Francisco Polidoro
Associate Professor and College of Business Administration Foundation Advisory Council Centennial Fellow | The University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business
Austin, TX, UNITED STATES
Knowledge management, social networks, strategic alliances, strategic management, technology and innovation
Areas of Expertise (11)
Knowledge Management
Social Networks
Strategic Alliances
Strategic Management
Technology and Innovation Management
Product Development
Technology Competition
Innovation and Creativity
Competition and Collaboration
Managing Knowledge Workers
Alliances and Acquisitions
Biography
Francisco Polidoro, Jr. is an educator and researcher who illuminates the reasons why organizations behave the way they do, from making strategic alliances to engaging in competitive activities. He has looked at the influences impacting collaboration, innovation and product development within firms, the formation and operation of business alliances, and the consequences of losing knowledge workers.
Polidoro has studied how financial markets respond to company innovation approaches, and the impact of regulatory certifications on new product offerings. His work has included industries such as chemicals, pharmaceuticals and technology.
Polidoro is an associate professor of management and College of Business Administration Foundation Advisory Council Centennial Fellow at the McCombs School of Business, The University of Texas at Austin. He teaches in the MBA and executive education programs, as well as Ph.D. seminars. He teaches technology transfer in the global economy for the Master of Science in Technology Commercialization program. He is a dissertation committee member and co-chair, as well as a member of the graduate studies committee.
Polidoro has earned multiple research excellence awards, and is a consequential researcher, having won the Best Paper Award in 2011 from the Academy of Management Technology. His industry experience includes projects for Mercedes-Benz and DaimlerChrysler in Brazil and Germany, and the Airspace Technological Center in Brazil.
He has facilitated international learning experiences for students, including helping to set up agreements between UT Austin and FAPERJ (Rio, Brazil), and working with the Tereza Lozano Long Institute of Latin American Studies.
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Education (5)
University of Michigan (USA): Ph.D., Business Administration (Corporate Strategy) 2006
Universite de Nancy II (France): Diplome Superieur , d'Etudes Francaise 2000
Henley Management College (England): Master of Business Administration (MBA), Business 1997
Fundacau Getulio Vargas (Brazil): Post Graduate Diploma, General Management and Industrial Relations 1990
Aeronautical Institute of Technology (Brazil): Undergraduate Studies, Computer Technology 1987
Media Appearances (5)
After catastrophic failure, why don't some organizations learn?
Beckers Hospital Review online
2016-03-01
Mistakes are inevitable. However, the natural assumption is that organizations try to learn how to prevent mistakes from recurring, especially in the wake of catastrophe. While changing processes and incorporating precautionary measures is usually the first response of a company aiming to recover from a major failure, many times, this learning wanes over time.
When the Push for Big, New Ideas Can Put Your Company in Danger
Inc. online
2016-03-01
Naturally, a large-scale failure -- such as a space shuttle explosion or oil spill -- is a serious wake-up call for the organization. But then time passes. The memory of the disaster begins to fade. Other priorities creep in.
Why Organizations Forget What They Learn from Failures
Harvard Business Review online
2016-02-29
Organizations sometimes make catastrophic mistakes. And although they try to learn from these disasters, they tend to make similar mistakes again and again.
Polidoro: 30 years later, we need to remember Challenger’s lessons
Austin American Statesman online
2016-01-22
As the anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger failure approaches, Francisco Polidoro Jr. shows how NASA is not alone in forgetting what it has learned from its failures. Major companies such as Deepwater Horizon and BP have faced the same issues. Why organizations forget what they learn, even when stakes are high, is a complex problem involving many factors.
On Challenger anniversary, we need to remember lessons of tragic failures
Star-Telegram online
2016-01-22
As the anniversary of the space shuttle Challenger failure, Francisco Polidoro Jr. shows how NASA is not alone in forgetting what it has learned from its failures. Major companies such as Deepwater Horizon and BP have faced the same issues. Why organizations forget what they learn, even when stakes are high, is a complex problem involving many factors.
Articles (8)
Francisco Polidoro, Jr. Citations
Google Scholar
Listing of top scholarly works by Francisco Polidoro, Jr.
Why Organizations Forget What They Learn from Failures
Harvard Business Review
2016-02-29
Why do organizations forget what they learn, even when stakes are so high? Our research examines this question. We built on qualitative data from NASA’s Challenger and Columbia accidents to develop a model about the role of serious errors in organizations’ cycling between learning and forgetting. We then tested the model using quantitative data about the incidence of safety-related errors in the context of pharmaceutical drugs.
Stock Market Responses to Firms’ Greening Strategies in the Face of Climate Change
Academy of Management Proceedings
2016-01-01
This study seeks to examine oil and gas firms greening efforts through alliances and acquisitions in the face of climate change. We argue that alliances and acquisitions related to green technologies, while enabling oil and gas firms to overcome the internal inertia in the technological adaptation, still encounter externally-driven inertia on the stock market.
Organizational Oscillation Between Learning and Forgetting: The Dual Role of Serious Errors
Organization Science
2015-10-09
Understanding of complex learning processes by identifying a mechanism by which organizations learn, then forget; then learn, then forget again.
A Competition-Based Explanation of Collaborative Invention Within the Firm
Strategic Management Journal
2013-09-30
We argue that competition from rival products building on similar knowledge compels firms to favor search depth over exploratory search and respond expeditiously, thus reducing a firm's inclination toward collaborative invention.
The Competitive Implications of Certifications: The Effects of Scientific and Regulatory Certifications on Entries into New Technical Fields
Academy of Management Journal
2013-01-01
This study investigates how the scientific and regulatory certifications that a firm receives affect rivals' entries into a new technical field it pioneers.
Getting Competition Down to a Science: The Effects of Technological Competition on Firms' Scientific Publications
Organization Science
2012-01-01
This paper emphasizes the role of scientific publications in firms' battles for market dominance and examines how competitive conditions shape firms' propensities to publish scientific articles about their innovations.
Letting Rivals Come Close or Warding Them Off? The Effects of Substitution Threat on Imitation Deterrence
Academy of Management Journal
2011-01-01
This study shows that, contrary to received wisdom, firms are not uniformly inclined to deter resource imitation.
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