Dennis Campbell

Dennis W. Campbell is currently the Dwight P. Robinson Jr. Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. His research and teaching activities focus broadly on how management control systems can be designed to balance short-term strategy execution with longer term goals related to organizational culture, learning, and innovation. He has studied these issues extensively in both domestic and international contexts and has published numerous case studies across a variety of industries including retail, hospitality, financial services, telecommunications and consumer-goods manufacturing. His research has been published in the leading academic journals in his field including Journal of Accounting Research, The Accounting Review, Journal of Accounting & Economics, Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, and Management Science. In his most recent work, Professor Campbell is exploring three specific areas related to these broader themes: (1) how new technologies related to data, digital, and automation are influencing performance and risk management practices within organizations and their supply chains; (2) incentive alignment and risk management in organizations which structurally separate major innovation activities from their core business (e.g. "Ambidextrous" organizations); and (3) identification of tools and frameworks that enable broad-based economic engagement and employee ownership in the rank-and-file workforce.  He is currently teaching the MBA elective course Strategy Execution which uses fundamental building blocks based on accountability systems and structures to equip students to execute strategy, measure performance, deliver results, and win in any competitive market. Professor Campbell also teaches the required MBA course Data Science for Managers, which gives students the necessary tools to develop a data science organization, evaluate data-driven insights, and productively collaborate with data analysts, engineers, and scientists. In the Harvard Business Analytics Program, he co-designed and co-leads the Operations and Supply Chain Management course, focusing on the role of digital technologies and data analytics in transforming the operating models of  organizations and how they connect to their broader supply chains and ecosystems.  In addition to his main teaching assignments, Professor Campbell teaches in and chairs a variety of executive education programs focusing on similar topics for global business leaders.      

Professor Campbell received his doctorate from Harvard Business School and his bachelors degrees in mathematics and economics from the University of Redlands (Redlands, CA). Prior to beginning his doctoral studies, he worked at the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve in Washington, D.C. on research and policy related to the structure, conduct, and performance of U.S. banking institutions and markets. He is currently serving on the board of the Harvard University Employees Credit Union and as an outside advisor to firms in the U.S., Europe, and Asia.