Since coming to the Tuck School in 2000, Chris’s research has focused exclusively on the challenge of making innovation happen inside established organizations. He has published dozens of articles and case studies on the topic.

Google and the Myth of Free Time - August 2010

The Peculiar Way We Reward Innovation - August 2010

Innovators, You Need an Attitude Adjustment - August 2010

The Surest Way to Destroy an Innovation Initiative - September 2010

On the Differences Between Innovation and Cooking Chili - September 2010

Can This Org Chart Save Newspapers? – January 2009

Is Reverse Innovation Like Disruptive Innovation? – September 2009

American Business' Future Lies Far From Home - September 2009

No Innovation without Ambition - May 2009

August 2006: Viral Innovation
Can companies still be innovative once all the low-hanging fruit has been plucked? The answer lies in the right incentives for management -- rewarding actions one level up.

June 2006: Trust Your Gut? Don't
Finely honed instincts are the mark of the expert -- and the enemy of innovation.

April 2006: Same Old Challenges in New Telecom Era
No competitor, whether born in the Internet boom or several decades earlier, will succeed without recognizing that revolutions in strategy call for bold steps in organizational design.

January 2006: To Build Up Innovation, Break Down Your Networks
Creating new networks is the only way for an organization to push innovation past the idea stage.

December 2005: From Idea to Execution
So you've found a great idea and a great leader to champion it. The biggest challenges are still to come.

November 2005: Ideas Are Not Enough
Yes, groundbreaking ideas are important. But in any great innovation story, the brainstorm is only the beginning.

October 2005: Is Innovation in your Organizational DNA?
An organization built for success in one business is unlikely to succeed in a much different one. Unless, that is, it creates a separate group with an entirely different DNA.

September 2005: When Cultures Collide
You've just bought another company. Now leave it alone.

August 2005: When the Curve has Passed You By
A revolutionary competitor threatens to make your business obsolete. What to do?

July 2005: Borrow -- in Moderation
Startup teams within larger organizations shouldn't learn all the lessons of their parent companies.

May 2005: A Source of Pride
We are in the midst of a transition in our work, from writing to advising.

March 2005: Innovation and the Inevitable Break-the-Rules Backlash
Nuture new ways of doing business within your organization -- but not at the expense of the "old guard."

February 2005: Our Wish for 2005
There are dozens of ways to make a profit. But only one that connects with the soul.

January 2005: Experimentation Is Easy, Learning Is not
The notion of experimenting and learning makes everyone feel good. But not everyone really understands what it means.

December 2004: Amnesia by Design
If it's true that organizational history repeats itself, perhaps the best thing to do is to forget everything that you've learned.

November 2004: Forget, Borrow, Learn
The needs of new business efforts and existing organizational initiatives aren't necessarily mutually exclusive. Leaders need to find a middle way that draws on innovation as well as efficiency.

October 2004: A Challenge of Olympic Proportions
As companies such as Kodak show, innovation isn't the only requirement for success. Leaders need to execute on their ideas, as well.

September 2004: Strategy, Execution, and Innovation
Innovators know that the importance of strategy decreases as uncertainty increases. The solution? Strategize. Then, strategize again.

August 2004: What's So Good About Business?
Instead of being defensive when people challenge business activities, benefits, and ethics, leaders should be more vocal about what they do right—and how they help society.

July 2004: Shooting for the Moon
Aspirations—like leadership skills—aren't always enough. Leaders must do more than motivate; they must manage.

June 2004: Planning Not to Learn
Time spent planning is not always time spent not doing. Those who plan—learn.

May 2004: By the Numbers: You Can't Quantify Learning
Paying close attention to the bottom line and objective measures of performance doesn't always work. So how do you evaluate innovators and experimental businesses?

April 2004: The Monster in the Closet: Reliable Unpredictability
Companies must balance efficiency and entrepreneurship, and embrace reliable unpredictability.

"Reverse Innovation Case Study: GE Healthcare in the Heart of India," The European Business Review, Sept/Oct 2012

"Reverse innovation: a global growth strategy that could pre-empt disruption at home," Strategy and Business, 2012

"Reverse Innovation and the Emerging-Markets Growth Imperative," Ivey Business Journal, March/April 2012.

"Not All Innovations Are Equal," HBS Working Knowledge, December 2005.

"Achieving Breakthrough Growth," Ivey Business Journal, January/February 2006.

"Strategic Innovators," Managing Innovative Thinking + Design, December 2005.

"Smoothing the way from idea to execution," Financial Times, January 2006.

"How Forgetting Leads to Innovation," Chief Executive Magazine, March 2006.

"Achieving Breakthrough Growth," The Sterling Report, April 2006.

"The CIO As Innovation-Process Champion," Optimize Magazine, November 2005.

"Out With the Old, in With the New," Vox Newspaper.

"Myths of Innovation," Dartmouth Alumni Magazine.

"Forget, borrow, learn," 2005 Executive Excellence Publishing Leadership Excellence

“Anatomy of an Innovation Machine,” article for The Leadership Frontier, 2002, with Vijay Govindarajan.

“Measurement and Control of Business Processes,” System Dynamics Review, Spring 2001, p. 63-91.

“The Foundation for Strategic Innovation is Knowledge: A Five-Part Agenda for Improving Knowledge Flow in the Global Corporation,” L’Expansion Management Review, December, 2001.

“Managing During Times of Turbulence,” executive editor and writer of "Executive Briefing" following the BusinessWeek CEO Forum in Beijing, October, 2002.

“Creating Our Global Future,” executive editor and contributing writer of "Executive Briefing" following the BusinessWeek CEO Forum in Hong Kong, October 2001.

Business is Sent Back Into the Classroom
Learning from experiments is an essential part of innovation, and yet it required a mindset inherently at odds with the traditional approach to business planning. How should managers reconcile these conflicting objectives?

July, 2007: Breakthrough - Achieve major innovations. (subscription required)
Do you go for efficiency or entrepreneurship?

Fall 2002: Not All Profits Are Equal
Is the pursuit of profit good, or is it evil? Professor Trimble introduces new terminology for diagnosing when the pursuit of profit and the pursuit of a social contribution are in conflict, and when they are actually one and the same.

April 2002: A Decade of Direct Investment
This is not a time for retrenchment, it is a period of significant need for overseas investment. Global corporations can be the most productive mechanism for investing in the developing world.

February 2002: Speeding Violations
The dotcom collapse is not the fault of venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, stock analysts, or any particular group. It resulted from the imperfect functioning of the economy as a system.

January 2002: The Invisible March
Why isn't there any activism to support the positive aspects of globalization? Can CEOs lead in this area?

November 2001: Serving the Needs of the Poor-For Profit
By focusing on the creation of economic growth, CEOs can ease the poverty and inequality that contribute to world conflict.

October 2001: Size Still Matters
Corporations are sticking to their competencies and outsourcing the rest. But is bigger really better? Three reasons to expect a renewal of vertical integration.

August 2001: Worse Before Better
Can corporations be more open with the investment community when launching risky new ventures?

May 2001: Better Technology, Same Old Humans
Computer networks speed up information flows. But they don't predict the future. That's still up to managers.

March 2001: The Imminent About-Face in e-Business Priorities
With so much hype about the promise of the internet to deliver transformational new business models, have we overlooked the importance of using the internet to make today's businesses work better?

October 2005: Fight or Acquire
In fast moving industries, it can be devillishly difficult to stay ahead of the curve. When confronted with a brash startup wielding a revolutionary technology, incumbents can fight...or they can simply reach into their deep pockets and acquire.

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