MIT-Zaragoza Speakers Series: Jens O. Riis

Prof. Jens O. Riis
Center for Industrial Production, Aalborg University
Professor of Industrial Management Systems, Ph.D., Aalborg University.

"The Interactive Firm – Towards a New Paradigm. A framework for the strategic positioning of the industrial company of the future"

This conference discusses the characteristics of the future industrial company, which we shall call the Interactive Firm, and the challenges awaiting it down the road. To this end, a framework for the strategic positioning of tomorrow’s industrial company will be proposed. In order to illustrate that the Interactive Firm may take on different forms, three archetypal, future-oriented firms have been identified and tested in a panel of industrial managers to flesh out this framework, thus providing a more detailed picture of the strategic roles and functioning of the Interactive Firm. Individual firms may use the framework as a guide to position themselves in the industrial climate of the future. The framework also includes five different strategic production roles that an industrial firm should consider.

Bio

Professor Riis holds a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering with specialization in Industrial Engineering from the Technical University of Denmark (1964), and a Ph.D. in Operations Research from the University of Pennsylvania, USA (1968).
Dr. Riis has published articles and books in the field of Project Management, Industrial Management, Design of Production Management Systems, and Management of Technology, and is now Deputy Director of a new research Center for Industrial Production at the Aalborg University. Since its start, Professor Riis has been the director of the post-experience Master’s Program on Management of Technology that emphasizes the integration of business development, appropriate technology development and application, and organizational design and development.
Nils studied part time for a B.S. degree in computer science at Molde College (Norway), and holds a Ph.D. in operations management from University of Pennsylvania.