Systems Research Center
SRC is a Boston University-based research collaborative located within the School of Management.
Our mission is to create new knowledge and a deeper understanding of how information technology can be used to improve business performance and create new business opportunities.
The stunning and rapid advances in information technology, such as the development of the Internet and the increasing sophistication of online collaboration tools, have created new markets and new business opportunities. Businesses have come to rely on information technology as the nervous system of operations, customer interaction, and decision-making.
Our goal is to provide managers with new insights that will enable the more effective leverage of information systems in both customer facing and internal management activities.
Our Strength is to be able to draw upon a strong core of Information Systems faculty who bring both a depth and breadth of research and experience in the IS field. This research is further strengthened by our commitment to work closely with leading-edge companies in the business community.
Research
Theme: Dynamic Strategic Management
Focusing on how firms can best identify and exploit strategic opportunities through improvement in the internal processes of competitive intelligence gathering, decision-making, and implementation; and through the external activities of creating a portfolio of relationships, including alliances and partnerships and collaborative commerce exchanges
Current Projects
- Defining a 21st Century Architecture for Dynamic Strategic Decision-Making
Principal Investigators: Kathleen Foley Curley, Ron Bohlin Prospectus
- Management Challenges and Best Practices in Development of a Strategic Alliance
Principal Investigators: John C. Henderson, N. Venkatraman
- Rethinking Strategy: The Corporation as a Portfolio of Capabilities through Relationships
Principal Investigators: N. Venkatraman, John C. Henderson
- Organizational Arrangements for Value Capture in IT Relationships
Principal Investigators: N. Venkatraman, Chi-Hyon Lee
- Collaborative Commerce: Knowledge Management in B2B Relationships
Principal Investigators: John Storck, C. B. Bhattacharya
Theme: Leveraging Expertise through Effective Knowledge Management
Exploring both the processes and structures that enable organizations to engage in ongoing learning—and effectively deploy that learning in both virtual and face-to-face environments
Current Projects
- Architecture for Designing Knowledge Management Systems
Principal Investigators: P. R. Balasubramanian, G. Shankaranarayanan
- Leveraging Knowledge in a Global Organization: The Role of Virtual Teams and Communities
Principal Investigators: John Stock, John C. Henderson
Theme: Evaluating and Maximizing IT Investments
Exploring models for evaluating investments in a broad range of IT-enabled capabilities
Current Projects
- Real Options: An Alternative Approach for Valuing Infrastructure Investments
Principal Investigators: Nalin Kulatilaka, John C. Henderson
- Identifying Capabilities and Implementing the Options-Based Investment Management Process
Principal Investigators: Nalin Kulatilaka, John C. Henderson, P. R. Balasubramanian, John Storck
- Valuing Internet Companies as Growth Options
Principal Investigators: Nalin Kulatilaka, Richard Homonoff, Scott Fung
- Beyond the Investment in Information Technology: Managing the Implementation to Get the Payoff!
Principal Investigators: Kathleen Foley Curley, John C. Henderson
Theme: Managing Data and Data Quality
Focusing on the critical role that data and data management play in an organization's competitive edge
Current Projects
- Schema Evolution and Managing Schema Evolution
Principal Investigator: G. Shankaranarayanan
- Total Data Quality Management
Principal Investigators: Richard Y. Wang, G. Shankaranarayanan
Members
Our member companies are active participants in SRC reserach projects. In addition, our teaching programs include internships with local companies that provide our faculty with an ongoing link to practicing managers wrestling with the issues of improving performance and identifying new sources of revenue. It is this combination of industry and academic partnerships that enables SRC to make a unique contribution to creating new knowledge that is both academically sound and practical.
Members represent leading organizations in all types of industry. This diversity is critical in bringing the resources, commitment, and practical application of information technology necessary for significant progress in the development of knowledge management infrastructures.
Current Members
Membership in the System Research Center is limited to organizations and institutions. Individual memberships are not available. Member companies:
- Send representatives to scheduled workshops
- Serve as research sites for selected projects
- Receive a customized onsite annual research review
- Have access to the research and papers produced by the Center
In addition to the regular members' activities, corporate members at the executive sponsor level are involved directly with one of the Center's research principals and work collaboratively with our faculty and students.
Contact us:
Systems Research Center
Boston University
School of Management
595 Commonwealth Avenue
Boston, MA 02215
Phone: (617) 353-4096
Faculty Director: Kathleen Curley
Associate Director: Barbara Finney
