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Spencer Harrison

Professor of Organisational Behaviour

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Additional Information
Research Areas
  • Creativity
  • Collaboration
  • Culture
  • Personal Connections with Work
Teaching Areas
  • Developing Creativity and Innovation
  • Managing Culture and Organisational Growth
  • Psychological Issues in Management

Biography

Spencer Harrison is a Professor of Organisational Behaviour at INSEAD.

His area of expertise focuses on three areas: 1) Creating: how do managers and leaders help people be creative together together? Professor Harrison is currently studying Grammy winning bands, modern dancers, and t-shirt designers to see how this happens. 2) Coordinating: how do groups and teams work together in patterns that lead to optimal outcomes? He examines how individuals can survive a plane crash, people that are amazingly passionate about their work (rock climbers and architects), and how networks of really smart people that fly rockets figure out how humans might live on Mars. 3) Connecting: how do people connect with the organisations they work for? He is working with Fortune 100 firms to dial in not only how new employees can better adjust to their work, but also how these companies can actually learn from their new employees.

Professor Harrison's research has been recognised by the academic community through awards including the INFORMS Dissertation Award Finalist, the Academy of Management Journal Best Paper of the Year Award Finalist, the Journal of Management Best Paper Award, and the Organizational Behavior Division Best Symposium Award. His research findings have been published in top management journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, Journal of Applied Psychology, and the Journal of Management.

Professor Harrison is the Division Chair for the Managerial and Organizational Cognition of the Academy of Management. He is a co-founder of the Creativity Collaboratorium, a working group of the world's top-cited creativity scholars. He serves on the editorial boards of the Academy of Management Journal and the Academy of Management Discoveries.

Professor Harrison has conducted research projects with Google, NASA and Black Diamond.

Case Studies