Michael J . Lenox

University of Virginia, Darden School of Business, Faculty Member

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Professor Lenox, the Tayloe Murphy Professorship in Business Administration, teaches the core MBA strategy course as well as an MBA elective on Strategy in the Digital Age. Since 2016, he has served as the Senior Associate Dean and Chief Strategy Officer for the school. From 2008 to 2016, he served as Associate Dean of Innovation Programs and Academic Director of Darden's Batten Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He helped found and served as the inaugural president of the multiple-university Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability. Prior to joining Darden in 2008, Professor Lenox was a professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, where he served as the area coordinator for Fuqua's Strategy Area and the faculty director and founder of Duke's Corporate Sustainability Initiative. He received his Ph.D. in Technology Management and Policy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1999 and the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Science in Systems Engineering from the University of Virginia. Professor Lenox has served as an assistant professor at New York University's Stern School of Business and as a visiting professor at Stanford University, Harvard University, Oxford University and IMD.

Professor Lenox's research has appeared in over thirty refereed academic publications and has been cited in a number of media outlets including The New York Times, the Financial Times and The Economist. In 2009, he was recognized as a Faculty Pioneer by the Aspen Institute and as the top strategy professor under 40 by the Strategic Management Society. In 2011, he was named one of the top 40 business professors under 40 by Poets & Quants. Professor Lenox's primary expertise is in the domain of technology strategy and policy. He is broadly interested in the role of innovation and entrepreneurship for economic growth and firm competitive success. In particular, he explores the business strategy and public policy drivers of the direction of innovative activity. Professor Lenox also has a long-standing interest in the interface between business strategy and public policy as it relates to the natural environment. Recent work includes the books "Can Business Save the Earth" (2018) and "The Decarbonization Imperative" (2021) both from Stanford University Press.

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Noel B. Salazar

KU Leuven

C. Michael Hall

University of Canterbury/Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha

David Seamon

Kansas State University

Simon Springer

The University of Newcastle

Rigas Arvanitis

Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (IRD - France)

Mai T T Thai

HEC Montréal (Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales)

Ana Carvalho

Universidade de Évora

Nicola Lupo

LUISS Guido Carli

Viacheslav Kuleshov

Stockholm University

Assoc. Prof (Mrs) Hauwa L . Abubakar

Nile University of Nigeria

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Papers by Michael J . Lenox

The Decarbonization Imperative

Stanford University Press eBooks, Oct 19, 2021

Cryptocurrency and the Washington Nationals: Once Bitten, Twice Shy?

Social Science Research Network, 2023

Internationalization Analysis

Social Science Research Network, 2022

Driving Waymo's Fully Autonomous Future

Social Science Research Network, 2022

Industry Evolution (Ir)regularities: Do We Need a More General/Unified Theory?

Proceedings - Academy of Management, 2013

In this panel symposium, we aim to stimulate a rich discussion on theories of industry evolution.... more

Sustainable Innovation: the Evolutionary Journey

Proceedings - Academy of Management, 2015

The concept of sustainability is an evolving one driven by many factors. While business organizat... more

When Do Incumbents Learn from Entrepreneurial Ventures? Corporate Venture Capital and Incumbent Firm Innovation Rates

Social Science Research Network, 2005

In this paper, we focus on the potential innovative benefits to corporate venture capital (CVC), ... more In this paper, we focus on the potential innovative benefits to corporate venture capital (CVC), i.e. equity investments in entrepreneurial ventures by incumbent firms. We propose that corporate venture capital programs may be instrumental in harvesting innovations from entrepreneurial ventures and thus an important part of a firm's overall innovation strategy. We hypothesize that these programs are especially effective in weak intellectual property (IP) regimes and when the firm has sufficient absorptive capacity. We analyze a large panel of public firms over a 20-year period and find that increases in corporate venture capital investments are associated with subsequent increases in firm patenting.

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Firm Responses to Secondary Stakeholder Action

Proceedings - Academy of Management, Aug 1, 2005

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Constructing Green Building: Sustainability Transition through an Entrepreneurial Lens

Proceedings - Academy of Management, Aug 1, 2018

Entrepreneurship offers a unique approach to creating environmentally beneficial practices of org... more

Introduction to Strategy

Social Science Research Network, 2017

Fluidigm's Survival Battle: Turnaround in the Midst of a Genomics Revolution

Social Science Research Network, 2020

This field-based case uses the challenges facing Fluidigm Corporation, a publicly traded biotechn... more This field-based case uses the challenges facing Fluidigm Corporation, a publicly traded biotechnology company, to explore and analyze innovation-driven growth. Facing a number of headwinds product backorders, strong competition, declining product demand, missed earnings, and an 87% stock collapse over 10 months new CEO Chris Linthwaite needs to devise and share his turnaround strategy with the board of directors. He could recommend launching a new product, reallocating and reprioritizing R&amp;D spend, cutting administrative costs, acquiring a new company or technology, or restructuring the company's capital structure. Which choice will lead to the quickest path back to profitability while driving long-term value creation for its various stakeholders? The case provides an opportunity to explore the tensions between short-run viability and long-run R&amp;D and innovation. Excerpt UVA-S-0339 Rev. Jan. 26, 2021 Fluidigm's Survival Battle: Turnaround in the Midst of a Genomics Revolution Introduction When new CEO Chris Linthwaite sat down at his desk at Fluidigm Corporation (Fluidigm) for the first time in August 2016, he could almost feel the walls burning around him. Fluidigm, a biotechnology company based in south San Francisco, had started out as a promising genomics start-up in 1999 but had experienced rough times in recent years. Following a year of missed earnings in 2015, strong currency headwinds, product backorders, strong competition, and a lag in product demand, the market had finally borne all it could bear, and Fluidigm's stock had collapsed 87% in 10 months, from a high of 43.97 in April 2015 to a low of 5.83 in February 2016 (Exhibit1). Fluidigm was burning through cash and had posted yet another quarter of losses (Exhibits2 and 3). In addition to the street doubting Fluidigm's capabilities, employee morale had plummeted and the company had mounting cash flow issues. In mid-October 2016, more disappointing Q3 results were just about to become public. Fluidigm had missed its earnings again, and Linthwaite was preparing his turnaround strategy to present to his board of directors tomorrow. Recognizing that he had multiple stakeholders to please and many levers he could pull to right the ship, he wondered where he should start. . . .

The diffusion of design for environment: a survey of current practice

This paper presents the results of a broad survey of design for environment practice among US man... more This paper presents the results of a broad survey of design for environment practice among US manufacturing firms. Data were gathered pertaining to both the corporate and business levels. The purpose of this study is to understand both the extent of adoption of DFE across industries as well as the patterns of adoption within individual firms

Organizing for effective environmental design

Business Strategy and The Environment, Sep 1, 1997

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Sustainable development and entrepreneurship: Past contributions and future directions

Journal of Business Venturing, Sep 1, 2010

This article discusses the emerging research concerned with sustainable development and entrepren... more This article discusses the emerging research concerned with sustainable development and entrepreneurship, which is the focus of this special issue of the Journal of Business Venturing. Entrepreneurship has been recognized as a major conduit for sustainable products and processes, and new ventures are being held up as a panacea for many social and environmental concerns. However, there remains considerable uncertainty

Organizational Design and the Acquisition of Rent-Producing Resources

RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, Jun 1, 1998

Within the resource-based view of the firm, a dynamic story has emerged in which the knowledge ac... more Within the resource-based view of the firm, a dynamic story has emerged in which the knowledge accumulated over the history of a firm and embedded in organizational routines and structures influences the firmOs ability to recognize the value of new resources and capabilities. This paper explores the possibility of firms to select organizational designs that increase the likelihood that they will recognize and value rent-producing resources and capabilities. A computational model is developed to study the tension between an organizationOs desire to explore its environment for new capabilities and the organizationOs need to exploit existing capabilities.

Organizational Design, Information Transfer, and the Acquisition of Rent-Producing Resources

Social Science Research Network, 2002

... Page 5. THE ACQUISITION OF RENT-PRODUCING RESOURCES 117 prices and produce at lower cost. ...... more

Can Business Save the Earth?: Innovating Our Way to Sustainability

When Does Corporate Venture Capital Create Firm Value

Social Science Research Network, 2006

Over the past decade, billions of dollars have been invested by established companies in entrepre... more Over the past decade, billions of dollars have been invested by established companies in entrepreneurial ventures - what is often referred to as corporate venture capital. Yet, there is little systematic evidence that corporate venture capital investment creates value to investing firms. Scholars have suggested that established firms face underlying challenges when investing corporate venture capital. Namely, structural deficiencies inherent in corporate venture capital may inhibit financial gains. However, firm value may still be created as a result of other benefits from investing - primarily providing a window onto novel technology. In this paper, we propose that corporate venture capital investment will create greater firm value when firms explicitly pursue corporate venture capital to harness novel technology. Using a panel of CVC investments, we present evidence consistent with our proposition. The findings are robust to various specifications and remain unchanged even after controlling for unobserved heterogeneity in investing firms. Our results have important implications for corporate venture capital in particular, and technology strategy in general.

Corporate Venture Capital and Incumbent Firm Innovation Rates

Abstract In this paper, we focus on the potential strategic benefits to corporate venture capital... more Abstract In this paper, we focus on the potential strategic benefits to corporate venture capital, i.e. equity investments in entrepreneurial ventures by incumbent firms. In particular, we ask do firms that invest corporate venture capital learn about and appropriate new technologies and practices from those ventures they invest? Our investigation builds on two theoretical pillars. First, that incumbent firms operating in competitive markets are inclined towards introducing innovations. Second, that the knowledge necessary to generate innovation may likely reside outside the boundary of the incumbent firm and in entrepreneurial ventures. Thus, we propose that corporate venture capital programs may be instrumental in harvesting innovations from entrepreneurial ventures and thus an important part of a firm’s overall innovation strategy. To this end, we directly explore the relationship between corporate venture capital and incumbent firm innovation by analyzing a large panel of public firms that pursued venturing activity or patented over a thirty-year period. We find that increases in corporate venture capital investments are associated with subsequent increases in firm quality patenting. The findings of this study have important implications for the functioning of corporate venture capital programs and the ability of firms to innovate in general. Keywords: corporate venture capital, innovation, knowledge, entrepreneurship Short Title: Corporate Ventures & Innovation

When Do Firms Undertake R&D by Investing in New Ventures?

Social Science Research Network, Dec 21, 2009

We explore the conditions under which firms are likely to pursue equity investment in new venture... more We explore the conditions under which firms are likely to pursue equity investment in new ventures as a way to source innovative ideas. We find that firms invest more in new ventures-commonly referred to as 'corporate venture capital'-in industries with weak intellectual property protection and, to some extent, in industries with high technological ferment and where complementary distribution capability is important. Furthermore, we find that the greater a firm's cash flow and absorptive capacity, the more likely it is to invest. Our results suggest that in Schumpeterian environments incumbents may supplement their innovative efforts by tapping into the knowledge generated by new ventures.