Jason Davis

Jason Davis is an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise at INSEAD. He is an expert on digital transformation and innovation in large enterprises and the strategies of startups in digital platform ecosystems. His research has focused on issues of collaboration and adaptation by 'big tech' computing companies in Silicon Valley and Seattle, fast experimentation by mobile app ventures on the iPhone and Android platforms, and the social media strategies of the Fortune 500 companies using Twitter and Facebook. He applies these insights to large organizations as they seek to create value with new digital technologies and systems like artificial intelligence, automation, platform-marketplaces, blockchain, and super-apps, and to new ventures in his MBA course, Digital Entrepreneurship. Jason has focused effort on investigating business model innovations by big tech companies in Southeast Asia and China, having developed teaching cases about companies such as Go-Jek, Grab, Alibaba, and ByteDance. Prior to joining INSEAD, Jason was an Associate Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management in the MIT Sloan School of Management where he taught Technology Strategy.

Jason earned PhD and MA degrees from Stanford University, where his research was supported by the National Science Foundation. He also earned MS and SB degrees from Caltech and MIT where he did thesis research in computation theory and molecular biology. His research has been published in top academic journals such as the Administrative Science Quarterly, American Economic Review, and Academy of Management Review. Jason has served as editorial board member at Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Strategic Organization. He has received multiple research awards including the AOM Academy-Wide Newman Award for Best Paper from a Dissertation (2009), the TIM Division Best Doctoral Dissertation Award (2009), the TIM Division Best Paper Award (2009), the OMT Division Best Paper Award (2008), and the ACAC Competitive Advantage Best Paper Award (2014). Jason also received an Honorable Mention Award for the Granovetter Prize for best article in Economic Sociology from the American Sociological Association (2012). He is also the recipient of the Academy of Management's Technology Innovation Management Emerging Scholar Award (2012). Finally, Jason was selected to receive the ASQ Award for Scholarly Contribution (2015) given to “the most significant paper published in ASQ five years earlier.” His research has also been featured in a variety of popular and industry publications like Financial Times, Forbes, The Atlantic, The Economist Podcast, Channel News Asia, South China Morning Post, Jakarta Post, Huffington Post, Sloan Management Review, Computer World, and Technology Review. Jason has also consulted, advised, or spoken about his research or conducted executive education at multiple companies including Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Google, Broadcom, ESI, Sun Microsystems, Tesla, Citibank, Bank Indonesia, BCA, Pertamina, Go-Jek, Axiata, Natixis, Frasers, Prudential, Aviva, CIMB, Jardines, JG Summit, Lenovo, and various startups. At INSEAD, he serves as Program Director for Executive Education programs about Digital Strategy and Leadership in the Digital Age.

Publications

• JOURNAL ARTICLES - The Group Dynamics of Interorganizational Relationships Collaborating with Multiple Partners in Innovation Ecosystems - Administrative Science Quarterly
• JOURNAL ARTICLES - Entrepreneurial Innovation: Killer Apps in the iPhone Ecosystem - American Economic Review, The
• BOOK CHAPTERS - Brokerage as a Process: Decoupling Action from Social Network Structure - Emerald Publishing Ltd.
• BOOK CHAPTERS - Economic Value Creation in Mobile Applications - University of Chicago Press
• JOURNAL ARTICLES - The Emergence and Coordination of Synchrony in Inter-Organizational Networks - Advances in Strategic Management
• JOURNAL ARTICLES - Learning Sequences: Their Emergence, Evolution, and Efect - Academy of Management Journal
• JOURNAL ARTICLES - Rotating Leadership and Collaborative Innovation: Recombination Processes in Symbiotic Relationships - Administrative Science Quarterly
• JOURNAL ARTICLES - Optimal Structure, Market Dynamism, and the Strategy of Simple Rules - Administrative Science Quarterly
• JOURNAL ARTICLES - Developing Theory through Simulation Methods - Academy of Management Review

Research Areas

Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Networks, Strategic Management, Organization Theory

Teaching Areas

Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Collaboration, Networks, Leadership, Strategy in Dynamic Markets