Hart Posen

Credentials: Ph.D.

Position title: Associate Professor, Management & Human Resources
Wisconsin School of Business

About Hart Posen
Faculty Page at Wisconsin School of Business
Hart Posen

Dr. Posen is an expert on firm corporate strategy and strategic decision-making under uncertainty, focusing on innovation and entrepreneurship. His research and teaching is informed by a prior engagement as an entrepreneur in the technology and retail sectors. He is frequently invited to lecture on innovation strategy, strategy for competing under uncertainty, and global strategy, to audiences in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Dr. Posen holds a PhD in Strategy from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is currently an Associate Professor of Management at the University of Wisconsin. He was previously on faculty at the University of Michigan, and has held affiliate appointments at Seoul National University (S. Korea), the Technion (Israel), and the University of Zurich (Switzerland).

In studying strategy, Dr. Posen’s research focuses on the learning processes through which firms innovate, build capabilities, and sustain competitive advantage when there is uncertainty (e.g. technological change). His work recognizes that, in many industries, innovation is a principal vehicle of competition, and firms must survive under conditions of continuing change. In particular, he focuses on how firms can: (a) generate valuable knowledge that leads to innovative products, processes, and intellectual property, (b) leverage knowledge to drive competitive advantage, and (c) protect knowledge from rival imitation. He terms this set of activities the “knowledge generation-erosion cycle.” Employing computational and empirical methods, Dr. Posen builds on theories of organizational learning to study technological change, innovation, R&D, knowledge diffusion, competition by entrants, and the enduring possibility that the innovator does not survive. He currently focuses on knowledge spillovers to rivals resulting from imitation and the consequences of different imitation strategies for firm performance.

Dr. Posen’s research is regularly published in leading strategy journals. In addition, he holds influential editorial positions, as Associate Editor at Management Science (2014-17), and on the Editorial Boards of: Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, and the Strategic Management Journal. He is ranked as among the “Top 10% of Authors” based on downloads of his articles on SSRN. His commentary on economic issues has appeared in a variety of media outlets including the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Times, NPR National News, Marketplace, and the BBC.