The Richard Beckhard Memorial Prize

The editors of the MIT Sloan Management Review are pleased to announce the winners of this year's Richard Beckhard Memorial Prize, awarded to the authors of the most outstanding SMR article on planned change and organizational development published from Fall 2006 through Summer 2007.

The winners:
Robert D. Austin
Harvard Business School

Richard L. Nolan
Harvard Business School and University of Washington Business School

Authors of:
"Bridging the Gap Between Stewards and Creators"
Winter 2007, Volume 48,
Number 2, pp. 29-36
Reprint 48209

This year's winning article discusses the ongoing struggle between highly skilled, specialized technological visionaries, whom the authors call creators, and results-oriented managers of the innovation process, referred to as stewards. The differing world views of these two groups, both of which are vitally critical to business innovation, may lead to acrimony and inefficiencies. Risk-averse stewards care most about allocating resources efficiently and responsibly, whereas creators care most about the vision and higher purpose, often seeing business concerns as secondary. The two perspectives naturally conflict, and when the balance of power is skewed, a company's ability to innovate effectively may be at risk.

Maintaining a healthy balance between stewards and creators, the authors advise, provides the best path to business innovation. Austin and Nolan offer eight key guidelines for reducing the potentially destructive impact of steward-creator conflict: retain difficult-to-manage but creative talent; balance steward vs. creator influence; cultivate "bridging" personalities; use peer review to evaluate technical work; structure the innovation process; realize that there will always be some conflict; avoid overly rigid controls; and ensure that closure on projects is achieved neither too quickly nor too slowly.

The judges felt that this year's winning article upheld Prof. Beckhard's commitment to more humane and efficient organizations: "The article addresses a management issue that is at the heart of success or failure of innovation in high-technology firms. Dick Beckhard would appreciate the authors' attention to the motivational and behavioral differences between stewards and creators, each filling an essential role in such firms. He would second the advice to their managers to recognize the inevitable conflict between the two types, and the specific advice offered on how to both alleviate and benefit from their differences."

This year's panel included three distinguished members of the MIT Sloan School of Management faculty: Schussel Professor and MIT Sloan Management Review Managing Board chairman Erik Brynjolfsson, senior lecturer Cyrus Gibson, and Erwin H. Schell Professor of Organization Studies John Van Maanen.

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