Robert D. Austin (born 1962) is an innovation and technology management researcher and professor at

Ivey Business School Ivey Business School is the main business school of Western University, located in London, Ontario, Canada. It offers full-time undergraduate and graduate programs in London, Ontario and maintains a Toronto facility for its EMBA program and two ...

. He is best known for pedagogical innovations in the teaching of

technology management Technology management refers to the integrated planning, design, optimization, operation and control of technological products, processes and services, in order to manage of the use of technology for human advantage. It contains a number of manag ...

, for his "artful making" research, which examines business innovation through the lens of art practice, and for his research documenting the neurodiversity employment movement.

Biography

Austin received bachelor's degrees in

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

and

Engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...

from

Swarthmore College Swarthmore College ( , ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1864, with its first classes held in 1869, Swarthmore is one of the e ...

in 1984, a master’s in

Industrial Engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

and

Management Science Management science (or managerial science) is a wide and interdisciplinary study of solving complex problems and making strategic decisions as it pertains to institutions, corporations, governments and other types of organizational entities. It is ...

from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in 1986, and a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in Management and Decision Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in 1995. His doctoral thesis was the recipient of the Herbert A. Simon Doctoral Dissertation Award for Behavioral Research in the Administrative Sciences. From 1997 to 2009, Austin was a professor of business administration at

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

, working primarily in the area of Technology and Operations Management. He joined the Copenhagen Business School (CBS) faculty in 2007. He has also spent time as a manager at the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...

(1986-1995), a member of the executive team of a startup subsidiary of Novell (1999-2000), the CEO of an executive education foundation (2010-2011), and dean of the faculty of business administration at the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English language, English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universiti ...

at Fredericton (2011-2013). He moved to Ivey in 2016. He is the (co)author of more than 100 published articles, cases, and notes, and ten books.

Selected publications

* Austin, Robert D. Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations, New York: Dorset House, 1996. * Austin, Robert D. and Lee Devin. Artful Making: What Managers Need to Know About How Artists Work, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Financial Times Prentice Hall, 2003. * Austin, Robert D., Nolan, Richard L. and Shannon O'Donnell, Adventures of an IT Leader, Harvard Business Review Press, 2009. * Austin, Robert D., Devin, Lee, and Erin E. Sullivan, "Accidental Innovation: Supporting Valuable Unpredictability in Creative Process,” Organization Science, September/October 2012 vol. 23 no. 5, 1505-1522. * Austin, Robert D. and Thorkil Sonne, "The Dandelion Principle: Redesigning Work for the Innovation Economy," MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer 2014. * Austin, Robert D. and Gary Pisano, "Neurodiversity as a Competitive Advantage," Harvard Business Review, May-June 2017.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Austin, Robert D. Danish academics 1962 births Living people Information systems researchers Swarthmore College alumni Carnegie Mellon University faculty Harvard Business School faculty Academic staff of the University of Western Ontario