Dr. Elizabeth J. Altman is an associate professor of management (with tenure) at the Manning School of Business, University of Massachusetts Lowell and a visiting scholar at the Harvard Business School. She has been guest editor of the MIT Sloan Management Review Future of the Workforce project and was a visiting professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Altman teaches in undergraduate, MBA, doctoral, and executive education programs. Her research focuses on strategy, innovation, platform businesses and ecosystems, leadership in the digital economy, organizational identity and change, and future of work/workforce topics.
Spending 19 years in industry, Altman was vice president at Motorola with roles in industrial design, product development, manufacturing, marketing, business development, and strategy. Awarded a U.S. Dept. of Commerce and Japanese government fellowship, Altman worked in Japan as an engineer for Sony. She lectures and consults worldwide and has served on corporate and non-profit boards.
Altman is lead author of the book "Workforce Ecosystems: Reaching Strategic Goals with People, Partners, and Technologies," (2023, MIT Press) and co-author of “The Innovator’s Guide to Growth: Putting Disruptive Innovation to Work,” (2008, Harvard Business Press). Altman’s work has been published in the Harvard Business Review (HBR), MIT Sloan Management Review (MIT SMR), Academy of Management Annals, Journal of Management Studies, and other internationally recognized publications. Her HBR article with Andrei Hagiu was selected for inclusion in “HBR's 10 Must Reads 2019: The Definitive Management Ideas of the Year from Harvard Business Review,” and included in “HBR’s 10 Must Reads on Business Model Innovation,” and "HBR's 10 Must Reads on Platforms and Ecosystems."
Altman holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School, a Master’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s of Science in Management both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and a Bachelor’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University where she served on the Board of Trustees and is on the Cornell University Library Advisory Council. Altman is a life member of the Cornell University Council and an emerita member of the Cornell College of Engineering Advisory Council and the President’s Council of Cornell Women. Altman was named one of Boston Magazine's “Top 100 Most Influential Women in Boston,” and one of Boston Business Journal’s “40 Under 40” top business and community leaders. She is a life member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
- Books
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- Anthony, Scott D., Mark W. Johnson, Joseph V. Sinfield, and Elizabeth J. Altman. The Innovator's Guide to Growth. Harvard Business Press, 2008. View Details
- Journal Articles
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- Christensen, Clayton M., Rory McDonald, Elizabeth J. Altman, and Jonathan E. Palmer. "Disruptive Innovation: An Intellectual History and Directions for Future Research." Special Issue on Managing in the Age of Disruptions. Journal of Management Studies 55, no. 7 (November 2018): 1043–1078. View Details
- Hagiu, Andrei, and Elizabeth J. Altman. "Finding the Platform in Your Product: Four Strategies That Can Reveal Hidden Value." Harvard Business Review 95, no. 4 (July–August 2017): 94–100. View Details
- Altman, Elizabeth J., Frank Nagle, and Michael L. Tushman. "Technology and Innovation Management." In Oxford Bibliographies: Management, edited by Ricky W. Griffin. New York: Oxford University Press, 2013. Electronic. View Details
- Book Chapters
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- Altman, Elizabeth J., and Michael Tushman. "Platforms, Open/User Innovation, and Ecosystems: A Strategic Leadership Perspective." In Entrepreneurship, Innovation, and Platforms. Vol. 37, edited by Jeffrey Furman, Annabelle Gawer, Brian Silverman, and Scott Stern, 177–207. Advances in Strategic Management. Emerald Publishing Limited, 2017. View Details
- Altman, Elizabeth J., Frank Nagle, and Michael Tushman. "Innovating without Information Constraints: Organization, Communities, and Innovation when Information Costs Approach Zero." In The Oxford Handbook of Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship, edited by Christina E. Shalley, Michael A. Hitt, and Jing Zhou, 353–379. Oxford University Press, 2015. View Details
- Working Papers
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- Altman, Elizabeth J., and Mary Tripsas. "Product to Platform Transitions: Organizational Identity Implications." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 14-045, December 2013. (Revised September 2014.) View Details
- Cases and Teaching Materials
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- Hagiu, Andrei, and Elizabeth J. Altman. "Intuit QuickBooks: From Product to Platform." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 714-477, March 2014. View Details
- Hagiu, Andrei, and Elizabeth J. Altman. "Intuit QuickBooks: From Product to Platform." Harvard Business School Case 714-433, October 2013. (Revised December 2013.) View Details
- Research Summary
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Prof. Altman's research interests include innovation, strategy, organizational change, platform-based businesses and their related ecosystems. Her work focuses on the impact to incumbent organizations as platform-based highly networked business models become more prevalent in the global economy. Altman’s research projects focus on organizational and managerial challenges to firms as they transition from operating in traditional product-centric industries to ones where competition is platform-based. She studies firms that themselves transition to platform businesses and also accessory and application providers that join platform-related ecosystems.
- Additional Information
- Areas of Interest