Paolo Aversa

Paolo Aversa is Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Strategy at Cass Business School, visiting Professor at the University of Trento (Italy). He is also Fellow of the Center for Automotive and Mobility Innovation (CAMI) at University Ca' Foscari in Venice (Italy), and Research Fellow at the Center for Sport and Business at the Stockholm School of Economics (Sweden). At Cass he teaches at the Full Time MBA, the Executive MBA in Dubai, the MSc in Management, the MSc in Actuarial Management, the PhD in Management, and he collaborates with Cass Executive Education. He is also the Course Director of the Full Time MBA. Paolo originally joined Cass thanks to a IEF Marie Curie Fellowship (2012-2014).

Before joining Cass, Paolo worked as Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Management Department of the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, where he also held a visiting scholar position at the Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Center. He received his Ph.D. in management at the University of Bologna, his MBA degree at Fondazione CUOA (Vicenza) and his Executive HR Management Master at HKE (Milan). He got his B.A. and M.A. in Communication at the University of Padova, both magna cum laude.

His general research interests are related to determinants of performance in technology-based settings characterised by fierce competition and changing environments. He investigated the interplay of innovation, business models, and alliances on firm performance. He is considered one of the leading academic experts in the motorsport industry and his empirical fields of research are often based on Formula 1, motorcycles, and automotive. His recent academic works are published in Organization Science, Industrial and Corporate Change, Advances in Strategic Management, Harvard Business Review and MIT Sloan Management Review, among others. He is Director of Communications and part of the Officer Board of the Strategic Management "STR" Division (formerly known as BPS), of the Academy of Management. He has served as ad-hoc reviewer for most top journals in the field of management and strategy.

His research featured around 300 times around the world in international media, including in the Financial Times, New York Times, BBC, Sky, Forbes, Reuters, Sunday Times, The Times, The Telegraph, The National, ESPN, City AM and the Sydney Morning Herald, and in most sport-related outlets. In 2014 he was selected as runner-up for the prestigious ‘“EU Marie Skłodowska-Curie Communicating Science Prize” which shortlists the 10 Marie-Curie funded scientific projects that excelled in the outreach to the general public, had the widest coverage in mainstream media, and displayed the most innovative approach to dissemination. Out of the 10 finalists he was the only one from social science.

In 2017 he was finalist for the City President's Award in the category "Outstanding Research Engagment - Media and Outreach". In 2015 he won the First Prize for the SIIE-EBS Best-Paper-Award "Innovation Management" for his work published in Organization Science. Also in 2015, he was finalist for City Research competition and nominated among the "Marie-Curie Fellows of the Week". He was awarded for 7 times the Best Reviewer Award of Academy of Management (4 times in the Technology and Innovation Division and 3 times in the Business Policy and Strategy Division). In 2011 Paolo received the Best Doctoral Paper Award of the European Academy of Management (EURAM). In 2009 he led the University of Padova racing team to winning the business plan competition at the Formula SAE Germany.

He collaborates with several universities and he often presents his works and industry analyses in international conferences, firms, and institutions. He works and consults for companies within and outside the racetrack.

Qualifications

• HBS Case Method Teaching Seminar, Harvard Business School, Dec 2016
• Master Degree in Communication for Complex Organizations (with honors), University of Padua, Padua, Italy, Sep 2006 – Oct 2007
• M.B.A., Fondazione CUOA, Italy, Jun 2004 – Sep 2005
• Bachelor Degree in Communication Sciences for Business (with honors), University of Padua, Padua, Italy, Sep 2001 – Jul 2004
• Post Doc (Wharton School, UPenn), uknown, unknown
• Ph.D. in Management, University of Bologna, Italy

Employment

• Senior Lecturer in Strategy, Cass Business School, 2017 – present
• Lecturer in Strategy, Cass Business School, 2014 – 2017
• Marie Curie Fellow of Strategy, Cass Business School, Jan 2012 – Jan 2014
• Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Jul 2011 – Jul 2012
• Visiting Scholar, Sol C. Snider Entrepreneurial Center, Sep 2009 – Jul 2011

Visiting Appointments

• Visiting Professor, University of Trento, Italy, Jan 2015 – present
• Visiting Scholar and Post Doctoral Research Fellow, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Sep 2009 – Jul 2012

Fellowships

• Fellow, Center for Automotive Mobility and Innovation CAMI - University Ca' Foscari, Venice, Italy, 2015 – present
• Marie Curie Research Fellow, Cass Business School, City University London, Jun 2011 – Jun 2012

Memberships of Professional Organisations

• Member, CENTIVE - Centre for New Technologies, Innovation and Enterprise, Cass Business School, City University London, Jul 2012 – present
• Member, Academy of Management, track Business Policy and Strategy and Technology and Innovation Management, 2010 – present
• Member and reviewer, Strategic Management Society, Jun 2009 – present

Awards

• SIIE-EBS (2015) Best Paper Award "Innovation Management" Driving Performance via Exploration in Changing Environments: Evidence from Formula One Racing. Co-authors: Alessandro Marino, Luiz Mesquita & Jaideep Anand Published in Organization Science, 26(4), pp. 1079-1100. The Best-Paper-Award “Innovation Management��� honors outstanding scientific papers on Innovation and Technology Management that combine cutting-edge research and high practical relevance, providing state-of-the-art insights.
• European Commission Research Council (2014) Marie-Curie Communicating Science Prize “Runner-up” Finalist of the Marie-Curie Communicating Science Prize (shortlist of 10 works with the highest impact on the media from any field of science – only finalist from the Economics and Social Science divisions).
• European Academy of Management Conference (EURAM) (2011) 1st Prize for the Best Ph.D. Paper Award
• 2011 European Academy of Management Annual Conference (Tallin, Estonia).

Languages

French, German, Italian and Spanish; Castilian.

Expertise

Primary Topics

• Business Models
• E-Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management
• Strategic Management
• Technology Management

Industries/Professions

• aerospace
• automotive
• biotechnology
• engineering
• high technology
• manufacturing
• sport
• swine, spirits & alcohol

Geographic Areas

• Americas - North
• Europe

Research

Formula 1 project

• Supported by the Marie Curie Actions (Intra European Fellowship - FP7) and partially from the EPSRC grant on "Building better business model" the Formula 1 project was officially started in 2012 under the coordination of Dr Paolo Aversa, one of the leading experts in the Motorsport industry.

• Formula 1 is an industry worthy of study in and of itself. F1 is-in fact-the most watched annual sporting series in the world, with more than 525 million people watching over the course of the season. It has an estimate turnover of more than US$4 billion; employs around 50,000 people in more than 30 countries; and embodies the cutting edge of technology in the automotive industry. What is more, the technologies developed for F1 racing are relevant to many other industries far removed from the racetrack. Innovations by leading teams such as Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull, Williams among others have made their way not only into the regular road car industry (e.g. ABS breaks, aerodynamics, finger-controlled gear shift systems, etc.), but also bicycling (e.g. Ultra-light carbon-fiber composites), the tracking of people in factory shop-floors, hospitals, or sports training for the Olympics (e.g., advanced telemetry systems), advanced engineering (e.g., virtual design and simulators), and even public transportation systems (e.g., flywheel energy storage mechanisms).

• Aversa, P., Haefliger, S. and Reza, D.G. (2017). Building a winning business model portfolio. MIT Sloan Management Review, 58(4), pp. 49–54.

• Aversa, P. and Berinato, S. (2017). Sometimes, Less Innovation is Better. Harvard Business Review, 95(3), pp. 38–39. [publisher’s website]

• Aversa, P., Furnari, S. and Haefliger, S. (2015). Business model configurations and performance: A qualitative comparative analysis in Formula One racing, 2005-2013. Industrial and Corporate Change, 24(3), pp. 655–676. doi:10.1093/icc/dtv012.

• Marino, A., Aversa, P., Mesquita, L. and Anand, J. (2015). Driving performance via exploration in changing environments: Evidence from formula one racing. Organization Science, 26(4), pp. 1079–1100. doi:10.1287/orsc.2015.0984.

• Aversa, P., Haefliger, S., Rossi, A. and Baden-Fuller, C. (2015). From business model to business modelling: Modularity and manipulation. Advances in Strategic Management, 33, pp. 151–185. doi:10.1108/S0742-332220150000033022

Book

Aversa, P. (2013). Toward a Peripheral View of Manufacturing Networks. LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. ISBN 978-3-659-44593-4.

Chapters (2)

• Aversa, P. (2015). Strategic Peripheries. In Augier, M. and Teece, J. (Eds.), Palgrave Encyclopedia of Strategic Management Palgrave.
• Aversa, P. (2008). La Community di Ducati. In Vecchiato, G. (Ed.), Manuale operativo di relazioni pubbliche. Metodologia e case history FrancoAngeli. ISBN 978-88-464-9535-8.

Journal Articles (8)

• Aversa, P., Haefliger, S. and Reza, D.G. (2017). Building a winning business model portfolio. MIT Sloan Management Review, 58(4), pp. 49–54.
• Aversa, P. and Berinato, S. (2017). Sometimes, Less Innovation is Better. Harvard Business Review, 95(3), pp. 38–39. [publisher’s website]
• Aversa, P., Furnari, S. and Haefliger, S. (2015). Business model configurations and performance: A qualitative comparative analysis in Formula One racing, 2005-2013. Industrial and Corporate Change, 24(3), pp. 655–676. doi:10.1093/icc/dtv012.
• Marino, A., Aversa, P., Mesquita, L. and Anand, J. (2015). Driving performance via exploration in changing environments: Evidence from formula one racing. Organization Science, 26(4), pp. 1079–1100. doi:10.1287/orsc.2015.0984.
• Aversa, P., Haefliger, S., Rossi, A. and Baden-Fuller, C. (2015). From business model to business modelling: Modularity and manipulation. Advances in Strategic Management, 33, pp. 151–185. doi:10.1108/S0742-332220150000033022.
• Aversa, P. and Haefliger, S. (2015). A Qualitative Comparative Analysis of Business Model Configurations and Performance in Formula 1. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2015(1), pp. 17550–17550. doi:10.5465/AMBPP.2015.113.
• Jenkins, M. and Aversa, P. (2013). For and Against - The relentless push for innovation in Formula 1 has a negative effect on the technology (Against). Engineering & Technology, 8(5), pp. 26–27. doi:10.1049/et.2013.0525.
• Marino, A., Aversa, P. and Mesquita, L.F. (2013). Fast Enough But Not Too Fast: Adaptive vs. Pioneering Strategies in Turbulent Environments. Academy of Management Proceedings, 2013(1), pp. 12553–12553. doi:10.5465/AMBPP.2013.12553abstract.

Editorial Activities (12)

• Industrial and Corporate Change, Reviewer, 2016 – present.
• California Management Review, Referee, 2015 – present.
• Journal of Management Studies, Referee, 2015 – present.
• Organization Science, Referee, 2015 – present.
• Strategic Management Journal, Referee, 2015 – present.
• Journal of Product Innovation Management, Referee, 2014 – present.
• Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Referee, 2014 – present.
• Journal of Knowledge Management, Referee, 2013 – present.
• Journal of Operations Management, Referee, 2013 – present.
• Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Referee, 2013 – present.
• Technovation, Referee, 2013 – present.
• Long Range Planning, Referee, 2009 – present.