Faculty Profile

Kim van Oorschot

Professor - Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour

Biography

Dr. Kim van Oorschot is Professor Project Management & System Dynamics in the Department of Leadership and Organizational Behaviour at the BI Norwegian Business School. Her current research focuses on decision-making, trade-offs, and tipping points in dynamically complex settings, like new product development (NPD) projects. Her research projects are aimed at discovering so-called ‘decision traps': decisions that seem to be good on the short term, but have counterproductive effects on the long term. For this purpose she develops system dynamics models based on actual project data. She also teaches system dynamics and project management to executive and master students.

Before working at BI, Kim van Ooschot was an assistant professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology (The Netherlands), in the School of Industrial Engineering. Before that, she was a Post-Doc at Tilburg University at the Information Management department, and a research fellow at INSEAD, France. From 2002 until 2006 (after finishing her PhD project), she was a consultant at Minase Consulting BV, working for large international companies like ASML, DSM, KPN, NXP, and Stork Fokker on projects aimed at improving business processes.

Kim van Oorschot has published in such journals as Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Management Studies, Production and Operations Management, Journal of Product Innovation Management, Journal of the Operational Research Society, and International Journal of Operations and Production Management.

Research areas
Project Management; Systems Thinking and System Dynamics; Decision Making & Managing Complexities; Poduct Development & Innovation.

Teaching areas
Project Management; Systems Thinking and System Dynamics.

Google scholar: http://scholar.google.no/citations?user=e575J3MAAAAJ&hl=no

Area of Expertise

Publications

Van Oorschot, Kim; Wang, Yan & Akkermans, Henk (2018)

Throbbing between two lives: Resource pooling in service supply chains

Proceedings of the Annual Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) Doi: http://hdl.handle.net/10125/50024

Van Oorschot, Kim; Sengupta, Kishore & Van Wassenhove, Luk N. (2018)

Under pressure: The effects of iteration lengths on agile software development performance.

Project Management Journal, 49(6), s. 78- 102. Doi: 10.1177/8756972818802714

Pieters, Angele; Van Oorschot, Kim, Akkermans, Henk & Brailsford, Sally (2018)

Improving inter-organizational care-cure designs: specialization versus integration

Journal of Integrated Care, 26(4), s. 328- 341. Doi: 10.1108/JICA-02-2018-0018

van Oorschot, Kim; Solli-Sæther, Hans & Karlsen, Jan Terje (2018)

The knowledge protection paradox: imitation and innovation through knowledge sharing

International Journal of Technology Management, 78(4), s. 310- 342. Doi: 10.1504/IJTM.2018.095760

Western multinational corporations (MNCs) that want market access in China have to share knowledge with Chinese partners. This may expose them to imitation, so MNCs prefer to protect knowledge resulting in a strategic paradox: MNCs have to both share and protect knowledge. To analyse this paradox, we developed a theoretical conceptual model capturing the tensions and feedback cycles of this paradox. Next, based on data from the shipbuilding industry, a system dynamics model was developed to simulate the long-term effects of sharing and protecting strategies. The results indicate that protection is detrimental to long-term success, because it undercuts the trust of the Chinese supplier and irreparably reduces innovation rates. Knowledge protection thus reduces instead of increases the ability to share (new) knowledge in the future. A sharing strategy increases imitation, but also trust and knowledge sharing by the Chinese partner, such that it enhances the MNC's innovation rate and long-term performance.

van Oorschot, Kim; Eling, Katrin & Langerak, Fred (2018)

Measuring the Knowns to Manage the Unknown: How to Choose the Gate Timing Strategy in NPD Projects

The Journal of product innovation management, 35(2), s. 164- 183. Doi: 10.1111/jpim.12383

Stage‐wise timing of new product development (NPD) activities is advantageous for a project's performance. The literature does not, however, specify whether this implies setting and adhering to a fixed schedule of gate meetings from the start of the project or allowing flexibility to adjust the schedule throughout the NPD process. In the initial project plan, managers and/or development teams often underrate the time required to complete the project because of task underestimation. Although the level of task underestimation (i.e., the unknown) is not identifiable at the start of the project, our study argues that project managers and/or teams can manage the unknown by measuring three project conditions (i.e., the knowns) during front‐end execution, and use their values to select the best gate timing strategy. These project conditions entail: (i) the number of unexpected tasks discovered during the front‐end, (ii) the willingness of customers to postpone their purchase in case the execution of these unexpected tasks would lead to a delayed market launch, and (iii) the number of unexpected tasks discovered just before the front‐end gate. Together these conditions determine whether a more fixed or more flexible gate timing strategy is most appropriate to use. The findings of a system dynamics simulation corroborate the supposition that the interplay between the three project conditions measured during front‐end execution determines which of four gate timing strategies with different levels of flexibility (i.e., one fixed, one flexible, and two hybrid forms) maximizes new product profitability. This finding has important implications for both theory and practice as we now comprehend that the knowns can be used to manage the unknown.

Walrave, Bob; Romme, A. Georges L., van Oorschot, Kim & Langerak, Fred (2017)

Managerial attention to exploitation versus exploration: toward a dynamic perspective on ambidexterity

Industrial and Corporate Change, 26(6), s. 1145- 1160. Doi: 10.1093/icc/dtx015 - Full text in research archive

Managerial attention to exploitation and exploration has a strong influence on organizational performance. However, there is hardly any knowledge about whether senior managers need to adjust their distribution of attention to exploitation and exploration in response to major changes in demand patterns in their industry. Drawing on the analysis of a panel data set of 86 firms in the information technology industry exposed to an economic recession and recovery, we find that successfully navigating an economic downturn demands more managerial attention to exploration, while leveraging the subsequent upswing requires more attention to exploitation. As such, this study contributes to the literature by providing a dynamic perspective on ambidexterity: that is, senior managers need to redistribute their attention to exploration and exploitation to effectively meet the changing environmental demands over time.

van Oorschot, Kim (2017)

Shared Space for Organizations: Enablers for Innovative Projects

Sankaran, Shankar; Müller, Ralf & Drouin, Nathalie (red.). Cambridge Handbook of Organizational Project Management

van Oorschot, Kim; Van Wassenhove, Luk N., Sengupta, Kishore & Akkermans, Henk (2016)

Have we lost the ability to listen to bad news?

The European Business Review, s. 7- 11.

Akkermans, Henk & van Oorschot, Kim (2016)

Pilot Error? Managerial Decision Biases as Explanation for Disruptions in Aircraft Development

Project Management Journal, 47(2), s. 79- 102. Doi: 10.1002/pmj.21585

Solli-Sæther, Hans; Karlsen, Jan Terje & van Oorschot, Kim (2015)

Strategic and cultural misalignment: Knowledge sharing barriers in project networks

Project Management Journal, 46(3), s. 49- 60. Doi: 10.1002/pmj.21501

Walrave, Bob; van Oorschot, Kim & Romme, Sjoerd (2015)

How to counteract the suppression of exploration in publicly traded corporations

R &D Management, 45(5), s. 458- 473. Doi: 10.1111/radm.12094

Abdel-Hamid, Tarek; Ankel, Felix, Battle-Fisher, Michele, Gibson, Bryan, Gonzalez-Parra, Gilberto, Jalali, Mohammed, Kapainen, Kirsikka, Kalupahana, Nishan, Karanfil, Ozge, Marathe, Achla, Martinson, Brian, McKelvey, Karma, Nath Sarbadhikari, Suptendra, Pinauro, Stephen, Poucheret, Patrick, Pronk, Nicolaas, Qian, Ying, Sazonov, Edward, van Oorschot, Kim, Venkitasubramanian, Akshay & Murphy, Philip (2014)

Public and health professionals' misconceptions about the dynamics of body weight gain/loss

System Dynamics Review, 30(1-2), s. 58- 74. Doi: 10.1002/sdr.1517

van Oorschot, Kim (2013)

System dynamics for project management research

Drouin, Nathalie; Müller, Ralf & Sankaran, Shankar (red.). Novel Approaches to Organizational Project Management Research: Translational and Transformational

van Oorschot, Kim; Akkermans, Henk, Sengupta, Kishore & Van Wassenhove, Luk N. (2013)

Anatomy of a Decision Trap in Complex New Product Development Projects

Academy of Management Journal, 56(1), s. 285- 307. Doi: 10.5465/amj.2010.0742

Smets, Lydie; van Oorschot, Kim & Langerak, Fred (2013)

Don't Trust Trust: A Dynamic Approach to Controlling Supplier Involvement in New Product Development

The Journal of product innovation management, 30(6), s. 1145- 1158. Doi: 10.1111/jpim.12051

van Burg, Elco & van Oorschot, Kim (2012)

Cooperating to commercialize technology: A dynamic model of fairness, experience, and cooperation

Production and operations management, 22(6), s. 1336- 1355. Doi: 10.1111/j.1937-5956.2012.01331.x

Akkermans, Henk; van Oorschot, Kim & Peeters, Winfried (2011)

Three is a crowd? On the benefits of involving contract manufacturers in collaborative planning for three-echelon supply networks

Choi, Tsan-Ming & Cheng, T.C. Edwin (red.). Supply chain coordination under uncertainty

van Oorschot, Kim; Langerak, F. & Sengupta, Kishore (2011)

Escalation, De-escalation, or Reformulation: Effective Interventions in Delayed NPD Projects

The Journal of product innovation management, 28(6), s. 848- 867. Doi: 10.1111/j.1540-5885.2011.00846.x

Van Oorschot, Kim (2018)

Går prosjektlederen i brokkolifellen?

Dagens næringsliv [Kronikk]

van Oorschot, Kim; Karlsen, Jan Terje & Solli-Sæther, Hans (2017)

Del kunnskapen med kineserne. Skal du lykkes i Kina, er det bedre å dele kunnskap enn å forsøke å beskytte den

Dagens næringsliv [Kronikk]

van Oorschot, Kim; Solli-Sæther, Hans & Karlsen, Jan Terje (2014)

Lurt å dele kunnskap?

Sunnmørsposten [Kronikk]

Karlsen, Jan Terje; Solli-Sæther, Hans, van Oorschot, Kim & Vaagaasar, Anne Live (1)

Kan du stole på din utenlandske leverandør?

BI Leadership Magazine [Kronikk]

van Oorschot, Kim; Solli-Sæther, Hans & Karlsen, Jan Terje (1)

Lurt å dele kunnskap?

BI Leadership Magazine [Kronikk]

Van Oorschot, Kim (2019)

Deadlines help project teams face pressure

[Popular scientific article]. BI Leadership Magazine, s. 16- 17.

Van Oorschot, Kim (2018)

Throbbing between two lives: resource pooling in service supply chains

[Academic lecture]. HICSS 2018.

van Oorschot, Kim (2017)

Managing the unknown

[Popular scientific article]. BI Leadership Magazine, s. 38- 39. Doi: https://issuu.com/bi_business_school/docs/bi_leadership_magazine_2017_18_e-pa

Walrave, Bob; dolmans, sharon, van Oorschot, Kim & van hellemond, stefan (2016)

Concurrent plan-driven versus sequential agile development - Keeping up appearances in embedded systems development

[Academic lecture]. International Product Development Management Conference.

van Oorschot, Kim (2016)

How do you make sense of bad news and good vibes?

[Popular scientific article]. BI Leadership Magazine, s. 26- 27.

van Oorschot, Kim (2016)

Causal loop diagramming

van der Duin, Patrick (red.). Foresight in Organizations - Methods and Tools

Karlsen, Jan Terje; Solli-Sæther, Hans, Solli-Sæther, Hans, van Oorschot, Kim & Vaagaasar, Anne Live (2015)

Kan du stole på din utenlandske leverandør?

[Popular scientific article]. BI Business Review

van Oorschot, Kim (2015)

Pilot error in management decisions

[Popular scientific article]. BI Leadership Magazine

Karlsen, Jan Terje; Solli-Sæther, Hans & van Oorschot, Kim (2015)

The role of uncertainty on boundary spanning activities in offshore IS projects

[Academic lecture]. International Research Network on Organizing by Projects (IRNOP).

van Oorschot, Kim; Eling, Katrin & Langerak, Fred (2015)

Hindsight is easier than foresight: The advantages of 'hybrid' gate timing

[Academic lecture]. International Product Development Management Conference.

Walrave, Bob; van Oorschot, Kim & Romme, Sjoerd (2014)

Counteracting the suppression process

[Academic lecture]. International Conference of the System Dynamics Society.

van Oorschot, Kim; Solli-Sæther, Hans & Karlsen, Jan Terje (2014)

Sharing knowledge or not? Innovation and imitation in shipbuilding projects in China

[Academic lecture]. Academy of Management Conference.

van Oorschot, Kim; Dille, Therese & Söderlund, Jonas (2014)

Hamburgers & Broccoli - the averaging bias in project management

[Academic lecture]. Academy of Management Conference.

Solli-Sæther, Hans; van Oorschot, Kim & Karlsen, Jan Terje (2013)

When Entry Strategy Becomes Exit Strategy: Knowledge Transfer in Innovative Shipbuilding Projects in China

[Academic lecture]. SMS Special Conference Lake Geneva.

van Oorschot, Kim; Solli-Sæther, Hans & Karlsen, Jan Terje (2013)

When enter strategy becomes exit strategy: Knowledge transfer in innovative shipbuilding projects in China

[Academic lecture]. 11th edition of IRNOP (International Research Network on Organizing by Projects).

Solli-Sæther, Hans; Vaagaasar, Anne Live, van Oorschot, Kim & Karlsen, Jan Terje (2013)

The organizing of offshoring projects: Copying with control mechanisms and trust

[Academic lecture]. 11th edition of IRNOP (International Research Network on Organizing by Projects).

Solli-Sæther, Hans; Karlsen, Jan Terje & van Oorschot, Kim (2013)

Knowledge sharing in innovative shipbuilding projects: An international case study of a triad

[Academic lecture]. 11th edition of IRNOP (International Research Network on Organizing by Projects).

Walrave, Bob; van Oorschot, Kim & Romme, Sjoerd (2013)

Fighting the bear and riding the bull

[Academic lecture]. Academy of Management Conference.

van Oorschot, Kim; Sengupta, Kishore, Van Wassenhove, Luk N. & Akkermans, Henk (2013)

Bad news & Good vibes: rational & emotional information in complex new product development projects

[Academic lecture]. Academy of Management Conference.

Pieters, Angele; van Oorschot, Kim, Akkermans, Henk & Brailsford, Sally (2013)

Care and cure: combine or collaborate? Evaluating interorganizational designs in healthcare

[Academic lecture]. Academy of Management Conference.

Solli-Sæther, Hans; Karlsen, Jan Terje, Vaagaasar, Anne Live & van Oorschot, Kim (2013)

Offshoring i partnerskap

[Popular scientific article]. Prosjektledelse, s. 8- 14.

Smets, Lydie; van Oorschot, Kim & Langerak, Fred (2012)

Don’t trust trust – A dynamic approach to controlling outsourced engineering

[Academic lecture]. 19th International Product Development Management Conference.

Smets, Lydie; van Oorschot, Kim & Langerak, Fred (2012)

Don’t trust trust – A dynamic approach to controlling outsourced engineering

[Academic lecture]. 19th International Product Development Management Conference.

Pieters, Angele; van Oorschot, Kim & Akkermans, Henk (2012)

Care & cure combined: Using simulation to develop organization design theory for health care processes

[Academic lecture]. The 30th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society.

van Oorschot, Kim; Sengupta, Kishore, Akkermans, Henk & Wassenhove, Luk N. van (2012)

Bad news & good vibes - rational and emotional decision making in complex new product development projects

[Academic lecture]. 2nd Tilburg Conference on Innovation.

Akkermans, Henk & van Oorschot, Kim (2012)

Pilot error? Managerial decision biases against concurrency as explanation for delays in new aircraft development programmes

[Academic lecture]. 3rd International Air Transport and Operations Symposium.

van Oorschot, Kim & Akkermans, Henk (2012)

Pilot Error? Managerial decision biases against concurrency as explanation for delays in new aircraft development programmes

[Academic lecture]. The 30th International Conference of the System Dynamics Society.

van Oorschot, Kim (2012)

Planning for creativity

[Academic lecture]. Prosjekt 2012.

van Oorschot, Kim (2012)

Hamburgers & Broccoli

[Academic lecture]. BI Alumni Dag.

van Oorschot, Kim (2012)

Causale diagrammen

van der Duin, Patrick (red.). Toekomstonderzoek voor organisaties - Handboek methoden en technieken

Smets, Lydie; van Oorschot, Kim & Langerak, Fred (2011)

Things Get Worse Before Getting Better: Outsourcing NPD Activities

[Academic lecture]. 18th International Product Development Management Conference.

Academic Degrees
Year Academic Department Degree
2001 Eindhoven University of Technology Ph.D.
1996 Eindhoven University of Technology Master of Science
Work Experience
Year Employer Job Title
2016 - Present BI Norwegian Business School Professor
2013 - Present CEDEP Guest lecturer
2011 - 2016 BI Norwegian Business School Associate Professor
2011 - 2013 INSEAD Guest lecturer
2008 - 2011 Eindhoven University of Technology Assistant Professor
2007 - 2008 University of Tilburg Post-Doc
2006 - 2007 INSEAD Research Fellow
2002 - 2006 Minase Consulting BV Consultant
2001 - 2002 Eindhoven University of Technology Post-Doc

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