Margaret Thatcher Professor of Enterprise Studies in Innovation & Growth
Vice-Dean for Faculty
Co-Director of the Entrepreneurship Centre
Diploma (National Technical University of Athens), MSc, PhD (INSEAD)
Research interests
Strategy operationalisation, deployment, and execution through innovative business models and innovation processes/projects. Studying both larger corporates as well as small and medium size companies and startup ventures. More specifically (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.
Subject group: Operations & Technology Management
Professional experience
Professor Kavadias serves as an Associate Editor for Management Science (Entrepreneurship and Innovation department), for Manufacturing and Service Operations Management, and for Service Science. 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.
Awards & 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
Selected publications
Here are a selection of Stelios Kavadias’s publications. Please see the “Selected publications” tab above for a more comprehensive list.
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
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)
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)
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
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)
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)
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)
Loch, C., Kavadias, S. and Yang, B.C. (2021) “Making strategy execution work.” Management and Business Review, 1(1): 25-40
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)
Markou, P., Kavadias, S. and Oraiopoulos, N. (2023) “Rival signals and project selection: insights from the drug development process.” Management Science (forthcoming)
Book chapters
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)
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)
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 (forthcoming)
