John Friar

Profile

Education

PhD in Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
MBA, Harvard Business School, Harvard University
AB, Harvard University

Research & Teaching Interests

A distinguished teacher, Dr. Friar has won seven teaching awards and five publication awards, having published over fifty papers. He has researched and written on the subjects of marketing strategy, management of innovation, and technology strategy, with emphases on radical innovations and start-up companies. Professor Friar has also taught at Clark and Brandeis University, Melbourne University in Australia, and Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris. He was founding dean of the School of Technological Entrepreneurship at Northeastern, the first free-standing school in the country related to technological entrepreneurship. Dr. Friar also created the Entrepreneurship Center at Northeastern, developing the activities that led the Princeton Review to rate NU the fourth most entrepreneurial campus in the nation.

Industry & Academic Experience

Dr. Friar was a software engineer at Draper Laboratories, programming the guidance and navigation systems of the Space Shuttle. For North American Philips, Dr. Friar created the corporate strategic planning function and implemented several of the strategic initiatives. For example, he reorganized and relocated the data processing centers and created the largest private phone network in the country at that time. While at Philips Ultrasound, Dr. Friar doubled US sales in one year and then created a European sales organization. For Philips Medical, he created a $55 million R&D Limited Partnership for research on MRI technology. Dr. Friar has been on the founding team of three technology startups and started a venture fund that was acquired by Bear Stearns. An active consultant, his clients have included Intel, Motorola, Medtronics, Verizon, Polaroid, Philips, Medical Information Bureau, and Sun.

Awards & Recognition

Recipient, Two awards from the University of Vermont for the Best Cases in the Family Business Case Competition, Jan. 2013

Pioneer Institute Research Grant 2009-10, and 2007-08

NCIIA Course Development Grant 2008-09

Publications

Selected Publications

Giglio, JM, Friar, JH, and Crittenden, WF. (2017) Integrating Life Cycle Asset Management in the Public Sector. Business Horizons. Accepted.

Friar, JH and Vittori, WD. (2017) The Pharos Project: Solving the Building Materials Toxicity Challenge. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 41 (1), p. 131-141.

Giglio, JM and Friar, JF. (2017) An Evaluation of Availability-Based Payments for US Public-Private Partnerships. Journal of Business and Economics: 8 (1), p. 9-24.

Marion, TJ, Friar, JH, and Dunlap, DR. (2017) Startups and TTOs: Fostering Entrepreneurship at a Large Research University. Book Chapter in The World Scientific Reference on Innovation - Volume 1: University Transfer and Academic Entrepreneurship. World Scientific: Singapore.

Wiseman, F., Friar, J. (2014). Ranking College Football Programs based upon Athletic Performance and Academic Success. The Sports Journal.

Friar, J., Clark, E., Eddleston, K. (2013). Ruma''s Fruit and Gift Basket: Will Dad Ever Talk to Me? Case Research Journal, 33(2).

Dunlap, D., Marion, T., Friar, J. (2013). The Role of Cross-National Knowledge on Organizational Ambidexterity: A Case of the Global Pharmaceutical Industry. Management Learning.

Presentations

Selected Presentations

Eddleston, Kimberly (Presenter Only), Marion, Tucker (Presenter Only), Friar, John (Presenter Only), U.S. Association of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, "Challenges for entrepreneurs in managing interorganizational relationships and innovation", U.S. Association of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, Fort Worth, Texas. (January 2014).

Marion, Tucker, Eddleston, Kimberly, Friar, John, U.S. Association of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, "Interorganizational relationships of new ventures: The good, bad, and ugly", U.S. Association of Small Business & Entrepreneurship, Fort Worth, Texas. (January 2014).

Marion, Tucker, Eddleston, Kimberly, Friar, John, Southern Management Association, "New venture alliances: When collaborations tarnish", Southern Management Association. (November 2013).

Marion, Tucker (Presenter & Author), Friar, John (Author Only), Karmarthi, Sagar (Author Only), Zeid, Abe (Author Only), IPDMC, "The Application Of Engineering Methods To The Discovery And Commercialization Of Mass Customized Cancer Therapeutics", EIASM, Paris, France. (June 24, 2013).

Dunlap, Denise, Marion, Tucker, Friar, John, Innovation Networks Conference, "The Role of Cross-National Knowledge on Organizational Ambidexterity: A Case of the Global Pharmaceutical Industry", Northeastern University, Boston, MA. (May 2013).