experts in encouraging innovation.
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Book Chapters and Proceedings
Bingham, B. B., and Eisenhardt, K. M. (2006)
Unveiling the Creation and Content of Strategic Organizational Processes
Academy of Managment Best Paper Proceedings. Atlanta: Academy of Management
Byers, T., Kist, H., and Sutton, R. (1998)
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