Joe Cheng 

Why did you agree to serve on the ODC board?

When Chuck Snow invited me to join the ODC board in 2015, I had just retired from the University of Illinois and was starting a new job at the University of New South Wales in Sydney.  At the time, I was directing the Australian Innovation and Competitiveness Initiative whose mission was to engage university faculty with industry collaborators in joint research designed to advance both the science and practice of innovation management.   After Chuck explained to me the mission of ODC, which aligns perfectly with my work in Sydney at the time and also with my long-standing professional orientation as a faculty member, I happily accepted his invitation to join the board.

What are your aspirations for the Community?

As the only professional association whose mission is to bridge the gap between academics and practitioners in the field of organization design, I have high hopes and confidence that ODC will accomplish its mission with flying colors and, in the process, demonstrate that science and practice complement one another in the pursuit of new knowledge and societal well-being. More importantly, as ODC grows in membership and impact, it will help facilitate a cultural change among faculty members in organization design that scientific rigor and practical relevance are equally important as criteria for research excellence which can be simultaneously achieved without sacrificing either.