Time pacing, which refers to the regulation of intensity and direction of people's attention and effort, is central to innovation management. However, in a study of complex product innovation in pharmaceuticals, we find that time pacing is a major source of conflict between managers and scientists over innovation management. Our analysis of this tension reveals that two very different forms of time pacing operate in this complex innovation. Clock-time pacing, which gauges progress by the predictable passage of clock time, is used by strategic managers to reduce unnecessary exploration, focus on necessary questions, and speed up the execution of steps. Event-time pacing, which gauges progress by the unpredictable achievement of learning events, is used by the scientists to develop a deep understanding of how a drug might behave in the body against a disease, to focus on learning by asking many questions, and to integrate emergent results into plausible patterns. We identify four dimensions that differentiate clock-time pacing from event-time pacing, which drive the tension between the two. We summarize negative effects that this tension can have on innovation if left unaddressed, and then suggest ways to integrate clock-time pacing with event-time pacing. We also discuss implications for Chinese management.
The university rank is commonly used as a predictor of the performance of graduates. Unfortunately, prior research has primarily focused on the effect of university rank on graduates' pay level, which is not the same as performance. We tested both the positive and negative effects of the academic pedigree on the different aspects of actual performance. Using a sample of 28,339 students from 294 universities in 79 countries who completed a business consulting project, we tested if and how the performance of students from higher-ranked universities differed from that of students from lowerranked universities. The results show that graduates from higher-ranked universities generally perform slightly better. However, a more prestigious academic pedigree can also be associated with arrogance, excessive focus on tasks at the expense of relationships, and envy of co-workers, which could undermine the performance potential of graduates from higherranked universities.
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