Janice Klein

Janice A. Klein currently teaches leadership in the Leaders for Manufacturing (LFM) and System and Design Management (SDM) Programs at MIT. Her recent research, summarized in True Change: How Outsiders on the Inside Get Things Done in Organizations (Jossey-Bass, 2004), explores knowledge transfer and the application of new ideas and concepts at the workplace. In addition, she leads a multidisciplinary research team investigating virtual collaboration and the development and maintenance of high-performance, globally dispersed teams. Klein’s earlier research focused on aligning operations and human resource strategies in the areas of job design, team leadership, employee empowerment, and organizational change. Her publications include “Why Supervisors Resist Employee Involvement” (Harvard Business Review, August/September 1984), “The Human Costs of Manufacturing Reform” (Harvard Business Review, March/April, 1989), “A Reexamination of Autonomy in Light of New Manufacturing Practices” (Human Relations, 1991), “Maintaining Expertise in Multi-Skilled Teams” (Theories of Self-Managed Work Teams, 1994), and “Job Design” (The Handbook of Technology Management, 1998). From 1983 to 1991, Klein was a member of the production and operations management faculty at Harvard Business School, where she taught in both the first and second years of the MBA program as well as the Program for Management Development (PMD) and Manufacturing in Corporate Strategy (MCS). Her textbook, Revitalizing Manufacturing: Text and Cases (Richard D. Irwin, Inc., 1990), is a compilation of the material she developed for her second-year course, entitled the Management of Operations, which focused on the implementation of new manufacturing systems and technologies. Klein is a graduate of General Electric (GE) Company’s Manufacturing Management Program (MMP). During her years at GE (1972–81), she held various manufacturing and human resource management positions. In addition, she coordinated several organizational change efforts aimed at increasing employee involvement. She has consulted or taught internationally, particularly in Australia and Scandinavia. Among the domestic companies she has consulted with concerning teams and organizational change are United Technologies, Xerox, Polaroid, Hewlett-Packard, and Goodyear. She holds a BS in industrial engineering from Iowa State University, an MBA from Boston University, and a PhD in industrial relations from the MIT Sloan School of Management.