Jeroen Struben

Desautels Faculty of Management

Strategy and Organization

Courses

MGPO 460 Managing Innovation
MGSC 578 Simulation of Mgmt Systems

Research

Jeroen Struben is an Assistant Professor in the Strategy & Organization Area at the Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University. His research examines processes of industry transformation and implications for firms and socio-technical trajectories. Jeroen is interested in the question: How do alternative technologies and ideas successfully penetrate in the marketplace or society at large, rather than falter? A challenge to the status quo often fails or, takes an unanticipated path, even when deemed potentially efficacious and economically feasible. Moreover, organizations' success is ambivalently linked to that of the alternatives they support. In order to address these observations, Jeroen's research focuses on how social processes and evolution of the built environment jointly condition the formation of self-sustaining markets. His research produces novel insights related to coordination and commitment across organizations and industries.

Empirically he currently studies the diffusion of alternative energy technologies and how their markets are shaped through the co-evolution of organizational capabilities, consumer acceptance, complementarities, and the institutional environment, including standards. Drawing upon empirical cases (successful and failed introductions) and dynamic modeling, this research contributes various fields of study, including innovation and institutional change, technology strategy and industry organization. See the publication tab for published and in progress work.

Jeroen is also a Research Affiliate at the MIT Sloan School of management where he co-leads a cross-industry study on transitions to alternative energy in transportation (see http://web.mit.edu/jjrs/www/3rdMITFordShellWorkshop.htm). Besides contributing to understanding of industry transitions, this work offers guidance to strategic decision makers in organizations and governments. His work has featured in various media outlets - for details select the link to his personal webpage above.

His research has brought Jeroen inside various organizations and institutions, in fields ranging from automotive (Ford, GM, SAIC Shanghai), to energy (Shell, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, US DOE, Johnson Controls China), and to fisheries (NOAA, GCDC). Prior to academia Jeroen worked at Accenture, where he was active in various industries, including semiconductors, energy, telecom, retail, and steel.

Teaching

Jeroen currently teaches Managing Innovation (MGPO 460) and Simulation of Management Systems (MGSC 578. The latter, open to both graduate and advanced undergraduate students, is a systems thinking course focused on learning in and achieving change in dynamically complex environments. In this course we visit topics ranging from industry evolution, to organizational process improvement, alternative energy markets, and to health care and climate change policy. We apply various tools, in particular those relying on system dynamics principles. Jeroen has also taught the core undergraduate courses International Business (MGCR 382) and Operations Management (MGCR 472). Jeroen was the recipient of the 2011 Desautels Faculty of Management Distinguished Teaching Award for graduate teaching.