Ian W. Mackenzie

Ian Mackenzie joined the HBS faculty in January 2012. He teaches Strategy to first year MBAs (Required Curriculum) and conducts workshops on ‘consultancy skills’ for the second year MBAs. As Faculty Chair of Independent Projects, he is working to enhance the value derived from these second year projects. His research interests sit at the intersection of strategy and innovation and currently focus on how firms that produce complex technology systems collaborate with external component suppliers to align and sustain innovation.

Following his MBA from HBS in 1979, Dr Mackenzie’s career has spanned management consulting, entrepreneurial management and academia. He was a consultant and manager with the Boston Consulting Group (1979-1986), Senior Partner and Head of the European Securities Industry Practice and then Head of the European Strategy Practice for the Mitchell Madison Group (1995-2001), Director in charge of Financial Services with OC&C Strategy Consultants (2001-2004) and Chief Executive of the Think Play Do Group, an innovation management consultancy (2005-2011).

On the management side he spent seven years as Managing Director (Europe) for Thomson Financial (1986-1994) during which time he grew the business from a start up to one having six business lines spanning software, value-added networks and database products. As well as building the business across Europe he was directly involved in supporting the development of these business lines in the Asia-Pacific region.

On the academic side, Dr. Mackenzie was a Fellow at the Imperial College Business School (2005-2011). He taught strategy, organization and innovation management, principally at Executive levels and taught ‘consulting skills’ on the school’s MBA programmes. He designed, directed and taught on several Executive Education programmes. His varied research interests included the impact of information and communication technologies on carbon abatement and an assessment of the factors underpinning the success of the London Olympics construction program.

Ian Mackenzie holds B.Sc.(Eng.) and Ph.D. degrees in Aeronautical Engineering from Imperial College London. He obtained his MBA from Harvard Business School where he was a Harkness Fellow and a Baker Scholar. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts.