[WEBINAR] How Do You Encourage Innovation?
Wednesday, Oct 14 2015 at 12:00 - 1:00 pm EDT
Companies need to innovate to be successful, but individual employees often find it easier, and professionally safer, to stick to the status quo. For instance, performance bonuses seem like a good incentive but can actually discourage risk-taking. How can firms encourage employees to innovate? Professor Florian Ederer, an expert in designing compensation and evaluation programs, talks with leaders from several industries about what works and what doesn't.
Moderator: Florian Ederer, Assistant Professor of Economics Professor Ederer's research is in the areas of organizational economics, innovation, social learning and experimental economics. Some of his recent research focuses on how investors learn from and are influenced by the decisions of their peers. He has written a series of papers on how firms design compensation and performance evaluation schemes to motivate workers to innovate, on the design of incentive systems that prevent gaming and on the optimal use of feedback mechanisms in organizations. Methodologically, he draws on a broad set of tools to most effectively address this set of research questions often combining theoretical models with experimental evidence from the lab and the field. Prior to joining the Yale School of Management Professor Ederer was a faculty member of the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He received his PhD in economics at MIT in 2009 and his MPhil in economics at Oxford in 2004.
Panelists: Ashley Goldsmith, Chief Human Resources Officer, Workday, Inc. Ashley Goldsmith joined Workday in 2013 as Vice President of Human Resources. She previously was at Polycom, where she started in 2010 as Senior Vice President and was promoted to Chief Human Resource Officer and Executive Vice President in February 2011. Ms. Goldsmith went to Polycom from F. Hoffmann-La Roche, where she was Senior Vice President of Human Resources, Corporate Communications, and Environmental Health and Safety for Roche's Tissue Diagnostics Division. Previous roles include Chief Human Resources Officer at Ventana Medical Systems, and consecutive positions of escalating prominence at Home Depot. Her last position at Home Depot was Vice President of Human Resources for the Northern Division, which included nearly 700 stores in 20 U.S. states, representing more than 100,000 employees and approximately $30 billion in revenue. Ms. Goldsmith holds an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University, a Master's degree in Human Resource Development from Georgia State University, and a degree in Psychology from Vanderbilt University.
Robert Mulroy '91, President & CEO, Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Mr. Mulroy serves as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the Board of Directors of Merrimack Pharmaceuticals. From its founding, he has led Merrimack to become a fully integrated oncology company. The company is founded on the science of systems engineering to discover and develop novel targeted therapies integrated with precision diagnostics to address complexity of cancer. Prior to Merrimack, Mr. Mulroy worked as a management consultant in the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. Mr. Mulroy holds a master's degree in public and private management from Yale and completed his undergraduate studies at Stanford.
Phil Ventimiglia '96, Chief Innovation Officer, Georgia State University As Georgia State University's first Chief Innovation Officer, Phil Ventimiglia is helping shape Georgia State University's exploration of new ideas for teaching and learning. Phil has nearly two decades of experience in new technology development and strategy, working internationally and across industries, to foster the growth of new technologies, encourage entrepreneurship and help grow educational opportunity. Phil currently serves as a mentor in Georgia Institute of Technology's Flashpoint startup incubation program. Before joining Georgia State University, Phil was Vice President for Innovation and New Product Development at NCR Corporation, where he lead a global team that acted as an innovation catalyst and development accelerator. Phil also held the position of Vice President & General Manager for the NCR Hyderabad Development Center in India. In Hyderabad, Phil was responsible for leading the creation of an independent, emerging-market development center with end-to-end, in-market product development capabilities, including engineering and product management. Also, while in Hyderabad, Phil helped facilitate the introduction of a new international school in order to improve educational options in the area. Prior to NCR, Phil worked at Dell for over 10 years, helping to build and lead Dell's entry into new lines of business, including Inspiron notebooks, Dell Printers, Dell Flat Panel Monitors, Dell TVs and Dell Projectors. In addition, he spent over three years in Singapore, helping to lead and build Dell's Singapore Design Center. Phil began his career as a product marketing manager with the IBM Consumer Division and held various engineering positions at Lockheed Sanders. He holds a Master's of Public and Private Management from the Yale School of Management and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Connecticut.