September 6, 2024
Colloquium Topic: Vicarious learning in organizations: How can firms pass on tacit knowledge?
Organizations and their members are increasingly called upon to share knowledge, learn from others’ successes, and avoid repeating past mistakes in order to survive and perform in the face of ongoing institutional and environmental change. This is particularly challenging in dynamic work settings that rely on tacit, hard-to-transfer knowledge and innovations that are difficult to codify and share through traditional knowledge management practices. Drawing on evidence in the organizational sciences and his own research on learning in healthcare organizations, Chris will highlight vicarious learning practices that enable greater sharing of critical tacit knowledge in high-risk, knowledge-intensive work, and offer relevant insights for organizations striving to adapt and innovate in the face of uncertainty.
Colloquium Speaker: Chris Myers
Christopher G. Myers, PhD is an Associate Professor of Management & Organization and the founding Faculty Director of the Center for Innovative Leadership at the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. Additionally, he holds joint faculty appointments in Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and in Health Policy and Management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. At Hopkins, Chris also serves on the Core Faculty of the Hopkins Business of Health Initiative and the Johns Hopkins Medicine Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality.
Chris’s research and teaching focus on individual learning, leadership development, and innovation, with particular attention to how people learn vicariously and share knowledge in health care organizations and other knowledge-intensive work environments. Chris’s work has been published in premier academic journals and edited volumes in the fields of management, organizational psychology, medicine, and healthcare, as well as in leading practice-oriented publications and editorials. His research has been featured in many popular media outlets and recognized with scholarly awards from a variety of national and international organizations. In 2022, Poets & Quants named Chris as one of the top 40 business school professors under 40 world-wide.
Chris has served in multiple leadership roles within the International Academy of Management and currently serves as an Associate Editor of Academy of Management Discoveries. At the Carey Business School, Chris teaches courses on leadership and organizational behavior in a range of formats and settings, from nine-day outdoor leadership development expedition courses with MBA students to executive education courses on leadership and management in health care. He also speaks and consults regularly for organizations on topics regarding learning, leadership, and healthcare management, and has worked with leaders from a range of industries, various local and national government agencies, and leading academic medical centers and emergency services teams.
Prior to joining Johns Hopkins, Chris served on the faculty of the Harvard Business School as an Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior. He earned his PhD in management and organizations from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business, and his BS in business administration with highest honors and highest distinction from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina. Before attending graduate school, he worked as an outdoor expedition leader and martial arts instructor in his home state of North Carolina.