We speak with Robert D. Austin, Professor, Information Systems at Ivey Business School, and an affiliated faculty member at Harvard Medical School about his best-selling case, Digital Transformation at GE: What Went Wrong? This case examines the digital transformation that GE had been attempting and the challenges it encountered, and is especially timely as many organizations accelerate their digital transformation efforts as a result of COVID-19.

Our conversation also touches on such topics as: strategy disruption, looking for – and following – compelling case stories, translating and scaling complex issues into a readable and easily understandable case, and teaching cases in tandem. We conclude our discussion with Rob’s thoughts on the evolution of the case method and Rob’s advice for new case authors.

Review the case here 

Robert D. Austin is a professor of Information Systems at Ivey Business School, and an affiliated faculty member at Harvard Medical School.

Before his appointment at Ivey, he was a professor of Innovation and Digital Transformation at Copenhagen Business School, and, before that, a professor of Technology and Operations Management at the Harvard Business School. At Harvard, he chaired the executive program for Chief Information Officers (CIOs) for more than ten years.

Professor Austin has published widely, in both academic and professional venues, such as Harvard Business Review, Information Systems Research, MIT Sloan Management Review, Organization Science, Organization Studies, and the Wall Street Journal. He also is the author of nine books, more than 50 published cases and notes, three Harvard online products, and two popular Massively Open Online Courses (MOOCs) running on the Coursera platform. His “Cyberattack!" Simulation won the 2020 International Serious Play Gold Medal. His research on neurodiversity employment programs is funded by SSHRC.