Satish

     Nambisan

Associate Professor

Lally School of Management

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

Research

I specialize in research on issues at the intersection of innovation management, strategy, entrepreneurship, and technology management and occurring in a wide range of organizational contexts (private, public, and nonprofit). My current work focuses on three broad topics:

 

(a) Network-Centric Innovation

Many organizations (private, public, and nonprofits) have realized by now that they can innovate faster, better, and cheaper by taking advantage of external networks of individuals, communities, and partners. However, to tap into the power of such network-centric innovation, managers need to understand what types of innovation networks are out there, and what approach to network-centric innovation is best for their organization. My research work focuses on bringing clarity to the landscape of network-centric innovation - the emerging models of network-centric innovation and the alternate innovation roles that organizations can play in such networks. I also focus on how managers can create the capabilities to prepare their organization to implement a network-centric innovation strategy.

In addition, my work also examines technology commercialization and the role of innovation intermediaries, and the process of technological entrepreneurship with particular focus on innovation alliances between new ventures and incumbent firms.

My book on this topic - The Global Brain – was published in October 2007 by Wharton School Publishing. I have also published related articles in journals such as Harvard Business Review, Stanford Social Innovation Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, and Management Science.

 

(b) Customer Co-innovation and Value Co-creation

More and more organizations – in industries ranging from software and consumer electronics to healthcare – have started partnering with their customers in innovation and value creation by deploying Virtual Customer Environments (VCEs). VCEs are technology-based forums that incorporate discussion forums, wikis/blogs, virtual reality tools, and other such technologies to support customer contributions in product ideation, product design, product testing, and product support activities. My research work has focused on understanding how organizations can implement and manage VCE-based initiatives that promote such customer co-innovation and value co-creation. I am particularly interested in studying (a) the strategies and practices to enhance customer participation; (b) the organizational changes needed to capture/appropriate value created by customers; (c) the expected (and the unexpected!!) impact of VCE initiatives on innovation output as well as on customer relationship management.

I published the first conceptual paper on this topic (in the Academy of Management Review in 2002). My other articles on this topic have been published (or are forthcoming) in Organization Science, MIT Sloan Management Review, Health Care Management Review, Journal of Interactive Marketing and the Journal of Product Innovation Management.

 

(c) Information Technology and Innovation Management

I am interested in the application of information technology (IT) based tools to support and enhance innovation (product/service development activities). The last one decade has seen a rapid infusion of such IT tools – particularly Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) tools – and, it has become imperative for managers to understand how they can benefit from using such tools.

I am working with Gartner Research and my colleagues elsewhere in studying different issues in this area including the impact of IT on innovation success in both the private sector and in government. My articles on this topic have appeared in journals such as MIS Quarterly and IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management.

My new book on this topic titled “Information Technology and Product Development” will be published by Springer in December 2009.

 

© 2009 Satish Nambisan | nambis@rpi.edu