How Technology is Transforming Management
To celebrate the launch of Frontiers — a new MIT SMR initiative exploring how technology is reshaping the practice of management — we asked 15 leading lights from academia and industry to give us a glimpse into the future by contributing essays in response to this question: “Within the next five years, how will technology change the practice of management in a way we have not yet witnessed?”
Hal R. Varian
Digital assistants are taking over repetitive tasks, leaving managers free to manage.
Andrew S. Winston
The power and responsibility of companies to help build a thriving, resilient world has never been greater.
Monideepa Tarafdar
As technology evolves, managers and organizations will need new skill sets.
Andrew W. Moore
AI’s value for managers lies in its ability to predict equipment failures and assess human emotions.
Thomas H. Davenport
While humans may be ahead of computers in the ability to create strategy today, we shouldn’t be complacent about our dominance.
Theodore Kinni
What’s happening this week at the intersection of management and technology.
Frontiers |
September 14, 2016 | Deborah Gallagher
In a video interview, MIT SMR editor in chief Paul Michelman explains the impetus behind the launch of the publication’s Frontiers initiative and the value he hopes it will hold for readers. Michelman explains the genesis of the Frontiers idea, the nature of the essayists selected for the program, and why it’s important for MIT SMR to launch this initiative now. He also discusses the themes that emerged from the essays, including the changing nature of the man-machine collegial relationship.
Making Business Resilient
Joseph Fiksel et al.
In a volatile, global economy, supply chains have become increasingly vulnerable. Supply chain practices designed to keep costs low in a stable business environment can increase risk levels during disruptions. But companies can cultivate resilience to unexpected disruptions by understanding their vulnerabilities and developing specific capabilities to compensate for them. The authors identify and detail 16 capabilities companies can use to respond to particular vulnerability patterns.
Gregory Unruh
Companies can continue creating value in the face of disasters, both natural and man-made, when they develop community resilience strategies.
How will your company achieve the types of innovation necessary for continued growth and success? Open access to these three MIT Sloan Management Review articles about strategies for achieving innovation is provided courtesy of PwC.
Joseph V. Sinfield and Freddy Solis
High-impact innovations have built-in uncertainty — but careful strategizing can reduce the risk.
Joshua S. Gans
Businesses are averting disruption by beating their new competition, joining them, or waiting them out.
By Alan MacCormack et al.
Companies are increasingly turning to contests to generate many diverse ideas.
The 2016 Internet of Things Report
September 8, 2016 | Stephanie Jernigan, Sam Ransbotham, and David Kiron
We found that obtaining business value using the connections the IoT creates between an organization and its customers, suppliers, and competitors depends on companies’ willingness to share data with other organizations
Managing Talent Effectively
Fabian J. Sting et al.
Making it safe to be honest about when projects are getting off track can promote cooperative behavior.
Teppo Felin
Companies that overlook their employees as sources of strategic insight may find themselves losing talent – and key ideas.
V. Kumar and Anita Pansari
Research suggests that high levels of employee engagement are associated with higher rates of profitability growth.
Gerald C. Kane
Digital tools can reshape the relationship between organizations and retiring employees.
Emilio J. Castilla
New research shows bias exists even in merit-based systems — but a data-centric approach can help.
Catherine Bailey and Adrian Madden
There’s no single formula for making work meaningful — but poor management is a universal obstacle.
