Jason Davis

Jason Davis

Assistant Professor of Strategy
Sloan School of Management
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
50 Memorial Drive, E52-545
Cambridge, MA 02142
Email: jasond at mit dot edu | Phone: 617-253-6727
CV (pdf)

Teaching

15.912: Technology Strategy

Spring 07-08; Fall 08-09

(Syllabus pdf) (MIT Website)

This course provides a series of strategic frameworks for managing high-technology businesses. The emphasis throughout is on the development and application of conceptual models which clarify the interactions between competition, patterns of technological and market change, and the structure and development of organizational capabilities.

Research

My work focuses on the role of organizational structures and processes in competitive strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Using a combination of inductive multi-case studies and simulation modeling, I draw upon diverse perspectives such as complexity theory, organization theory, economic sociology, and cognitive science to understand strategy and organizations in highly dynamic environments.

My current research focuses on the organization of collaborative innovation between firms in the computing and communications industries. Using data collected in the field, current projects examine the leadership processes, collaborative networks, and temporal structures underlying inter-organizational relationships. This work reveals four specific organizational processes – rotating leadership, network pruning, competency pairing, and synchronized development – that promote effective collaboration and innovation performance. My other research has explored how entrepreneurial firms develop the cognitive content of organizational processes, and how the amount of organizational structure shapes firm adaptation.

Rotating Leadership and Symbiotic Organization:
Relationship Processes in the Context of Collaborative Innovation
Davis, J. P.
Working Paper, MIT Sloan School of Management, 2007

MIT Sloan Media Press Release (pr pdf) Press: 1 2 3 4

Network Plasticity and Collaborative Innovation:
Pruning and Pairing Processes in Network Reorganization
Davis, J. P.
Working Paper, MIT Sloan School of Management, 2007
(Recipient of the 2008 OMT Best Paper Award)

Developing Theory Through Simulation Methods
Davis, J. P., Eisenhardt, K. M., & Bingham, C. B. 2007.
Academy of Management Review, 32(2), 580-599

Complexity Theory, Market Dynamism, and the Strategy of Simple Rules
Davis, J. P., Eisenhardt, K. M., & Bingham, C. B. 2007.
(Revised and Resubmitted to Administrative Science Quarterly)