Faculty and Research

Bob Simons is the Charles M. Williams Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School. During the last twenty-five years, Simons has taught accounting, management control, and strategy implementation courses in both the Harvard MBA and Executive Education Programs. During 2009/2010 he is developing a new second-year MBA course based on his latest research, teaching in the CEO program, and is co-chair (with Professor Robert Kaplan) of "Driving Corporate Performance," a one-week program for financial executives and general managers.

Simons' book, Levers of Organization Design, was published by Harvard Business School Press in 2005. In addition, he has written two other books. The first, Levers of Control (HBS Press, 1995), describes how effective top managers balance innovation and control. This book was the 2000 award-winner for Notable Contribution to Management Accounting Literature. Simons' other book, Performance Measurement & Control Systems for Implementing Strategy (Prentice-Hall, 2000), provides an integrated set of accounting-based techniques for implementing strategy.

In addition to his books, Simons' ongoing research into the relationship between business strategy, organization design, and management control systems has been published in journals and books such as Harvard Business Review; Sloan Management Review, Strategic Management Journal; Accounting, Organizations and Society; Contemporary Accounting Research; Accounting and Management: Field Study Perspectives; and Journal of Accounting Literature. His articles in Harvard Business Review are titled, "Designing High-Performance Jobs" (July 2005), "How Risky is Your Company?" (April 1999), "How High is Your Return on Management?"(January 1998), and "Control in an Age of Empowerment" (March/April 1995).

A Canadian Chartered Accountant, Simons earned his Ph.D. from McGill University. Simons has served as a consultant to a number of corporations on matters of strategy implementation, organization design, performance measurement, and strategic control. He has testified as an expert witness in U.S. Federal Court and before State Public Utility Commissions.

January 2009