Elizabeth Gerber is a postdoctoral scholar leading research in innovation, design, and leadership at the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design. She uses a combination of theoretical approaches from social psychology and organization theory to develop and extend theory in micro- and meso-level organizational behavioral research. Her research is based in the technology, consumer products, education, and service industries. At Stanford University, she teaches top-rated undergraduate, graduate, and executive education courses in the Design School, Business School, and Management Science & Engineering department on topics ranging from micro organizational behavior to customer-focused innovation and has won an award for her teaching accomplishments.

Background Before Stanford, Elizabeth worked in design, marketing, and management to develop innovative products and services in the toy, medical device, and management software industries. Her professional experience puts her in a unique position to contribute and communicate across theoretical and applied areas of innovation and organizational studies. Her professional background grounds her research and broadens her teaching abilities, providing insights grounded in real-world examples that are relevant for undergraduate, master's, and executive level education. Elizabeth earned her BA from Dartmouth College, her MS in Product Design from Stanford University, and her PhD in Management Science and Engineering from Stanford University under the mentorship of Dr. Robert Sutton.

Research In the context of innovation work and leadership, Elizabeth's research is driven by the question of why people engage in work practices independently of their objective efficacy. She uses a combination of methodological approaches (inductive, multi-case, ethnographic, and network analysis) and theoretical approaches (social psychological and organizational theory) to develop and extend theory in micro and meso level organizational behavioral research. Topics of solo and co-authored papers in preparation include how people become devoted to the organizational improvement practices independently of objective efficacy, the brokering of innovation work practices within an organization, the social networks that facilitate innovation work practices, and the unintended consequences of managerial action when employees engage in non-routine work. Her current research projects are situated in the high technology, business services, and consumer products industries. Working Papers Devotion to Innovation Work Practices (Dissertation) Elizabeth's research into the adoption of innovation work practices considers the way in which people become devoted to the human-centered design methodology as a means to innovation independently of their objective efficacy. The framework she develops was inducted from a multi-case study, pertinent social psychological theory, and descriptive writings on the human-centered design methodology. The framework involves enacting design work practices such as human observation, group brainstorming, and rapid prototyping. The work practices trigger three psychological mechanisms that lead to devotion to the human-centered design methodology. When enacting the prescribed set of work practices, people experience perceived control ("I can do this"), consistency ("I will do this"), and curiosity ("I didn't know that, and I want to know more"). These mechanisms lead to devotion, which is demonstrated through the proselytization, uncritical acceptance, and pervasive application of the work practices. This framework has theoretical implications for the psychology of devotion and the study of work and practical implications for innovation and organizational change management. Brokering of Innovation Work Practices This research blends network and learning perspectives in a process model explaining how an organization forms and develops a broker of work practices. This model is grounded in observations, interviews, informal conversations, and archival data gathered during an eighteen-month ethnography of a team within a large technology firm. Over the course of the year, the team formed its position as a broker of human-centered design work practices within its own firm and industry that was unfamiliar with these practices. By learning the language and logic of the work practices, collaborating with "the best", evangelizing the work practices, and engaging the board and external corporate level employees as clients and co-developers, the team became a broker. In her research, Elizabeth explores the managerial implications such as the effect of an information advantage in concert with an ignorance advantage. Social Networks that Facilitate Innovation Another strand of Elizabeth's research involves an inductive study of the structure of relations supporting human-centered design. Human-centered design is a method used by work teams to innovate by identifying problems, generating solutions, prototyping, and testing ideas to meet user needs. The study reveals three primary categories of relations (1) relations based on evaluation and reflection of the design process, (2) relations based on collaboration and generation of ideas, and (3) relations that offer resources, such as time, financial, and human, to pursue design thinking practices. This study also sheds new light on the structure of relationships involved in the collaborative process of human-centered design work. Unintended Consequences of Leadership Influenced by the extensive academic literature and popular press reading on leadership, Elizabeth launched an initiative to explore the psychological effects of commonly prescribed managerial practices to find that at times, the best management may be no management at all. Although managerial presence, interjection, and evaluation are consistently portrayed in the literature as managerial practices that boost performance, the social psychological literature offers a different perspective. Social psychological research and theory suggests that these managerial practices may trigger emotional, cognitive, and motivational responses from subordinates. These responses may lead to adverse effects for subordinates under five boundary conditions. When subordinates perform tasks that are (1) unfamiliar and (2) complex, require (3) information gathering, (4) risk-taking, and (5) intrinsic motivation, managerial engagement may exacerbate negative psychological effects for subordinates. Under these conditions, social psychological research and theory may also explain why managers may be blind to these negative effects. >> Read the full text... Teaching In the past six years teaching at Stanford University, Elizabeth has successfully interwoven her research agenda with her teaching responsibilities. She has successfully developed and taught over 12 top rated courses in the design, business, and management science departments at Stanford University on topics ranging from micro organizational behavior to customer focused innovation. She has taught undergraduates, graduate students, and industry executives, receiving high praise at all levels for presenting both theory and applied implications. As a result of her teaching in the executive education programs at the Graduate School of Business and Institute of Design, she have been asked to consult to a variety of large biomedical, consulting, food, consumer products, and software firms. >> Read the full text...

Elizabeth Gerber Terman 425 , 380 Panama Mall Stanford University Stanford, CA 94305 egerber AT stanford DOT edu