Gary Pisano is the Harry E. Figgie, Jr. Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School, where he also serves as a senior associate dean for faculty development. He joined the Harvard faculty in 1988.
Over the course of his career, Gary has explored fundamental questions about how organizations innovate, learn, compete, and grow. His research and consulting have spanned a broad range of industries including aerospace, apparel, automobiles, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, entertainment, financial services, semiconductors, software, specialty chemicals, and web services.
Gary has published over 100 scholarly articles and case studies on such topics as technology and operations strategy, competitive strategy, intellectual property, the management of innovation, organizational learning, commercializing science, business model design and innovation, global competitiveness, and corporate growth. His co-authored article “Dynamic Capabilities and Strategic Management” (Strategic Management Journal, 1997) is one of the most highly cited papers in the field of management over the past two decades and was instrumental in launching a new capability-based framework for strategy. Gary has written six books, including his latest, Creative Construction: The DNA of Sustained Innovation. Throughout his career, Gary’s work has won numerous awards including the Strategic Management Society’s Best Paper (2003) and Strategy + Business best books, twice (2006, 2019). He is a two-time winner of the McKinsey Award (2009, 2019) for the best article published in Harvard Business Review, and the inaugural winner of the Clayton M. Christensen Prize (2020) for his work on innovative cultures. In 2020, he received the Greenhill Distinguished Services Award from the Harvard Business School.
At Harvard, Gary has taught MBA, executive, and doctoral courses and has mentored a number of doctoral students. He has developed a new MBA course on corporate growth strategies. He is also the co-creator and co-chair of two executive programs, Driving Profitable Growth and Strategic Agility for Turbulent Times.
In addition to his academic research and teaching, Gary serves as an advisor to senior leaders at major companies around the world and has been a director of both public and private company boards. He currently serves on the board of directors of Axcella Health.