Research Areas
Competitive strategy; evolution of fit; firms as systems of interconnected choices
Current Projects
Longitudinal studies of firms' strategies and growth trajectories; organizational design for interdependent decision problems; the effect of different mental models on search and exploration.
Representative Publications
(with J. Rivkin)
“Patterned Interactions in Complex Systems: Implications for Exploration.” Management Science (July 2007)
(with M. Porter)
“Contextual Interactions within Activity Systems and Sustainability of Competitive Advantage.” Academy of Management Perspectives (May 2008)
(with F. Csaszar)
“How much to copy? Determinants of effective imitation breadth.” Organization Science (forthcoming)
"Change in the Presence of Fit: The Rise, the Fall, and the Renaissance of Liz Claiborne." Academy of Management Journal 44 (August 2001).
"Evolution toward Fit." Administrative Science Quarterly 47 (March 2002).
"Misperceiving Interactions among Complements and Substitutes: Organizational Consequences." Management Science 48 (July 2002).
"Why Focus? A Study of Intra-Industry Focus Effects." Journal of Industrial Economics 51 (June 2003).
(with J. Rivkin)
"Organizational Sticking Points on NK Landscapes." Complexity 7 (May 2002).
(with J. Rivkin)
"Balancing Search and Stability: Interdependencies among Elements of Organizational Design." Management Science 49 (March 2003).
(with D. Levinthal)
"Temporarily Divide to Conquer: Centralized, Decentralized, and Reintegrated Organizational Approaches to Exploration and Adaptation." Organization Science (December 2003).
(with D. Levinthal)
“Escaping Real (Non-Benign) Competency Traps: Linking the Dynamics of Organizational Structure to the Dynamics of Search.” Strategic Organization (February 2005).
(with J. Rivkin)
“Speed and Search: Designing Organizations for Turbulence and Complexity.” Organization Science (March 2005).
(with J. Rivkin)
“When Exploration Backfires: Unintended Consequences of Multi-Level Organizational Search.” Academy of Management Journal (August 2006).
(with J. Rivkin)
“Patterned Interactions in Complex Systems: Implications for Exploration.” Management Science (July 2007).
(with J. Rivkin)
“Organizing to Strategize in the Face of Interactions: Preventing Premature Lock-in.” Long Range Planning (December 2006).
"Persuasion with Case Studies." Academy of Management Journal (Februrary 2007).
Education
PhD, Harvard University, 1998; MA, Harvard University, 1997; BA, Stanford University, 1993
Career and Recent Professional Awards; Teaching Awards
Excellence in Teaching Award (Graduate Division), 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006; Excellence in Teaching Award (Undergraduate Division), 2003, 2005; 2008 Administrative Science Quarterly Scholarly Contribution Award for the most significant paper published in ASQ five years earlier
Academic Positions Held
Wharton: 1998-present
