Margaret Thatcher Professor of Enterprise Studies in Innovation & Growth
Co-Director of the Entrepreneurship Centre
Diploma (National Technical University of Athens), MSc, PhD (INSEAD)
My research interests include strategy operationalisation, deployment, and execution through innovative business models and processes. I study larger corporates as well as smaller companies and startups, utilising different methodologies ranging from qualitative case research to lab experiments, econometric analysis, and mathematical economic modelling.
I’m a member of the Operations and Technology Management subject group at Cambridge Judge Business School, which focuses on practice-based research through partner organisations to address a wide spectrum of management challenges.
My details
Contact details
Academic area
Research interests
More specific research interests (in no preference order):
- cascading and translation of strategy to functional strategies, objectives and goals
- strategy implementation through the the definition of the “right” portfolio of new projects and products
- transformative and innovative business models
- effective ideation, search (pivoting) and experimentation processes for innovation and growth
- effective organisational design and the associated incentive schemes for innovation outcomes
Engaging different methodologies ranging from qualitative case research to lab experiments, econometric analysis and mathematical economic modelling to understand the above management challenges and derive managerially relevant insights.
Professional experience
Professor Kavadias currently serves as the Department Editor for Management Science’s Entrepreneurship & Innovation Department (previously he held an Associate Editor position for the same department), and as an Associate Editor for Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, and for Production and Operations Management. Previously he served as the department Editor for the R&D, New Product Development and Project Management department of Production and Operations Management.
Since he joined Cambridge Judge Business School he has founded its Entrepreneurship Centre, where he still serves as its Academic Co-Director alongside Professor Matthew Grimes.
At Cambridge Judge Business School Executive Education Professor Kavadias directs its Advanced Leadership Programme alongside directing and contributing to several other programmes (indicative clients: HSBC, Barclays, the Prime Minister’s Office of the UAE, The TTP Group, etc). During 2019 he served as a visiting researcher at AstraZeneca’s Global Portfolio and Project Management (GPPM) unit. He has authored several case studies through close collaboration with major firms across multiple industries. He also serves as a non-executive director in new ventures, and he delivers keynotes in industry and company specific events.
Previous appointments
Professor Kavadias was the Steven A. Denning Professor of Technology & Management, as well as an Associate Professor of Operations Management, at the College of Management at Georgia Tech. He has also been a Batten Fellow at the Batten Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Darden School of Business. At Georgia Tech he directed the Denning T&M Programme as well as the GE Energy PLMP programme.
Publications
Selected publications
- Si, H., Kavadias, S. and Loch, C. (2022) “Managing innovation portfolios: from project selection to portfolio design.” Production and Operations Management, 31(12): 4572-4588 (DOI: 10.1111/poms.13860)
- Ladas, K., Kavadias, S. and Loch, C. (2022) “Product selling versus pay-per-use service: a strategic analysis of competing business models.” Management Science, 68(7): 4755-5555 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2021.4125)
- Kavadias, S. and Hutchison-Krupat, J. (2021) “A framework for managing innovation.” In: Druehl, C. and Elmaghraby, W. (eds.) Pushing the boundaries: frontiers in impactful OR/OM research (INFORMS TutORials in Operations Research). Catonsville, MD: INFORMS, pp.202–228 (DOI: 10.1287/educ.2020.0219)
- Oraiopoulos, N. and Kavadias, S. (2020) “Is diversity (un)biased? Project selection decisions in executive committees.” Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 22(5): 869-1106 (DOI: 10.1287/msom.2019.0782)
- Sommer, S.C., Bendoly, E. and Kavadias, S. (2020) “How do you search for the best alternative? Experimental evidence on search strategies to solve complex problems.” Management Science, 66(3): 1395-1420 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2018.3247)
- Bellos, I. and Kavadias, S. (2019) “When should customers control service delivery? Implications for service design.” Production and Operations Management, 28(4): 890-907 (DOI: 10.1111/poms.12956)
View Stelios Kavadias’s profile on the Social Science Research Network
Journal articles
- Feylessoufi, A., Kavadias, S. and Ralph, D. (2024) “Behavioral microfoundations of new practice adoption: the effects of rewards, training and population dynamics.” Management Science (forthcoming)
- Ladas, K., Kavadias, S. and Hutchison-Krupat, J. (2024) “Cultural evolution with uncertain provision of learning resources.” Evolutionary Human Sciences (DOI: 10.1017/ehs.2023.24) (published online Oct 2023)
- Markou, P., Kavadias, S. and Oraiopoulos, N. (2023) “Rival signals and project selection: insights from the drug development process.” Management Science, 69(9): 5298-5315 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2022.4642)
- Si, H., Loch, C. and Kavadias, S. (2023) “A new approach to strategic innovation.” Harvard Business Review, Sep-Oct
- Ladas, K., Kavadias, S. and Loch, C. (2022) “Product selling versus pay-per-use service: a strategic analysis of competing business models.” Management Science, 68(7): 4755-5555 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2021.4125)
- Si, H., Kavadias, S. and Loch, C. (2022) “Managing innovation portfolios: from project selection to portfolio design.” Production and Operations Management, 31(12): 4572-4588 (DOI: 10.1111/poms.13860)
- Loch, C., Kavadias, S. and Yang, B.C. (2021) “Making strategy execution work.” Management and Business Review, 1(1): 25-40
- Kavadias, S. and Ulrich, K.T. (2020) “Innovation and new product development: reflections and insights from the research published in the first 20 years of Manufacturing and Service Operations Management.” Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 22(1): 84-92 (DOI: 10.1287/msom.2019.0816)
- Laurence, R. and Kavadias, S. (2020) “The shifting nexus of retail banking.” Strategy and Business, 12 August 2020
- Oraiopoulos, N. and Kavadias, S. (2020) “Is diversity (un)biased? Project selection decisions in executive committees.” Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 22(5): 869-1106 (DOI: 10.1287/msom.2019.0782)
- Sommer, S.C., Bendoly, E. and Kavadias, S. (2020) “How do you search for the best alternative? Experimental evidence on search strategies to solve complex problems.” Management Science, 66(3): 1395-1420 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2018.3247)
- Bellos, I. and Kavadias, S. (2019) “When should customers control service delivery? Implications for service design.” Production and Operations Management, 28(4): 890-907 (DOI: 10.1111/poms.12956)
- Herrmann, M., Boehme, P., Mondritzki, T., Ehlers, J.P., Kavadias, S. and Truebel, H. (2018) “Digital transformation of the health care sector: internet-based observational study.” Journal of Medical Internet Research, 20(3): e104 (DOI: 10.2196/jmir.9498)
- Agrawal, V.V., Kavadias, S. and Toktay, L.B. (2016) “The limits of planned obsolescence for conspicuous durable goods.” Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, 18(2): 216-226 (DOI: 10.1287/msom.2015.0554)
- Kavadias, S., Ladas, K. and Loch, C. (2016) “The transformative business model: how to tell if you have one.” Harvard Business Review, 94(10): 91-98
- Hutchison-Krupat, J. and Kavadias, S. (2015) “Strategic resource allocation processes: top-down, bottom-up, and the value of strategic buckets.” Management Science, 61(2): 391-412 (DOI: 10.1287/mnsc.2013.1861)
- Oraiopoulos, N. and Kavadias, S. (2014) “The path dependent nature of R&D search: implications for (and from) competition.” Production and Operations Management, 23(8): 1450-1461 (DOI: 10.1111/poms.12198)
Book chapters
- Loch, C., Kavadias, S. and Sommer, S. (2023) “A cultural evolution theory of balancing innovative and routine projects.” In: Davies, A., Lenfle, S., Loch, C. and Midler, C. (eds.) Handbook of project and innovation management. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar
- Kavadias, S. and Hutchison-Krupat, J. (2021) “A framework for managing innovation.” In: Druehl, C. and Elmaghraby, W. (eds.) Pushing the boundaries: frontiers in impactful OR/OM research (INFORMS TutORials in Operations Research). Catonsville, MD: INFORMS, pp.202–228 (DOI: 10.1287/educ.2020.0219)
- Kavadias, S. and Ladas, K. (2020) “Rethinking risk management cultures in organisations: insights from innovation.” In: Tuveson, M., Ralph, D. and Alexander, K. (eds.) Beyond bad apples: risk culture in business. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.103-138 (DOI: 10.1017/9781316996959.005)
Awards and honours
- Teaching Award as an Academic Programme Director in Executive Education, Cambridge Judge Business School, 2019, 2022
- Best Published Paper Award, Technology, Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship Society (TIMES), INFORMS, 2020
- Best Working Paper Award Technology, Innovation Management & Entrepreneurship Society (TIMES), INFORMS, 2018
- Meritorious Service Award, Management Science, 2014
- Professor of the Year Award from EMBA Management of Technology, 2012
- Professor of the Year, EMBA Management of Technology, 2012
- Honorable Mention, Advisor for Best Student Paper Competition, Service Science Section, INFORMS, 2011
- Meritorious Service Award, Management Science, 2009
- Brady Family Award in Research Excellence, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009
- 1st Prize for the “Dragonfly” case, ECCH, Best Case Study Award, 2003
- 2nd Prize, George B. Dantzig Award, 2001
News and insights
3 biotech businesses founded by alumni of Cambridge Judge Entrepreneurship Centre programmes have been awarded the top three spots at the prestigious Trinity Bradfield Prize competition run by the Bradfield Centre and Trinity College, University of Cambridge.
Faculty news
Adopting AI: tips for managers implementing change
Firms are wrestling with how to convince staff to use artificial intelligence (AI) and other new technologies. A study led at Cambridge Judge, focusing on social comparisons among employees, cautions against a false dichotomy between full and no adoption.
Articles on helping employees in distress and meeting strategic goals through innovation appear in the September-October issue of the HBR magazine.
Media coverage
Financial Times | 27 June 2022
Business leaders feel pressure to keep their skills up to date
Stelios Kavadias, Margaret Thatcher Professor of Enterprise Studies in Innovation & Growth, Vice-Dean for Faculty and Co-Director of the Entrepreneurship Centre at Cambridge Judge Business School, comments on executives going back to the classroom, as they try to keep up with new technologies and geopolitical shifts. “They reflect on the context so they can implement reform within their own organisation rather than trying to take ideas from elsewhere, which often doesn’t work and develops cynicism.”, Stelios says.
Forbes India | 21 December 2020
How drug companies can increase their R&D effectiveness
A study co-authored by Professor Stylianos Kavadias and Dr Nektarios Oraiopoulos at University of Cambridge Judge Business School, is featured in the Forbes article. The study demonstrates “how pharmaceutical executives can impact the success of their research and development” programs by carefully assessing and acting on information signals from their competitors.
TMC.net | 14 September 2020
Helpful techniques for getting company-wide buy-in with new technology
A study on six patterns of innovation co-authored by Stelios Kavadias, Margaret Thatcher Professor of Enterprise Studies in Innovation & Growth at Cambridge Judge Business School, is featured in the article. According to the study “a technology that fulfils one or more of these “degrees” is considered innovative and worth investing in.
Strategy & Business, 12 August 2020
The shifting nexus of retail banking
East Anglia in Business, 17 January 2019
Why getting your hands dirty is imperative for growth
Friday out of the Box, 14 November 2018
Directors: this is how you select the best innovative ideas
Belfast Telegraph, 9 November 2018
Prince Andrew hails the success of his Pitch@Palace entrepreneurs
Cambridge News, 1 May 2018
These nine leading Cambridge businessmen are here to help you