HACKETT LABS.

01. Introduction

This website introduces the teaching and research activities of Prof. Sean M. HACKETT, Ph.D., a strategist and professor of management based in Tokyo, Nashville, and Vancouver.

As a strategist, I mix
• content knowledge about strategy, innovation, and/or entrepreneurship;
• pedagogical knowledge about teaching;
• mind, brain, and education knowledge about learning; and
• technology,
to help teams to align on objectives, key results, people, process, and technology so they can create more value, accelerate organizational growth and development, and advance their careers.

As a professor of Management my academic homes at the Academy of Management – a global, professional association for management and organization scholars – are the Technology & Innovation Management Division, the Entrepreneurship Division, and the International Management Division. I began teaching in universities in 2001.

Since 2011 I have been adapting courses, contents, and teaching and learning techniques from top-tier, global business schools for use in Higher Education and Executive Education settings.

My experiences have taught me that visible, active learning and teaching techniques connect motivated Learners, world-class Contents, and a Professor committed to continuous improvement in ways that can lead to Transformative Learning Experiences.

Why is Transformative Learning important? Because Transformative Learning enables

“a perspective shift – a new way of seeing the world – by providing us with the opportunity to become aware of the interpretations and beliefs we hold as ‘the way it is’” presenting us with “the opportunity  to critically reflect on the underlying ideas, beliefs, biases, prejudices, social and cultural embedded-ness, and taken-for-granted assumptions that constitute
1) our worldview (mental model of reality), including our worldview about ourselves, others, the world in which we live and work, and
2) our frame of reference (mindset) relative to this subject or that subject.”

– Jack Mezirow and Associates Learning as Transformation (2000)

My teaching and research interests are at the intersection of strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship, with a focus on how digitalization transforms existing businesses and makes new businesses possible.

At the center of these interests is a fundamental concern for helping students and professionals to acquire knowledge about management while improving

1) the quality of their thinking skills and communication skills;
2) their ability to make ethically-informed decisions; and
3) their ability to take prudent, principled, strategic actions in an increasingly globalized and uncertain world.

with the aim of helping learners to prepare to live a good life while improving the likelihood of being able to advance their career.

As a constructivist, I believe that humans perceive reality and construct knowledge and meaning through experiences and reflection (Elliott et al., 2000). Further, consistent with the science of learning (Ambrose, et al., 2010), I believe that the construction of knowledge and meaning by the learner “is influenced by the interaction of prior knowledge and new events” (Arends, 1998). Following Vygotsky (1978), I believe that students learn best when they get out of their comfort zones and get into the Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD), and then proceed to learn socially and with the support of a knowledgeable instructor. And, following Piaget (Omrod, 2012), I believe that cognitive processes of assimilation and accommodation of newly constructed knowledge and meaning are an essential part of the process of learning and cognitive development. Based on my experience, I believe that careful course designs and lesson plans that leverage constructivist approaches to learning, world-class contents, compassionate and knowledgeable instructors, and a robust learning management system (e.g. Canvas LMS) are essential for achieving intended learning outcomes. Finally, consistent with Grant & Baden-Fuller (2018), I believe that for deep, transformative learning to move from the classroom and into the workplace, in addition to knowledge acquisition (knowing), learners need to develop cognitive (being) and behavioral (doing) skills.

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References

Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning
works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. John Wiley & Sons.

Arends, R. I. (1998). Resource handbook. Learning to teach (4th ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Elliott, S.N., Kratochwill, T.R., Littlefield Cook, J. & Travers, J. (2000). Educational psychology: Effective teaching, effective learning (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill College.

Grant, R. M., & Baden-Fuller, C. (2018). How to develop strategic management competency: Reconsidering the learning goals and knowledge requirements of the core strategy course. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 17(3), 322-338.

Ormrod, J.E. (2012). Essentials of Educational Psychology: Big Ideas to Guide Effective Teaching. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.

Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

I also believe that anyone engaged in the profession of teaching and facilitating learning in higher education and in corporate education needs to be familiar with the following texts:

• Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by design. ASCD.
• Ambrose, S. A., Bridges, M. W., DiPietro, M., Lovett, M. C., & Norman, M. K. (2010). How learning works: Seven research-based principles for smart teaching. John Wiley & Sons.
• Christensen, C. R. (1991). Education for judgment: The artistry of discussion leadership. Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA 02163.
• Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. Jossey-Bass, 350 Sansome Street, San Francisco, CA 94104-1310.
• Tokuhama-Espinosa, T. (2021). Bringing the neuroscience of learning to online teaching: an educator’s handbook. Teachers College Press. 110 pp.
  • This book leverages MBE — Mind (psychology), Brain (neuroscience, genetics), and Education (pedagogy – “methods, practices, activities, and strategies that teachers apply to help learners achieve their maximum potential”) — science which asks the question, “What do we really know about human learning and how the brain functions, and what can be leveraged within our classrooms to better improve learning outcomes?”

I am interested in how digitalization transforms existing businesses and makes new businesses possible.

I conduct research independently and with graduate students.

From April 2018 through March 2023, I guided graduate students in their master’s level research along three broad themes: Innovation Management, Digital Transformation, and Behavioral Psychology:
• Innovation Management is a series of managerial perspectives (i.e. viewing and thinking about phenomena through theoretical lenses and frameworks), decisions, and actions focused on the innovation process which begins with the “fuzzy front-end of innovation” (i.e. trend analysis, brainstorming and idea generation) and (ideally) leads to the successful introduction of an innovation; that is, i.e. a new Product, Service, Process or Method, Material, or Experience (PSPMME) that creates value (internally or externally) and/or for which customers will pay. – S.M. Hackett
• Digital Transformation is “the use of technology to radically improve performance or reach of enterprises” (Westerman, Bonnet, and McAfee, 2014). Alternatively, “A digital transformation is the fundamental rewiring of how an organization operates, undergirded by technology and increasingly, AI. The goal of a digital transformation is to build a competitive advantage by continuously deploying tech at scale to improve customer experience, lower costs, and improve the company’s tech capabilities and ways of working.” – McKinsey
• Behavioral Psychology focuses on understanding and modifying individuals’ thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, noting the relationship between cognition and behavior.

I am a supporter of the Responsible Research in Business & Management (RRBM) network and a co-signer of the Vision 2030 position paper which means that I believe that management research should produce “useful and credible knowledge that addresses problems important to business and society.”

The way that I live my RRBM-related values is by helping my graduate students to understand that — although their focus as management researchers is on building theory — the data they use to test hypotheses comes from the “real world.” And, although the nature of research ethics demands anonymity, and although the academic journal editors in the management domain value contributions to theory over practice, as researchers — if they choose to do so — in addition to building theory they can also develop a nuanced understanding of the context from which they draw their data enabling them to better understand the “story” their data are telling. This heightened contextual awareness enables my graduate students to better target the communication of their research results to populations that are more likely to benefit from those results.

When working with graduate students, I deliberately reframe the task of designing and conducting a Master’s level research project as part of the process of leader development as a way to keep them motivated and on track to complete their thesis by the deadline. Many of my students go from having zero knowledge about how to conduct a management discipline-related study, to completing a theory-driven, deductive, quantitative, correlational study in eight months, while carrying a full course load. (I use CANVAS LMS, outlines, templates, and Gantt charts to accelerate student learning along the thesis understanding curve).

Skills acquired in the process of completing this learning journey include – but are not limited to – the following:

• Problem finding/Problem framing (i.e. problem definition) skills
• Research skills
• Project-management skills
• The ability to “toggle” between the World of Theory and the World of Phenomena. (This ability is essential for translating theory into practice that fits the context in which the professionals are/will be managing).
• Conceptual thinking skills
• Critical thinking skills
• Skills related to the design and testing of Research Instruments.
• Statistical Analysis skills
• other

Impact

• My Google Scholar Profile (Global)
• My Researchmap Profile (Japan)