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Amy C. Edmondson, PhD

Amy C. Edmondson, a Mobius Senior Consultant, is the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School. The Novartis Chair was established to enable the study of human interactions that lead to the creation of successful business enterprises for the betterment of society.

Edmondson joined the Harvard faculty in 1996 as an assistant professor. Her research examines leadership influences on learning, collaboration and innovation in organizations. Her field-based approach includes research in contexts including health care delivery, manufacturing and executive decision-making. One stream of her work has shown effects of leadership behavior on a safe psychological climate, with implications for the quality and safety of patient care in hospitals. Another stream investigates management team practices that promote effective decision-making.  

Edmondson has published over 60 articles in academic journals, management periodicals, and books. In 2003, the Academy of Management's Organizational Behavior Division selected Professor Edmondson for the Cummings Award for outstanding achievement and her recent article, "Why Hospitals Don't Learn from Failures: Organizational and Psychological Dynamics That Inhibit System Change," received the 2004 Accenture Award for a significant contribution to management practice.

Professor Edmondson teaches MBA and Executive Education courses in leadership, service management, and organizational learning, and a doctoral course in field research methods. She is the author of over 20 HBS teaching cases, including leadership cases on The Cleveland Clinic, General Motors Powertrain, Prudential Financial, Simmons Mattress Company, YUM brands, IDEO product design, and NASA's failed Columbia mission.

Before her academic career, Edmondson was Director of Research at Pecos River Learning Centers, where she worked closely with founder and CEO Larry Wilson to design and implement organizational change programs in a variety of Fortune 100 companies. In the early 1980s, she worked as Chief Engineer for architect/inventor Buckminster Fuller, and her book, A Fuller Explanation, clarifies Fuller's mathematical contributions for a non-technical audience.

Edmondson received her PhD in organizational behavior, AM in psychology, and AB in engineering and design, all from Harvard University. She lives with her husband George Daley, a physician-scientist, and their two young sons.