Roche, Maria P. →

Why Great Ideas Get Stuck in Universities

Academic institutions incubate novel ideas and are important innovation partners for companies, but getting products out of universities and onto the market can be challenging. A study by Maria Roche and Justine Boudou illustrates how researchers might be getting in their own way.

Chance Encounters: What's at Stake in Return-to-Office Decisions

What's the role of the office in an increasingly virtual world? How can organizations spark collaboration among people who prefer to isolate? Andy Wu and Maria Roche discuss the value of bringing people together—and why that’s still so hard to do.

How Much Does Proximity Influence Startup Innovation? 20 Meters' Worth to Be Exact

When it comes to sharing ideas, how much does close proximity matter? A study by Maria Roche evaluates how knowledge spreads in a coworking space, providing insights that could help shape the debate over remote work.

‘Intrinsic Joy’ Sparks Ideas Better than Cash

Can financial incentives turn innovation into a chore? A study of GitHub's efforts to sponsor software coders by Maria Roche and colleagues explores the interplay between motivation and creativity.

How the United States Air Force Accelerated AI Adoption

In August 2022, the Pentagon tasked U.S. Air Force Captain Victor Lopez with launching a new Air Force innovation unit that leveraged commercial developers and military talent to acquire advanced technologies. Having been granted flexibility in the setup of the office, Lopez pondered the complexities of his assignment and the decisions around organizational design he would have to make. It’s often believed that only small start-up organizations can innovate, but a lot of innovation happens in big organizations, including government. Harvard Business School assistant professor Maria Roche is joined by Major Lopez to discuss the challenges of digital transformation in a large bureaucratic organization and the specific choices the U.S. Air Force needed to make when launching its AI Accelerator in her case, "Accelerating AI Adoption in the United States Air Force."

Recessions Push Some Entrepreneurs to Launch Too Soon

Research by Maria Roche looks at how past economic downturns forced job-insecure, high-tech entrepreneurs to rush their ventures to market. Will COVID-19 do the same? Open for comment; 0 Comments.