Jackson Nickerson


Adjunct Lecturer in Strategy

Jackson Nickerson

Jackson Nickerson


Jackson Nickerson is a Professor Emeritus and Senior Lecturer in Strategy at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis. His research, which can be found in the leading academic journals, has won numerous awards including twice winning the Olin Award Recognizing Research That Transforms Business. His research on pharmaceutical manufacturing, which has been discussed in Business Week, has led to tangible changes in the way the FDA oversees pharmaceutical manufacturing. Jackson teaches strategic management and leadership courses on innovation, organizational strategy, and critical and strategic thinking. His research focuses on leadership issues around why firms choose different organizational structures and the performance implications of these choices; with a special emphasis on knowledge, innovation, and problem formulation and solving. Through executive education and consulting activities, Jackson has engaged and impacted numerous organizations for industries including architecture and art, chemicals, education, finance, health care, and pharmaceuticals

Area of Expertise


Business And Government, Business/Corporate Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Management Strategy, Organizational Economics, Business Education, Critical Thinking, Leadership, Leadership Development, Managerial Assessment, Training and Development, Innovation and Growth, Statistics/Econometrics, Organizational Change and Development, Organizational Design, Organizational Strategy, Business And Government, Business/Corporate Strategy, Critical Thinking, Innovation and Growth, Law and Economics, Managerial Assessment, Organizational Design

Academic/Professional Activities


  • Editorial Review Board Member, Industrial and Corporate Change
  • Editorial Review Board Member, Organization Science
  • Editorial Review Board Member, Strategic Management Journal
  • Editorial Review Board Member, Strategic Organization
  • Board of Directors of a Company, Clean Tech Bio-fuels, Inc
  • Board of Directors of a Company, nformed.net

Awards/Honors


  • Educational Impact Award, Strategic Management Society, 2019
  • Best Paper, An Exploration of Brain Science and its Potential for Contrbutions to Strategic Management and Thinking, Academy of Management, 2017
  • Faculty Recognition Award - Executive MBA Mumbai Program, Olin Business School, 2017
  • Reid Teaching Award: Executive MBA (Fudan) Professor of the Year, 2015
  • Reid Teaching Award: Executive MBA (Fudan) Professor of the Year, 2010
  • Award Recognizing Research that Transforms Businesses, Olin School of Business, 2009
  • Reid Teaching Award: Executive MBA Professor the Year, Olin School of Business, 2009
  • Award Recognizing Research that Transforms Businesses, Olin School of Business, 2008
  • Reid Teaching Award: Professional MBA Professor the Year, Olin School of Business, 2008
  • Founder's Day Distinguished Faculty Award, 2007
  • Reid Teaching Award: Executive MBA Professor the Year, Olin School of Business, 2006
  • Reid Teaching Award: Executive MBA Professor the Year, Olin School of Business, 2005
  • Reid Teaching Award: Undergraduate required courses Professor the Year, Olin School of Business, 2004
  • Best Paper Award, Second International Business & Economy Conference, 2003
  • Governor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, State of Missouri, 2003
  • Reid Teaching Award: Undergraduate required courses Professor of the Year, Olin School of Business, 2003
  • AOM Best Papers Proceedings, AOM, 2002
  • Reid Teaching Award: Undergraduate required courses Professor of the Year, Olin School of Business, 2002
  • Marcile & James Reid Chair: , Olin School of Business, 2001
  • Reid Teaching Award: Executive MBA (HSM III) Professor of the Year, Washington University, 2001
  • Reid Teaching Award: Undergraduate required courses Professor of the Year, Olin School of Business, 2001
  • Outstanding Reviewer Award, BPS Division of the Academy of Management, 2000
  • Reid Teaching Award: Executive MBA (HSM II) Professor of the Year, Washington University, 2000
  • SMS Best Conference Paper Prize, 3rd Annual McKinsey/SMS Conference, 2000
  • UBSC Teaching Award, 1999
  • Best Paper, TIM, ASAC, 1998
  • Finalist for Free Press Award for Outstanding Dissertation Research in BPS, 1998
  • Honorable Mention Paper in Organization Theory, ASAC, 1998
  • Student Union Professor of the Year , 1998
  • UBSC Teaching Award, 1998
  • Best Paper in Organization Theory, ASAC , 1997
  • Honorable Mention Paper in Policy, ASAC , 1997
  • Hayase Award, 1995
  • LES Fellowship, 1995
  • John M. Olin Foundation Fellowship, 1994
  • Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation Fellowship, 1994
  • University of California - Berkeley University Fellowship, 1991

Teaching Interests


Business Strategy, Strategic Thinking, Critical Thinking, Management of Innovation, Visioning and Leading Change, Leadership,

Research Interests


Business strategy organization choice and performance, problem-finding and problem-solving, comparative adjustment, transaction, and opportunity costs, corporate adaptation and survival, new institutional economics, intellectual capital management, management of innovation, leadership, industrial catastrophes

Personal Interests


Professor Nickerson enjoys his family, bicycling, and woodworking.

Selected Publications


  • "Problems, theories, and governing the crowd", Strategic Organization Journal, Issue 2, 275-288, with Robert Wuebker, Todd Zenger, 2017
  • "Sailing into the Wind: Exploring the Relationships Among Ambidexterity, Vacillation and Organizational Performance", Strategic Management Journal, Issue 6, 33, 587-610, with Peter Boumgarden, Todd Zenger, 2012
  • "Diversity and Productivity in Production Teams", with Barton Hamilton, H. Owan, 2013
  • "Microfoundations of Strategic Problem Formulation", Strategic Management Journal, Issue 2, 197-214, with Markus Baer, Kurt Dirks, 2013
  • "Sailing Toward Exploration & Exploitation: Achieving Ambidexterity Through Organizational Vacillation", Strategic Management Journal, Issue 6, 587-610, with Peter Boumgarden, Todd Zenger, 2012
  • "Correcting for Endogeneity in Strategic Management Research", Strategic Organization Journal, Issue 1, 53-80, with Barton Hamilton, 2003
  • "Team Incentives & Worker Heterogeneity: An Empirical Analysis of the Impact of Teams on Productivity & Participation", Journal of Political Economy, 465-497, with Barton Hamilton, H Owan, 2003
  • "Exploring the Problem-Finding and Problem-Solving Approach for Designing Organizations", Academy of Management Perspectives, Issue 1, 52-72, with Chieh-Chung (James) Yen, Joseph Mahoney, 2012
  • "Regulator Heterogeneity & Endogenous Efforts to Close the Information Asymmetry Bap: Evidence from FDA Regulation", Journal of Law & Economics, 25-54, with John Mayo, Jeffrey Macher, 2011
  • "Does Outsourcing Affect the Variability of Product Performance: Evidence from International Courier Services", Organization Science, 892-910, with C Hsieh, G Lazzarini, 2010