About Ian

I am a Professor at Simon Fraser University and at the Center in Leadership, Innovation and Organisation (CLIO) at Luiss University. I study and teach operations management, innovation management, change management, social media, creative consumers and the world of management education. 

I earned my Ph.D. in industrial engineering from the University of Sheffield. I was also a Fulbright Scholar at the Georgia Institute of Technology, studying the impacts of university innovation on local and national economies. I have published well-cited articles that help us to better understand issues such as:

  • How firms should work with and learn from creative consumers?
  • How firms should design new product development processes?
  • Using gamification practices in business.
  • The dark and bright side of social media functionality.
  • Why do some technology patents get licensed while others do not?
  • The determinants and impact of licensing speed.
  • Intellectual property strategies when crowdsourcing.
  • Creating and capturing value from big data.
  • Measuring and dealing with bullshit in the workplace,
  • The threats and opportunities of deepfakes.
  • Evolutionary analysis of firm strategic configurations.
  • The multiplexity of entrepreneurial networks.
  • Management control systems.
  • The impact of outsourcing on industry size.

My publications can be viewed here.

As an award-winning teacher, I have taught at some of the leading business and engineering schools. I am also invited to speak at industry and academic events across the world. Prior to becoming an academic, I worked as an engineer and manager in the electronics manufacturing and metals processing industries.

I receive many emails from potential Ph.D. students claiming to be closely interested in me and my research. To show you have read my profile and are not just sending a robot-like boilerplate request, please begin your email to me by concisely stating (i) who is the current manager of Everton F.C., and (ii) the focus of my first journal publication. Then explain how my current research fits with your interests, how you think your research could eventually benefit society, and why you wish to become an academic.

As a footie (soccer) fan I support Everton F.C. and S.S. Lazio.