Dr. Edward W. Rogers
Dr. Rogers is the Chief Knowledge Officer at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. He received a Ph.D. from Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations focusing on the role of cooperation in high tech firms. In the early 1980s he performed five years of international relief work in Southern Lebanon. Prior to returning to academic work at Cornell, Dr. Rogers operated a private consulting business focused on knowledge workers and intelligent enterprise. His research work applies game theory models to human behavior in organizations. He has consulted with a number of organizations on building conceptual transparency and leveraging collective knowledge. Before joining NASA he taught strategic management and entrepreneurship in the College of Administrative Science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville where his practical application of business knowledge was highly acclaimed by students.
Name: Edward W Rogers
Designation: Chief Knowledge Officer,
Affiliation:National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
E-mail:
Address:513 Evergreen Road, Severna Park, MD 21146
Telephone:410 421 5186
Education:
Ph.D.Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations,
August, 2000. Ithaca, NY
Dissertation: Cooperative knowledge behavior in high tech organizations: Examining the relationship between employee perceptions of the employment game, cooperative knowledge behavior and firm performance.
M.I.B.University of South Carolina, 1991 (Master of International Business)
Columbia, South Carolina
B.S.Ohio State University, 1980 (Agronomy: Soil Science)
Columbus, Ohio
DiplomaKodaikanal International School, Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, 1976
Research Interests:
Cooperation in high technology environments; decision making; organizational depth perception and organizational learning; fostering learning within organizations.
Selected Publications:
Rogers, E.W., Dillon, R.L. & Tinsley C.H. (2007). Avoiding common pitfalls in lessons learned processes that support decisions with significant risks. IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings, March 2007, Big Sky, Montana.
Rogers, E. & Milam, J. (2005). Pausing for Learning. IEEE Aerospace Conference Proceedings, March 7-12, 2005, Big Sky Montana.
Rogers, E. W. (2004). The role of perceptions of reciprocity in achieving cooperative knowledge behavior in high tech firms. Journal of High Technology Management Research. Vol. 15/1 pp. 17-36.
Rogers, E. W. & Col (Ret) Birmingham R. P. (2004). A Ten Year Review of the Vision for Transforming the Defense Acquisition System. Defense Acquisition Review Journal, Defense Acquisition University, Ft. Belvoir, VA. 11/1 p36-61.
Rogers, E. W. (2001) A theoretical look at firm performance in high tech organizations: What does existing theory tell us?Journal of High Technology Management Research. Vol. 12: pp. 39-61.
Rogers, E. W. & Wright, P., (1998) Measuring organizational performance in strategic human resource management: Problems, prospects and performance information markets. Human Resource Management Review. Vol. 8/3: pp. 311-331.
Rogers, E. W. (1998) Enabling innovative thinking: Fostering the art of knowledge crafting. International Journal of Technology Innovation, 16(1/2/3) pp. 11-22.
Sample of Working Papers & Presentations:
Dillon, R,. Tinsley, C., & Rogers E. (2009) Recognizing Near-Misses to Improve Organizational Learning: Lessons from NASA.Paper accepted for presentation at the Academy of Management Annual Meeting. August 2009, Chicago, IL.
Rogers, E. W. (forthcoming). Building the Learning Organization at NASA, chapter manuscript for book on Organizational System Health to be published by Wiley.
Day, Richard & Rogers E. (2006). ASK MAGAZINE Building a Learning Organization at the Goddard Space Flight Center.
Rogers, E. W. (2002). Measuring Organizational Communication Health at NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center. NASA Summer Faculty Working Paper.
Rogers, E. W. (2000). The relationship between employee perceptions of the employment game and their perceptions of cooperative knowledge behavior in high tech firms. Center for Advanced Human Resource Studies, Cornell University. Working Paper Series, 00-15.
Rogers, E. W. & Boswell, W. (1998). Knowledge utilization: The missing link between strategic human resource management and organizational performance. Presented at the Stern School of Business Conference on Managerial Cognition, New York, NY.
Achievements & Awards:
Numerous NASA achievement awards, appeared on TV news and talk shows and in newspaper interviews. Reviewer for Academy of Management and other academic journals and books. Authored several case studies. Darden produced two case studies about Dr. Rogers work at NAS. He is a frequent guest lecturer in MBA classes in the DC area including University of Maryland, Georgetown University and Johns Hopkins University. He is a Visiting Professor at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad and teaches a graduate course in Critical Thinking at George Washington University.
Other Personal Information:
While an undergraduate at the Ohio State University, Dr. Rogers performed six months of research at ICRISAT outside Hyderabad for an Honors Research Project on Intercropping Methodologies to increase yields in semi-arid tropical regions. He won a selection as a NASA Summer Faculty Fellowship in 2002 and joined NASA a year later in May of 2003.
The son of a physicist, Dr. Rogers grew up in Saudi Arabia during the 60’s and 70’s. He attended boarding school in India and traveled the world extensively. He later supervised relief work in Lebanon and remains interested in international cooperation. Now an employee of the US Government, he continues to write case studies used in NASA wide training helping to shape the future culture of the Space Agency.
Work on Knowledge Management:
Dr. Rogers has been writing about knowledge management since 1995 when he left working (on contract) for Proctor & Gamble to pursue a Ph.D. at Cornell. With KM being a relatively new field in academics at the time, he forged thinking about the human side of organizational learning into the need to focus on practice for managing knowledge. With his background in game theory, Dr. Rogers is a strong proponent of the view that knowledge management and organizational learning are two sides of the same coin and that an effective approach to either must take into account the issues and challenges of both. During six years at NASA he has built a reputation for clear thinking and practical application of methods that enhance the organization’s ability to succeed. He introduced a suite of learning practices at NASA that are helping to build a future culture geared for long-term mission success. In his presentation he will share both how the practices work together to build learning and the story of how he accomplished these changes at NASA.