Roberto Verganti

Core Faculty | Full Professor

Short Profile outline

Roberto Verganti is Professor of Leadership and Innovation at the School of Management of Politecnico di Milano, where he is a founder of Leadin’Lab, the laboratory on LEAdership, Design and INnovation. Roberto Verganti is Professor at the Stockholm School of Economics – House of Innovation, where he is Director of The Garden – Center for Design and Leadership. He also visiting lecturer at the Harvard Business School, where he teaches Design Theory and Practice. Roberto is an Ambassador of the European Innovation Council, at the European Commission. At Politecnico di Milano he has been the founder and first director of the School of Doctoral Programs and of the Alta Scuola Politecnica ...

Education

Master of Science: Electronics Engineering, Politecnico di Milano.

Email: roberto.verganti@polimi.it

Office phone: 02.2399.2770

webpage: www.verganti.com

Roberto Verganti

Roberto Verganti

Academic courses held at SOM Research Relevant Publications Grants, Awards and Honours Service to the Community

Academic course held at SOM

Leadership & innovation

Leadership and innovation (integration)

Leadership and innovation

Design management

Leadership & innovation

Leadership and innovation (integration)

Leadership and innovation

Design management

Leadership & innovation

Leadership and innovation (integration)

Leadership and innovation

Design management

Leadership & innovation

Leadership and innovation (integration)

Leadership and innovation

Leadership & innovation

Leadership and innovation (integration)

Leadership and innovation

Innovation management and economics

Teaching Areas: INNOVATION, DESIGN & PROJECT MANAGEMENT (IDPM)

MBA/EMBA

Executive Education

IPA

MBA

EMBA

Specializing masters

Research

Roberto research focuses on how to create meaningful innovations and organizations in a changing world. His studies lie at the intersection between leadership, design and technology management. He is the author of “Overcrowded”, MIT Press - 2017, and of “Design-Driven Innovation”, Harvard Business Press - 2009, which has been selected by the Academy of Management as one of the best 6 management books published in 2008 and 2009. He has issued more than 150 articles on journals such as the Harvard Business Review, Management Science, Research Policy and is in the Hall of Fame of the Journal of Product Innovation Management, from which he received the 2020 Albert Page Best Paper Award to the article “Innovation and Design in the Age of Artificial Intelligence” and where he acts today as an Associate Editor. He has been featured on The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Financial Times, Forbes, BusinessWeek. Roberto is a regular contributor to the Harvard Business Review online magazine.

Relevant Publications

Magnanini S.| Trabucchi D.| Buganza T.| Verganti R. (2021), "Collaborate as a flock in the organization: how selection and synthesis influence knowledge convergence within a complex adaptive system", Journal of Knowledge Management, 26, 142-165

Magistretti S.| Allo L.| Verganti R.| Dell’Era C.| Reutter F. (2021), "The microfoundations of design sprint: how Johnson & Johnson cultivates innovation in a highly regulated market", Journal of Knowledge Management, 25, 88-104

Ainamo A.| Dell'Era C.| Verganti R. (2021), "Radical circles and visionary innovation: Angry birds and the transformation of video games", Creativity and Innovation Management, 30, 439-454

Trabucchi D.| Buganza T.| Verganti R. (2021), "Quantity or quality? Value creation in two-sided platforms", Technology Analysis and Strategic Management, 33, 162-175

Dell'Era C.| Magistretti S.| Cautela C.| Verganti R.| Zurlo F. (2020), "Four kinds of design thinking: From ideating to making, engaging, and criticizing", Creativity and Innovation Management, 29, 324-344

Verganti R.| Vendraminelli L.| Iansiti M. (2020), "Innovation and Design in the Age of Artificial Intelligence", Journal of Product Innovation Management, 37, 212-227

Dell'Era C.| Di Minin A.| Ferrigno G.| Frattini F.| Landoni P.| Verganti R. (2020), "Value capture in open innovation processes with radical circles: A qualitative analysis of firms’ collaborations with Slow Food, Memphis, and Free Software Foundation", Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 158

Magistretti S.| Dell'Era C.| Verganti R. (2020), "Searching for the right application: A technology development review and research agenda", Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 151

Magistretti S.| Dell’Era C.| Verganti R. (2020), "Look for New Opportunities in Existing Technologies: Leveraging Temporal and Spatial Dimensions to Power Discovery", Research Technology Management, 63, 39-48

Landoni Paolo; Dell'era Claudio; Frattini Federico; Messeni Petruzzelli A.; Verganti Roberto; Manelli L., "Business model innovation in cultural and creative industries: Insights from three leading mobile gaming firms", Technovation

Dell'Era Claudio; Altuna N.; Verganti Roberto., "Designing radical innovations of meanings for society: Envisioning new scenarios for smart mobility", Creativity and Innovation Management, 27, 387-400

Dell'Era Claudio; Magistretti Stefano; Verganti Roberto, "Exploring collaborative practices between SMEs and designers in the Italian furniture industry", Researching Open Innovation In SMEs, 307-345

Dell’Era Claudio; Altuna N.; Landoni Paolo; Verganti Roberto, "Radical circles: The contribution of small groups of individuals challenging the dominant visions and transforming entire industries", International Journal of Technology Intelligence and Planning, 12, 173-208

Shani Abraham B.; Greenbaum B.E.; Verganti Roberto, "Innovation through radical circles: Insights from organizational transformation of a middle school", Organization Development Journal, 36, 75-87

Altuna Naiara;Dell'Era Claudio;Landoni Paolo;Verganti Roberto, "Developing Innovative Visions Through the Collaboration with Radical Circles: Slow Food as a Platform for Envisioning New Meanings", EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, 20, 269-290

Trabucchi Daniel;Pellizzoni Elena;Buganza Tommaso;Verganti Roberto, "Interplay between technology and meaning: How music majors reacted?", CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, 26, 327-338

Verganti Roberto, "Design Thinkers Think Like Managers", SHE JI, 3, 100-102

Bellini Emilio;Dell’Era Claudio;Frattini Federico;Verganti Roberto, "Design-driven innovation in retailing: an empirical examination of new services in car dealership", CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, 26, 91-107

Verganti Roberto, "Overcrowded - Designing Meaningful Products in a World Awash with Ideas", MIT Press

Landoni Paolo;Dell'Era Claudio;Ferraloro Gregorio;Peradotto Mattia;Karlsson Helena;Verganti Roberto, "Design Contribution to the Competitive Performance of SMEs: The Role of Design Innovation Capabilities", CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, 25, 484-499

Verganti Roberto, "The innovative power of criticism", HARVARD BUSINESS REVIEW, 2016, 88-95

Verganti Roberto;Shani Abraham B., "Vision transformation through radical circles: Enhancing innovation capability development", ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMICS, 45, 104-113

Sala Alessandro;Landoni Paolo;Verganti Roberto, "Small and Medium Enterprises Collaborations with Knowledge Intensive Services: An Explorative Analysis of the Impact of Innovation Vouchers", R & D MANAGEMENT, 46, 291-302

Buganza Tommaso;Dell'Era Claudio;Pellizzoni Elena;Trabucchi Daniel;Verganti Roberto, "Unveiling the Potentialities Provided by New Technologies: A Process to Pursue Technology Epiphanies in the Smartphone App Industry", CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, 24, 391-414

Dell'Era Claudio;Landoni Paolo;Verganti Roberto, "From creative individuals to creative capital: Value creation and appropriation strategies of creative knowledge-intensive business services", INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, 19, 1-24

Morillo Marta;Dell'Era Claudio;Verganti Roberto, "Exploring the role of outsider interpreters in the development of design-driven innovations", INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TECHNOLOGY INTELLIGENCE AND PLANNING, 10, 222-253

Callaert Julie;Landoni Paolo;Van Looy Bart;Verganti Roberto, "Scientific yield from collaboration with industry: The relevance of researchers' strategic approaches", RESEARCH POLICY, 44, 990-998

Brode L.;Dell'Era Claudio;Verganti Roberto, "The contributions of interpreters to the development of radical innovations of meanings: the role of “pioneering projects” in the sustainable buildings industry", R & D MANAGEMENT, 44, 1-17

Norman Donald A.;Verganti Roberto, "Incremental and Radical Innovation: Design Research versus Technology and Meaning Change", DESIGN ISSUES, 30, 78-96

Norman Donald A.;Verganti Roberto, "Hill Climbing and Darwinian Evolution: A Response to John Langrish", DESIGN ISSUES, 30, 106-107

Öberg Åsa;Verganti Roberto, "Meaning – An Unexplored Path to Innovation", INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATION IN MANAGEMENT, 2, 77-92

Verganti Roberto;Öberg Åsa, "Interpreting and Envisioning: A Hermeneutic Framework to Look at Radical Innovation of Meanings", INDUSTRIAL MARKETING MANAGEMENT, 42, 86-95

Grants, Awards and Honours

  • Honor IAMOT as one of the top 50 authors of technology and innovation management 2008-2012
  • Award “Compasso d’Oro” 2001 to the research project Sistema Design Italia, in which he participated to the Scientific Organizing Committee
  • XXV Compasso D’Oro 2017 – Menzione D’Onore for the White Book – Lessons from a four-year journey into design-driven materials innovation
  • Best Paper Award at the 10th International Product Development Management Conference 2003 for the paper T. Buganza, R.Verganti “Life-Cycle Flexibility: How to measure and improve the innovative capability in turbulent environments”
  • Best Paper Award (Runner Up) at the 9th International Product Development Management Conference 2002 for the paper T. Buganza, R. Verganti, “Design Inertia: Designing for life-cycle flexibility in Internet-based services”
  • Best conference paper award at the VII EurOMA Conference, Gent, 2000 for the paper G. Zotteri, G. Spina, and R. Verganti “Factors Influencing Co-design Adoption: Drivers and Internal Consistency”.
  • Best Paper Award at the 11th International Product Development Management Conference 2004 for the paper T. Buganza, C. Dell'Era, R.Verganti “Exploring the Relationships between Product Development and Environmental Turbulence: The Case of Mobile TLC Services”
  • Nomination by the Academy of Management for the George R. Terry Book Award 2011 to the book Design-Driven Innovation (Harvard Business Press) as one of the 6 books judged to have made the most outstanding contribution to the advancement of management knowledge published in 2008 and 2009.
  • The 2020 Albert Page Best Paper Award from the Journal of Product Innovation Management, to the article “Innovation and Design in the Age of Artificial Intelligence”

Service to the community

  • Co-Director of the Executive Programme in Design and Innovation Leadership , 01/01/2010 - to date
  • Director of the Doctoral Program in Management Engineering, 01/01/1999 - 31/12/1999
  • Founder and First Director of the School of Doctoral Programs of Politecnico di Milano , 01/01/2000 - 31/12/2003
  • Founder and first Director of the Alta Scuola Politecnica, the School of excellence of Politecnico di Milano and Politecnico di Torino, 01/01/2004 - 01/09/2007
  • Member of the PhD Board - PhD in Management Engineering, 01/09/1999 - 31/12/2013
  • Member of the editorial Board - CERN IdeaSquare Journal of Experimental Innovation.She Ji. The Journal of Design, Economics, and Innovation. Design Management Journal. Research in Engineering Design.
  • Member of the editorial board, Journal of Product Innovation Management from 2000 to 2016, and then Associate Editor from 2021

Accreditations, Rankings & Memberships

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