RICHARD MIA/THEISPOT.COM SPRING 2020 MIT SLOAN MANAGEMENT REVIEW 13
management was skeptical of digital tech-
nology, for instance, and internal inertia
was one of the key reasons it failed to make
the transition from physical film.^4 However,
identifying and bringing in the skills
needed to move forward with innovation
can help kick-start the transformation
process. Indeed, doing so may make all
the difference between success and failure.
Tucker J. Marion (@inuvation) is an associate
professor of technological entrepreneurship
at Northeastern University’s D’Amore-McKim
School of Business in Boston. Sebastian K.
Fixson (@sebastianfixson) is associate dean
of innovation and the Marla M. Capozzi MBA
’96 Term Chair of Design Thinking, Innova-
tion, and Entrepreneurship at Babson College
in Wellesley, Massachusetts. Greg Brown is
senior director of Worldwide CAD Business
Development at the global software com-
pany PTC. Comment on this article at http://
sloanreview.mit.edu/x/61313.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The research behind the ideas in this article was
conducted with the support of PTC.
REFERENCES
- T.J. Marion and S.K. Fixson, “The Innovation
Navigator: Transforming Your Organization in the
Era of Digital Design and Collaborative Culture”
(Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2018). - C.Y. Baldwin, “Where Do Transactions Come
From? Modularity, Transactions, and the Bound-
aries of Firms,” Industrial and Corporate Change
17, no. 1 (February 2008): 155-195. - D. Gelles and N. Kitroeff, “Boeing Pilot Com-
plained of ‘Egregious’ Issue With 737 Max in
2016,” The New York Times, Oct. 18, 2019,
http://www.nytimes.com. - G.M. Gavetti, R. Henderson, and S. Giorgi,
“Kodak and the Digital Revolution (A),” Harvard
Business School case no. 705-448 (Boston:
Harvard Business School Publishing, November
2004; rev. November 2005).
i. S. Rezvani and K. Monahan, “The Millennial
Mindset: Work Styles and Aspirations of
Millennials,” Deloitte Greenhouse, 2017,
www2.deloitte.com; and “Millennials at
Work: Reshaping the Workplace,” PwC, 2011,
http://www.pwc.com.
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Education, Disrupted
Confronting sizable skills gaps, companies have stopped
waiting for higher education to meet their rapidly shifting
competitive needs.
BY MICHAEL B. HORNE
mployers are confronting sizable skills gaps in all parts of their operations, at all
levels, and they can’t seem to fill them by simply hiring new people. In today’s tight
labor market, there are about 7 million open jobs for which companies are strug-
gling to find qualified candidates because applicants routinely lack the digital and soft skills
required to succeed. In the face of rapid technological changes like automation and artifi-
cial intelligence, helping employees keep pace is challenging. And companies are wrestling
with how to retain top talent — a critical differentiator in a hypercompetitive environ-
ment. No wonder a staggering 77% of chief executives report that a scarcity of people with
key skills is the biggest threat to their businesses, according to PwC’s 2017 CEO survey.
As a result, companies can no longer afford to wait for the traditional “system” to supply
the workers they hope will help shape their future — the need is too acute and too urgent,
particularly given that many higher-education institutions remain in denial. We must