Research Areas
Business history and strategy
Current Projects
Automobile manufacturing, banking, and retailing; competitive strategy in cyclical downturns; the diffusion of new methods in manufacturing and distribution.
Representative Publications
"Sears Roebuck in the Twentieth Century:Competition, Complementarities, and the Problem of Wasting Assets." Learning By Doing in Organizations, Markets, and Nations N.R. Lamoreaux, D.M.G. Raff, and P. Temin, eds., Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999
"Superstores and the Evolution of Firm Capabilities in American Bookselling." Strategic Management Journal (October-November 2000).
"Risk Management in an Age of Change" New York: Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Global Financial Services Practice (2001).
(with C.H. Fine)
"Internet-Driven Innovation and Economic Performance in the American Automobile Industry." The Economic Payoff from the Internet Revolution R. Litan and A. Rivlin, eds., Washington: The Brooklings Institution, 2001.
(with N.R. Lamoreaux and P. Temin)
"Beyond Markets and Hierarchies: Towards a New Synthesis of American Business History." Reginald H. Jones Center for Management Policy, Strategy and Organization working paper(2002).
Education
PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1987; BPhil, Oxford University, 1978; MPA, Princeton University, 1976; BA, New College, 1973
Recent Consulting
Competitive strategy in manufacturing and services (including financial services); deal design
Academic Positions Held
Wharton: 1994-present. Previous appointments: Harvard University; Oxford University. Visiting appointments: Columbia University Schools of Business and Law
Other Positions
Faculty Research Fellow and Research Associate, National Bureau of Economic Research, 1988-present; Sloan Senior Research Fellow, Wharton Financial Institutions Center, 2000-present
Professional Leadership 2005-2009
Trustee, Business History Conference, 1998-2001; Chair, Investment Committee, 2001-present; Chair, Audit and Budget Committee and Trustee ex officio, Economic History Association, 2001-present
