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Michael A. Cusumano

Sloan Management Review Distinguished Professor of Management
Professor of Engineering Systems

Michael A. Cusumano is the Sloan Management Review Distinguished Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management. He specializes in strategy, product development, and entrepreneurship in the computer software industry, as well as automobiles and consumer electronics. He teaches courses on Strategic Management, Technological Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and The Software Business.

Professor Cusumano received a B.A. degree from Princeton in 1976 and a Ph.D. from Harvard in 1984. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Production and Operations Management at the Harvard Business School during 1984-86. He is fluent in Japanese and has lived and worked in Japan for seven years. He received two Fulbright Fellowships and a Japan Foundation Fellowship for studying at Tokyo University. He has been a visiting professor in management at Hitotsubashi University and Tokyo University in Japan and the University of St. Gallen in Switzerland, and a visiting professor in computer science at the University of Maryland. He has consulted for more than 50 major companies around the world, including Alcatel, Amadeus, AOL, AT&T, Business Objects, Cisco, Ericsson, Fiat, Ford, Fujitsu, General Electric, Fidelity, Verizon, Hitachi, Huawei, i2 Technologies, IBM, Intel, Lucent, Motorola, NASA, NEC, Nokia, Nortel, NTT Data, Philips, Robert Bosch, Schlumberger, Siemens, Texas Instruments, and Toshiba. He has been a director of NuMega Technologies (sold to Compuware in 1998 for $150 million) and Infinium Software (sold to SSA Global Technologies in 2002 for $105 million), as well as other private and public software companies. He is currently a director of Patni Computer Systems (software outsourcing, based in India, NYSE PTI) and a special advisor to e-Frontier, Japan’s largest producer of 3-D graphics and animation software tools. He has been an advisor to numerous startup companies, including NetNumina Solutions (now part of Keane, Inc.), firstRain (wireless and web services software), H-5 Technologies (digital search technology), and Sigma Technology Group PLC (early stage ventures). He has also served as editor-in-chief and chairman of the MIT Sloan Management Review and writes periodically for Communications of the ACM as well as The Wall Street Journal, Computerworld, The Washington Post, and other publications.

Professor Cusumano has published eight books. The Business of Software: What Every Manager, Programmer, and Entrepreneur Must Know to Thrive and Survive in Good Times and Bad, was named one of the best business books of 2004 by Steve Lohr of the New York Times. Microsoft Secrets (1995, with Richard Selby) is a best-selling study of Microsoft’s strategy, organization, and approach to software development, and has approximately 150,000 copies in print in 14 languages. Platform Leadership: How Intel, Microsoft, and Cisco Drive Industry Innovation (2002, with Annabelle Gawer) examines how industry leaders orchestrate complementary innovations that make their platforms more valuable. Competing on Internet Time: Lessons from Netscape and its Battle with Microsoft (1998, with David Yoffie), was named one of the top 10 business books of 1998 by Business Week and Amazon.com, and played a central role in the Microsoft anti-trust trial. Thinking Beyond Lean: How Multi-Project Management is Transforming Product Development at Toyota and Other Companies (1998, with Kentaro Nobeoka) analyzes product development and platform strategies in the auto industry. He is also co-editor of Strategic Thinking for the Next Economy (2001, with Costas Markides) and author of Japan's Software Factories: A Challenge to U.S. Management (1991) and The Japanese Automobile Industry: Technology and Management at Nissan and Toyota (1985).


Books Published:

Books Published by Michael A. Cusumano

Staying Power: Six Enduring Principles of Managing Innovation in an Uncertain World by Michael Cusumano named one of the best business books of 2011 by strategy+business magazine: “MIT Sloan professor and alumnus earn places on year-end best books list” – MIT News – December 6, 2011

Cusumano’s book Staying Power reviewed: “The Enduring Principles of High-Tech Success” Strategy+Business – August 23, 2011

Michael Cusumano mentioned as co-author of book on "browser wars" The New York Times, Bits blog – July 30, 2009

Related News:

Michael Cusumano quoted in article about Google: “Analysis: Wall Street puzzles over Google's new direction” – Reuters Technology News – January 25, 2012

Michael Cusumano quoted in piece about the Apple iPhone 5 and personal assistant app Siri: “Siri and Apple’s Future” The New York Times, Bits blo – October 5, 2011

Michael Cusumano quoted in article about implications of Steve Jobs’ resignation: “Insight: Jobs exit opens door for nimble Apple rivals” Reuters – Friday, August 26, 2011

“Recall Woes Show New Challenges for ‘Toyota Way’“ The New York Times – February 14, 2010

Michael Cusumano quoted in article on Google's move against China (Wall Street Journal Digits blog - January 14, 2010)

Michael Cusumano quoted in an article on the launch of Windows 7 (The Economist - October 14, 2009)

Silicon.com names Michael Cusumano one of the top 50 Agenda Setters in Information Technology

Michael Cusumano comments on U.S. automakers “Automakers Wait For President Bush to Jump In” National Public Radio, "Morning Edition" – December 19, 2008

Michael Cusumano and the failure of U.S. automakers MIT News – November 21, 2008

Michael Cusumano on Microsoft and innovation, InformationWeek – October 24, 2008

Michael Cusumano and economics of the IT industry “Highs and lows” The Economist – October 23, 2008

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Michael A. Cusumano

Contact info:

Michael A. Cusumano
MIT Sloan School of Management
100 Main Street
Room E62-438
Cambridge, MA 02142

Phone: 617.253.2574
Fax: 617.253.2660
Email:cusumano "at" mit.edu

Click here to view
Professor Cusumano's
MIT Sloan web page

 

         
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