George L. Roth

Biographical Sketch and Research Interests

George Roth (groth@mit.edu) is a member of the research staff at the MIT 21st Century Initiative. He directs the learning history project and conducts other research on organizational learning and change. He has taught courses at Sloan (15.974 Investigating Organizational Culture, Learning and Change) which combine organizational learning skills with research methods, sending students off outside the classroom to practice their own learning skills and conduct masters thesis studies on company improvements initiatives. To help his students, George is continually on the lookout for companies interested in supporting and learning from Sloan Masters student thesis research projects.

George's current research is in the area of how managers in organizations effectively build and sustain large-scale improvement initiatives. His current research interests examine issues associated with organizational change from several different approaches:

George's activities outside of his research at MIT include consulting and speaking. He is a co-founder of Reflection Learning Associates, Inc. (P.O. Box 1405, Kendall Square, Cambridge, Ma 02142; tel/fax 617/643-0582; Email: Rlearning@aol.com). Reflection Learning Associates is a consulting firm specializing in learning histories and scenarios, and more generally in developing processes and an infrastructure that helps organizations in reflecting on their past, learning in the moment, and carrying new insights into creating desired collective futures.

George had over ten years experience in industry prior to beginning an academic career. In a variety of engineering and marketing management positions at Digital Equipment, he developed new products, planned product strategy, managed sales operations, designed business development programs, and created and managed an internal entrepreneurship program.

George holds a Ph.D. degree in Organizational Studies, an MBA degree in finance and marketing, and a B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering. He is certified in group facilitation by National Training Laboratories. Born in Germany, George has also lived and worked in Europe throughout his career. He resides outside Cambridge, Massachusetts with his wife and two energetic daughters.


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