Svenja SOMMER

Associate Professor

Informations Systems and Operations Management

Biography

Svenja Sommer received her Ph.D. in Management from INSEAD (France).

Her research interests cover the areas of project management and new product development (NPD) focusing on management of highly uncertain projects, idea generation in NPD, and technology choice in product rollover decisions. Her research has been published in journals such as Management Science, Organization Science and POM. She serves as a Senior Editor for the "New Product Development, R&D, and Project Management" department of POMS. She is also an ad-hoc reviewer for a number of journals, including Management Science, Operations Research, MSOM, and POMS.
She teaches in the MBA and Grande Ecole programs, including supply chain management (operations management core course) and a project management elective. Prior to joining HEC, she was on the faculty at the Krannert School of Management, Purdue University.
She received her PhD in Management from INSEAD, France.

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Scientific articles

How Do You Search for the Best Alternative? Experimental Evidence on Search Strategies to Solve Complex Problems

Management Science, March 2020, vol. 66, n° 3, pp 1395-1420, (in coll. with E. BENDOLY, S. KAVADIAS)

The Tension Between Flexible Goals and Managerial Control in Exploratory Projects

Project Management Journal, October 2019, vol. 50, n° 5, pp 524-537, (in coll. with C. LOCH)

Collaborative Prototyping of Alternative Designs Under a Target Costing Scheme

Production and Operations Management, March 2018, vol. 27, n° 3, pp 496–515, (in coll. with T. SHALPEGIN, Z. WAN)

Supervising Projects You Don’t (Fully) Understand: Lessons for Effective Project Governance by Steering Committees

California Management Review, February 2017, vol. 59, n° 2, pp 45-67, (in coll. with C. LOCH, M. MÄHRING)

Managing Complexity and Unforeseeable Uncertainty in Startup Companies: an Empirical Study

Organization Science, January-February 2009, vol. 20, n° 1, pp 118-133, (in coll. with C.H. Loch, J. Dong)

The Effects of Problem Structure and Team Diversity on Brainstorming Effectiveness

Management Science, December 2009, n° 12, pp 1899-1913, (in coll. with S. Kavadias)

Incentive Contracts in Projects with Unforeseeable Uncertainty

Production and Operations Management, March-April 2009, vol. 18, n° 2, pp 185-196, (in coll. with C. Loch)

Selectionism and Learning in Projects with Complexity and Unforeseeable Uncertainty

Management Science, 2004, vol. 50, n° 10, pp 1334-1347, (in coll. with C. Loch)

Chapters in edited books

Project Management Under High Uncertainty

Encyclopedia Of Technology And Innovation Management, V. K. Narayanan, G. C. O'Connor (eds), John Wiley & Sons US

Project Risk Management in New Product Development

Handbook Of New Product Development And Management, C. H. Loch, S. Kavadias (eds), Elsevier Limited, Oxford

Working papers

Impact of Regulatory Changes on New Product Design Choice and End-of-Life Inventory Buildup

Mimeo , 2011

Supervising Projects you Don't Understand -- Do your Major Projects Receive the Leadership they Need?

INSEAD Working Paper , 2011

Managing Risk and Responding to Uncertainty: How Entrepreneurs and VCs Can Improve Their Effectiveness. A Comparison of Three Countries

Mimeo , 2010