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Current Research

Our Approach

MIT CISR helps executives meet the challenge of leading increasingly digital and data-driven organizations. MIT CISR research scientists and collaborators from around the world produce rigorous academic research using a variety of methods. The relevance of the research is ensured by the active participation of member organizations from a range of industries. Insights are disseminated through research publications and events.

MIT CISR Current Research Projects

AI at Work: Transforming the Employee Experience

As work solutions powered by artificial intelligence are increasingly becoming available to employees with limited technical skills, organizations face fundamental questions about how these solutions affect their workforce, their work environments, and work itself. In this research project we seek to examine how organizations design an employee experience that best supports work while simultaneously aligning the organization’s needs and desires with those of its workforce.

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Architecting Digital Ecosystems to Grow Value

In 2023, we studied how companies govern digital ecosystems, including when they adopt emerging innovations in Web3-enabled governance. In this year’s project, we will build on our findings to understand how companies can best architect or participate in digital ecosystems to grow value, including choosing the best governance approach and architecture for the company’s strategic goals and domain.

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Boosting the Strategic Impact of Digital Innovations: Essential Practices

In earlier research, we found that companies that realize significant strategic value from digital innovations have redesigned themselves around three learning imperatives. In this year's project, we will focus on how companies build business commitment to all these learning imperatives, regularly reallocate resources to initiatives that contribute most to their strategic objectives, and realize synergies across sets of similar digital innovation initiatives.

This project is a continuation of MIT CISR’s 2023 research project on Essential Practices to Realize More Value Faster from Digital Innovations.

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How Established Companies Leverage External Developer Platforms for Business Value

In 2023, we studied what it takes for a leading software company to provide and nurture a successful external developer platform and ecosystem. In this year’s project, we seek to understand and document the state of external developer platforms and ecosystems at established companies across industries.

This project is a continuation of MIT CISR’s 2023 research project on What it Takes to Build a Successful External Developer Platform.

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Successful Enterprise-Based Platform Businesses

In this research we will ask how an enterprise can create and run a successful platform business. We define a platform business as creating a competitive advantage through a world-class digital service and reusing it internally, externally, or both. In conversations and observations with many organizations, we hypothesize there are four important business models for enterprise-based platform businesses.

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The IT Function of the Future

The IT function must adapt as the demand for digital services changes. In this study we will explore the new responsibilities of leading IT functions and identify leading practices such as new engagement models with business units, customers, suppliers, and regulators.

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Traditional and Generative AI: Scaling with Ethical, Compliant, and Beneficial Outcomes

Since 2019, MIT CISR’s data research team has investigated how organizations scale AI in the pursuit of becoming AI-fueled. This year we will investigate how organizations are navigating distinct traditional AI and generative AI needs so that scaling AI can produce ethical, compliant, and lucrative outcomes. Also, we hope to understand emergent roles that organizations need for scaling AI, and we will continue to explore knowledge management implications.

This project is a continuation of MIT CISR’s 2023 research project on Competing on Knowledge: The Next Challenge for Scaling AI.

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What It Takes to Create Lucrative Data Products

Today, organizations that are effective at data monetization create lucrative data products enabled by data assets that are easily reused and recombined. In this study, we will investigate the current state of data monetization, which we will identify by replicating the MIT CISR 2018 Data Monetization Survey; and we will explore how organizations develop and execute effective data product strategies.

This project is a continuation of MIT CISR’s 2023 research project on Monetizing Data with Dynamism.

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What’s Next: Becoming a Real-Time Business

In this research we ask what’s next after digital transformation. The answer, we believe, is becoming a real-time business (RTB). RTBs are organizations based on a foundation of real-time data that rely on transparent and automated decision-making and seamless digital customer and employee journeys, while managing and reduce operating costs and risks. In a world of increased volatility, organizations able to operate more in real time outperformed their peers on both margin and growth, with better customer experience and greater organizational efficiency.

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MIT CISR research is funded by the more than seventy-five member organizations that support our work and participate in our consortium. 

MIT CISR Patrons
AlixPartners
Avanade
Axway, Inc.
Collibra
IFS
Pegasystems Inc.
The Ogilvy Group
MIT CISR Sponsors
Alcon Vision
Allstate Insurance Company
Amcor
ANZ Banking Group (Australia)
AustralianSuper
Banco Bradesco S.A. (Brazil)
Banco do Brasil S.A.
Bank of Queensland (Australia)
Barclays (UK)
BlueScope Steel (Australia)
BNP Paribas (France)
Bupa
CarMax
Caterpillar, Inc.
Cemex (Mexico)
Cencora
Cochlear Limited (Australia)
Commonwealth Superannuation Corp. (Australia)
Cuscal Limited (Australia)
CVS Health
Dawn Foods
DBS Bank Ltd. (Singapore)
Doosan Corporation (Korea)
Fidelity Investments
Fomento Economico Mexicano, S.A.B., de C.V.
Fortum (Finland)
Genentech
General Mills, Inc.
Gilbane Building Co.
Johnson & Johnson (J&J)
Kaiser Permanente
King & Wood Mallesons (Australia)
Koç Holding (Turkey)
Mercer
Nasdaq, Inc.
NN Insurance Eurasia NV
Nomura Holdings, Inc. (Japan)
Nomura Research Institute, Ltd. Systems Consulting Division (Japan)
Novo Nordisk A/S (Denmark)
OCP Group
Pacific Life Insurance Company
Posten Bring AS (Norway)
Principal Life Insurance Company
QBE
Ramsay Health Care (Australia)
Raytheon Technologies
Scentre Group Limited (Australia)
Schneider Electric Industries SAS (France)
Stockland (Australia)
Tabcorp Holdings (Australia)
Telstra Limited (Australia)
Terumo Corporation (Japan)
Tetra Pak (Sweden)
Truist Financial Corporation
UniSuper Management Pty Ltd (Australia)
Uniting (Australia)
USAA
Webster Bank, N.A.
Westpac Banking Corporation (Australia)
WestRock Company
Wolters Kluwer
Xenco Medical
Zoetis Services LLC

MIT CISR Associate Members

MIT CISR wishes to thank all of our associate members for their support and contributions.

Find Us
Center for Information Systems Research
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Sloan School of Management
245 First Street, E94-15th Floor
Cambridge, MA 02142
617-253-2348