Dear Colleagues
We are delighted to invite you to our PDW on "Experimentation and Innovation: Individuals, Firms, and Economies" at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting in Chicago this summer 2018. The PDW is scheduled for Saturday, August 11th 8am-10am at Swisshotel Chicago in room Alpine I. Sponsoring divisions are TIM and ENT.
Experimentation has emerged as a central theme in management over the past decade. Due to the diffusion of a variety of experimentation-related approaches (i.e., agile development, lean startup, customer discovery, design thinking), the mainstream view among practitioners is that an experimentation-driven strategy is a necessary ingredient of innovation. However, research has only recently engaged in this conversation. As a result, the literature has yet to offer a unified and comprehensive framework to understand the notion of experimentation, its antecedents, and its consequences. This PDW seeks to take a step in this direction. We will discuss the role of experimentation in the innovation process, examining how individuals, firms, and economies experiment with new ideas, new markets, and new technologies.
The discussion, featuring a group of established scholars working on this topic, will be wide-ranging in terms of both theoretical perspectives and methodological approaches. Our speakers include:
- Christopher Bingham, Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship at UNC Chapel Hill
- Arnaldo Camuffo, Professor of Business Organization at Bocconi University
- Aaron (Ronnie) Chatterji, Associate Professor at Duke University
- Charles (Chuck) Eesley, Associate Professor at Stanford University
- Mary Tripsas, Associate Professor at Boston College
The PDW has three parts. In Part 1 the presenters will discuss their work on the topic. In Part 2 the organizers will ask the panel a series of open questions touching upon different aspects of experimentation. In Part 3 the audience will have the opportunity to ask questions. Ultimately, the objective is to combine the different views that are emerging in the literature, design a common research agenda, and generate a set of tentative managerial implications.
If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to reach out to us. We look forward to seeing you in Chicago!
Andrea on behalf of the PDW Organizers
PDW Organizers
Robert Bremner, PhD Candidate at Stanford University, rbremner@stanford.edu
Andrea Contigiani, PhD Candidate at University of Pennsylvania, andcon@wharton.upenn.edu
David Hall, PhD Candidate at Duke University, david.hall1@duke.edu
Sandeep Pillai, PhD Candidate at University of Maryland, sandeep.pillai@rhsmith.umd.edu