Associate professor Robert D. Austin joined the Harvard Business School faculty in 1997. He currently teaches the information technology (IT) module of an executive program for owner/managers and chairs the school's program for information technology executives.

Prior to joining Harvard, Dr. Austin served as a senior executive in a new business created by a major technology company, and as a technology manager at the Ford Motor Company. In his time with Ford, he worked in a variety of business units, including after sales service, parts operations, consumer credit, vehicle assembly, and technical support.

Professor Austin's research focuses on management of knowledge intensive activities. He has written on these subjects in five books: The Broadband Explosion: Leading Thinkers on the Promise of a Truly Interactive World, Artful Making: What Managers Need to Know About How Artists Work, Corporate Information Strategy and Management, Creating Business Advantage in the Information Age, and Measuring and Managing Performance in Organizations. He is also the author of more than 60 business articles and cases published in both academic and practice oriented venues, such as Harvard BusinessSchool Review, Management Science, and Information Systems Research.

He earned a Ph.D. in Management and Decision Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University. He holds an M.S. in Industrial Engineering and Management Science from Northwestern University and bachelors degrees in Engineering and English from Swarthmore College.