Peter Zemsky

Professor Zemsky has been a faculty member at INSEAD since 1994 and a member of the school’s leadership team since 2010. As Deputy Dean, he is responsible for external relations including fundraising, alumni relations and communications. As Dean of Innovation he is responsible for the school’s digital strategy including the development of its award winning online courses.

He has lead all major departments at the school. As Dean of Degree Programmes he dramatically grew the Executive MBA programme, especially in Asia and the Middle East, and launched an MBA period in Abu Dhabi. As Dean of Executive Education, he spurred the expansion of the school’s offerings in digital transformation and innovation, growing revenues to over €100M for the first time. As Dean of Faculty he successfully introduced an evaluation and promotion system for the school’s cadre of Affiliate faculty.

He was recognized as the outstanding graduating economics major at the University of Pennsylvania and then pursued his doctoral studies at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, supported by a prestigious National Science Foundation fellowship. Today, Professor Zemsky is a leading scholar in the economics of strategy, where he develops rigorous analysis of topics such as disruptive technologies, the trade-offs between value creation and value capture, and the choice of generalist versus specialist strategies. His doctoral students and have been recognized three times for having the best dissertation in strategy by the Academy of Management and have been hired by leading business schools including Wharton, NYU and HEC.

Professor Zemsky is a passionate educator. He teaches about strategy in the face of technology change and industry dynamics. He has taught across the school’s educational programmes, with several nominations for best MBA core teacher including when he was a visiting Professor at Wharton. He currently offers the popular online executive education course Strategy in an Age of Digital Disruption. He led the development of large scale customized online courses for leading companies including Accenture, Microsoft and Schneider Electric. These courses have been recognized with gold medals by the Chief Learning Officer’s Learning in Practice Awards for “Excellence in Blended Technology” and “Excellence in Academic Partnerships”, by Brandon Hall for “Best Results of a Learning Program” and “Best Unique or Innovative L&D Program” and by EFMD for “Excellence in Professional Development”.

PUBLICATIONS

• CASE STUDIES - The ISIS Social Media Machine
• JOURNAL ARTICLES - Specialist versus Generalist Positioning: Demand Heterogeneity, Technology Scalability and Endogenous Market Segmentation - Strategy Science
• JOURNAL ARTICLES - Diversification and Performance: Linking Relatedness, Market Structure, and the Decision to Diversify - Strategy Science
• CASE STUDIES - Where to Next with BlaBlaCar?
• JOURNAL ARTICLES - Value Creation and Value Capture under Moral Hazard: Exploring the Micro-Foundations of Buyer-Supplier Relationships - Strategic Management Journal
• CASE STUDIES - The United Arab Emirates: An Emerging Economic Power
• JOURNAL ARTICLES - Positioning on a Multiattribute Landscape - Management Science
• JOURNAL ARTICLES - Some Like It Free: Innovators Strategic Use of Disclosure to Slow Down Competition - Strategic Management Journal
• JOURNAL ARTICLES - Value Creation and Value Capture with Frictions - Strategic Management Journal
• WORKING PAPERS - Time Consuming Technology Development: How Imitation and Spillovers Affect Competitive Dynamics
• JOURNAL ARTICLES - The Timing of Resource Development and Sustainable Competitive Advantage - Management Science
• JOURNAL ARTICLES - The Horizontal Scope of the Firm: Organizational Tradeoffs vs. Buyer-Supplier Relationships - Management Science

Education

• PhD Stanford (1989 — 1994)
• BA University of Pennsylvania (1984 — 1988)

Companies

• Deputy Dean INSEAD (2013)
• Dean of Innovation INSEAD (2013)
• Eli Lilly Chaired Professor of Strategy and Innovation INSEAD (2008)
• Dean of Executive Education INSEAD (2016 — 2017)
• Dean of Degree Programmes INSEAD (2011 — 2013)
• Interim Dean INSEAD (2013 — 2013)
• Acting Dean INSEAD (2012 — 2012)
• Dean of Faculty INSEAD (2010 — 2011)
• Strategy Area Coordinator INSEAD (2007 — 2009)

Skills

• Game Theory
• Coaching
• Career Counseling