Maria P. Roche

Maria Roche is an Assistant Professor of Business Administration in the Strategy Unit at Harvard Business School. She teaches Strategy in the MBA required curriculum. Professor Roche studies the commercialization of specialized knowledge and the specific role of micro-geography in innovation. Her findings indicate that organizations can unlock significant innovation and performance benefits by leveraging micro-geographic nuances in the sourcing, production, and diffusion of knowledge.

Her work, published at Management Science, The Review of Economics and Statistics, Organization Science and Research Policy, has been featured in The Atlantic, The Economist, The WSJ, and the Handelsblatt. She received best dissertation awards from the Technology and Innovation Management division at the Academy of Management, and from the Society for the Advancement of Management Studies (EGOS). She serves on the editorial review boards of Organization Science, and Strategy Science.

Professor Roche earned her PhD in Management (Strategy and Innovation) at the Scheller College of Business, Georgia Institute of Technology, where she was a recipient of a NSF Science of Science and Innovation Policy Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant. She earned an MS in Business Administration and a BA in International Cultural and Business Studies at the University of Passau, Germany. Professor Roche has lived and worked in five countries gathering professional experience in various industries such as venture capital and film.