Affiliated Experts

H. Kent Bowen

Bruce Rauner Professor of Business Administration, Harvard Business School

Professor Bowen’s current research focuses on: (1) developing a framework to help small companies’ general managers create superior performance and (2) establishing the principles for a science of operations--empirically derived systems models for running plants and the supply chain. A recent book, The Perpetual Enterprise Machine (co-edited with Kim Clark, Steve Wheelwright, and C. Holloway), was the result of a collaborative study of five manufacturing companies, examining how new product/process development projects are used to redefine companies’ capabilities. A recent Harvard Business Review article featured his collaboration with Steven Spear to decode the Toyota Production System. 

During his career at MIT, Professor Bowen’s research focused on advanced materials, materials processing, technology management, and manufacturing, leading to over 190 published papers and a key textbook in the field, which he co-authored. His career shift from traditional science and engineering came as he perceived changing economic conditions in manufacturing industries and a need to create more dynamic organizations that could take advantage of the available science and technology. Professor Bowen is a member of the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academyof Arts and Sciences, a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of several professional societies. He serves as a director of three public companies and two non-profit companies and is a senior adviser to three multibillion-dollar companies.