An RSB Professor of Progress
Adam Friedman
Issue date: 1/22/08 Section: Administration
With the upcoming 2008 presidential elections, we are coming into a time when ideas for progress are discussed on a daily basis. As the media eloquently portrays politicians speaking out for economic, political, and social advancement, it is easy to forget about the people who actually create the progress that will help American society, business, and government. Fitting with the progressive zeitgeist of these times, I thought it would be a great idea to find and interview a professor in the Ross School of Business who has dedicated his/herself to progress and change within the business realm. I was able to find such a person in Professor Nigel Melville, a recently hired Assistant Professor of Business Information Technology whose teachings and research are based on deploying technologies to create greater values for companies.
Q: Professor Melville, where do you officially call home, and how has your home environment influenced you to be the person you are today?
A: I grew up as an "air force brat," but spent more time in California than anywhere else. Being in such an environment made me accustomed to diversity and made me a product of progressivism. Anything is possible, if you can imagine it.
Q: Where did you go to college, and was professorship in the area of Information Technology what you had in mind during your studies?
A: I went to UCLA as an undergrad and originally thought about being a professor of engineering. But once I got into the working world I found business to be much more interesting. So I stopped at a Masters in Engineering, then I eventually went back for my doctorate in business.
Q: What other positions and leadership roles do you have in the Ross School of Business community?
A: I focus on research and teaching.
Q: What do you see as the "next big thing(s)" in Information Technology that will bring business forward in the year 2008 and beyond?
A: One is the idea of metaverses as a way to navigate through our growing digital landscapes. SecondLife is an example. Another is the Internet of things, or the idea that every object may be tagged and create a dense constellation of nodes on the Internet. We're seeing the beginnings of this with RFID - and there are major implications for business models and privacy.
Q: The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative created by MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte is getting a lot of public coverage now that companies such as Google, AMD, and eBay have backed the initiative. Do you believe the OLPC will reach its goal of being able to supply a laptop to all the children in the world? If the initiative is met, what do you think of the sustainability of the project?
A: I'm not sure about that, but even if they make it a small way toward that goal, that is a very good thing for the world. I think there may be free market mechanisms that intervene, which could create more innovation in the area of learning in emerging markets. At the end of the day, whether it's one laptop per child, or one cyber learning center per community, this moves the needle in a positive direction.
Q: Is there anything else you would like to share with the business school community?
A: I think we are at the beginnings of a major shift toward innovation in services, in particular, information-intensive services. It's like manufacturing a century ago, before factory physics and Deming and other ideas that systematized processes and provided a scientific foundation to manufacturing. It's very exciting. I'm trying to add to what we know in this area in several research projects. Also, I developed a new Ross elective this semester called Service Innovation Management (BIT/MKT 678) - as far as I could tell, there's no other course like it at a leading business school.
Professor Melville is a fascinating individual whose goal to create an even stronger information environment within business is distinctive and one of a kind. As Ross School of Business students are exposed to the political promises for progress and advancement within our country, it is a great honor to know that the catalysts for change and advancement in America are teaching and conducting research right here at the University of Michigan.
Q: Professor Melville, where do you officially call home, and how has your home environment influenced you to be the person you are today?
A: I grew up as an "air force brat," but spent more time in California than anywhere else. Being in such an environment made me accustomed to diversity and made me a product of progressivism. Anything is possible, if you can imagine it.
Q: Where did you go to college, and was professorship in the area of Information Technology what you had in mind during your studies?
A: I went to UCLA as an undergrad and originally thought about being a professor of engineering. But once I got into the working world I found business to be much more interesting. So I stopped at a Masters in Engineering, then I eventually went back for my doctorate in business.
Q: What other positions and leadership roles do you have in the Ross School of Business community?
A: I focus on research and teaching.
Q: What do you see as the "next big thing(s)" in Information Technology that will bring business forward in the year 2008 and beyond?
A: One is the idea of metaverses as a way to navigate through our growing digital landscapes. SecondLife is an example. Another is the Internet of things, or the idea that every object may be tagged and create a dense constellation of nodes on the Internet. We're seeing the beginnings of this with RFID - and there are major implications for business models and privacy.
Q: The One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) initiative created by MIT Professor Nicholas Negroponte is getting a lot of public coverage now that companies such as Google, AMD, and eBay have backed the initiative. Do you believe the OLPC will reach its goal of being able to supply a laptop to all the children in the world? If the initiative is met, what do you think of the sustainability of the project?
A: I'm not sure about that, but even if they make it a small way toward that goal, that is a very good thing for the world. I think there may be free market mechanisms that intervene, which could create more innovation in the area of learning in emerging markets. At the end of the day, whether it's one laptop per child, or one cyber learning center per community, this moves the needle in a positive direction.
Q: Is there anything else you would like to share with the business school community?
A: I think we are at the beginnings of a major shift toward innovation in services, in particular, information-intensive services. It's like manufacturing a century ago, before factory physics and Deming and other ideas that systematized processes and provided a scientific foundation to manufacturing. It's very exciting. I'm trying to add to what we know in this area in several research projects. Also, I developed a new Ross elective this semester called Service Innovation Management (BIT/MKT 678) - as far as I could tell, there's no other course like it at a leading business school.
Professor Melville is a fascinating individual whose goal to create an even stronger information environment within business is distinctive and one of a kind. As Ross School of Business students are exposed to the political promises for progress and advancement within our country, it is a great honor to know that the catalysts for change and advancement in America are teaching and conducting research right here at the University of Michigan.
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Edward Pound
posted 1/23/08 @ 11:54 AM EST
We wish Professor Melville well in his pioneering efforts to address IT use in business. As we found in manufacturing, too often companies confuse having an expensive IT system to be the same as having an understanding of the science behind the behavior of their manufacturing system. (Continued…)
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