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THORSTEN GROHSJEAN

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I am an assistant professor in the department of management and technology at Bocconi University in Milan since 2016. Before joining Bocconi University, I worked between 2012 and 2016 as an assistant professor for strategy and organization in technology-intensive industries at LMU Munich. From 2011 to 2012, I was a research associate in the innovation and entrepreneurship group at Imperial College London. I hold a Ph.D. in Management and a Master of Business Research from the LMU Munich and a Diploma in Management from the University of Mannheim.

Using large-scale archival and experimental data my research focuses on the question of how individuals and firms overcome the challenges associated with the acquisition and development of new knowledge, skills, and abilities. I thereby focus on employee mobility (an example can be found in this video), problem-solving, and innovation as the main modes of acquiring and developing human and social capital. The challenges, I am interested in, include threats to identity, coordination, and cognitive biases. My work is published in the Academy of Management Journal (2x), Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of World Business, and International Journal of Industrial Organization. In Web of Science, one of my papers is listed as one of the top 1% cited papers of the same age in the field of Economics and Business. Practitioner-oriented versions of my research appeared in MIT Sloan Management Review, Harvard Business Review, Harvard Business Manager, AoM Insights, and LSE Review. My research has been honored with several awards, including the DRUID Best Paper Award 2009, the Jürgen Hausschildt Award 2016, the EBS Best-Paper Award Innovation Management 2016, and two Bocconi Research Excellence Awards. I was a further finalist for the Academy of Management TIM Division’s Best Paper Award 2013 and was nominated for the DRUID Young Scholar Paper Award 2011. Since 2020 I serve on the editorial review board of Strategic Management Journal and since 2021 I serve as a representative-at-large for the Knowledge & Innovation Interest Group of the Strategic Management Society.

Scientific Publications:

  • Piezunka, H, & Grohsjean, T. 2022. Collaborations that hurt firm performance but help employees’ careers. Strategic Management Journal, forthcoming. (Article
  • Criscuolo, P., Dahlander, L., Grohsjean, T., & Salter, A. (2021). The sequence effect in panel decisions: Evidence from the evaluation of research and development projects. Organization Science, 32(4), 987-1008. (Article)
  • Criscuolo, P., Dahlander, L., Grohsjean, T. & Salter. A. 2017. Evaluating novelty: The role of panels in the selection of R&D projects. Academy of Management Journal, 60(2): 433-460. (Abstract)
  • Grohsjean, T., Kober, P., & Zucchini, L. 2016. Coming back to Edmonton: Competing with former employers and colleagues. Academy of Management Journal, 59(2): 59: 394-413. (Abstract, Video)
  • Claussen, J., Grohsjean, T., Luger, J., & Probst, G. 2014. Talent management and career development: What it takes to get promoted. Journal of World Business, 49(2): 236-244. (Abstract)
  • Claussen, J., Falck, O., & Grohsjean, T. 2012. The strength of direct ties: Evidence from the gaming industry. International Journal of Industrial Organization, 30(2): 223-230. (Abstract)

Practitioner-oriented Articles:

  1. Grohsjean, T., Dahlander, L., Salter, A., & P. Criscuolo. 2021. Better ways to green-light new projects. MIT Sloan Management Review, 63(2): 32-38. (Article)
  2. Grohsjean, T., Kober, P., & L. Zucchini. 2018. Three tips to remember when hiring from competitors. AoM Insights. (Article)
  3. Criscuolo, P., Dahlander, L., Grohsjean, T., & A. Salter. 2017. The biases that keep good R&D projects from getting funded. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review. (Article)
  4. Grohsjean, T., Kober, P., & L. Zucchini. 2016. When players change teams, they fight harder against their former employer. London: LSE Business Review. (Article)
  5. Claussen, J., Grohsjean, T., Luger, J., & G. Probst. 2015. Schneller befördert werden. Harvard Business Manager (German Version of the Harvard Business Review), 2015(8). (Article)

You can find my google scholar profile here.

You can find my SSRN page here.

Modificato il 15/08/2022