Alva Taylor

Professor Taylor is Faculty Director of the Glassmeyer/McNamee Center for Digital Strategies. The Center is Tuck's flagship for thought leadership, corporate interaction, and student involvement on how changes in digital technology impact business strategy.

His research focuses on the innovation process, entrepreneurship, technological change, and strategic decision making in fast-changing environments. Some of Prof. Taylor's recent work has been on the challenge of managing creative groups for sustained innovation and entrepreneurship; and how organizational learning takes place in information rich environments.

He teaches courses on strategy in fast-changing environments, managing innovation, and managing change in both the Tuck MBA and Executive Education programs. Prof. Taylor has also designed and is program director of the Digital Excellence for Minority Entrepreneurs Executive Education Program in partnership with Google.

Prior to academia, Prof. Taylor was a senior manager in the consulting division of KPMG, running a practice focusing on business strategy, information technology, and growing companies to scale.

Current Research Topics

• New product development
• Technological change
• New venture formation
• Organizational learning
• Creativity

Professional Activities

Academic positions

• Faculty Director, Center for Digital Strategies, Tuck School, 2013–present
• Tuck School of Business, 2000–present
• Visiting Assistant Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1997–99
• Lecturer, School of Engineering, Stanford University, 1991–93

Nonacademic positions

• Senior Manager, Management Consulting Department, KPMG Peat Marwick, 1984–89
• Industrial Engineer, Eastman Kodak Company, 1981–82

Editorial boards

• Organization Science, 2005-present
• Strategic Management Journal, 2008-present

Working Papers

• "Managerial Risk as Exposure: A New Perspective in Understanding Innovation and Strategic Change in Organizations"
• "The Temporal Nature of Experience: The Impact of the Timing of Learning on Innovation"
• "Intra-firm Learning from Innovative Activity: The Role of Situated Organizational Attention"

Awards

• Finalist, Best Paper of the Year, Academy of Management Journal, 2007
• Harvey H. Bundy III T’68 Fellowship for scholarly excellence, Tuck School, 2005–06
• Unsung Hero Award for outstanding non-core teaching, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1997–98

Selected Publications

• "Norms in Organizations," Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management, MacMillan, 2014
• "The Next Generation: Technology Adoption and Integration through Internal Competition in New Product Development," Organization Science, 2011. Selected as notable paper accepted by Organization Science for 2011
• "Organizational Linkages for Surviving Technological Change: Complementary Assets, Middle Management, and Ambidexterity," Organization Science, 2009
• "Capabilities and Technological Change: The Role of Science-Based Versus Business-Based Entrepreneurs in New Venture Formation," Academy of Management Best Papers Proceedings, 2007
• "Relative Technological Discontinuities: Insights from the Identification of Innovation Regime Shifts," Academy of Management Best Papers Proceedings, 2007
• "Superman or the Fantastic Four: Knowledge Combination and Experience in Innovative Teams," Academy of Management Journal, 49(4), 2006
• "Innovations as Catalysts for Organizational Change: Shifts in Organizational Cognition and Search," Administrative Science Quarterly, 2000