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Sen Chai

Title: 
Associate Professor, Strategy & Organization; Desautels Faculty Scholar
Sen Chai
Contact Information
Email address: 
sen.chai [at] mcgill.ca
Alternate email address: 
nicoleta.anton [at] mcgill.ca
Address: 

Bronfman Building []
1001 rue Sherbrooke Ouest
Montreal, Quebec
Canada
H3A 1G5

Degree(s): 
  • DoctorateÌýin Technology and Operations Management -ÌýHarvard Business SchoolÌý
  • MasterÌýin Management Science and Engineering -ÌýStanford UniversityÌý
  • BachelorÌýin Electrical Engineering w/Ìýminor in Management -ÌýÂ鶹ÉçÌý
Area(s): 
Strategy & Organization
Teaching areas: 

Innovation, Strategy, Entrepreneurship

Building ID: 
Bronfman
Biography: 

Sen CHAI is an associate professor of Strategy and Organization at Â鶹Éç's Desautels Faculty of Management and a Desautels Faculty Scholar.

Sen’s research examines the entire lifecycle of creative innovation—from idea conception to commercialization—with the aim of helping managers and policymakers better support innovation while anticipating, avoiding, and managing failure.ÌýHer current projects include studying the role of anticipation in failure management in crowdfunding campaigns, investigating how multi-segmented nascent industries emerge and legitimize themselves as well as exploring how AI tools affect idea generation in research.Ìý

Prior to Â鶹Éç, Sen taught at ESSEC Business School in Paris and completed a post doctoral fellowship at the National Bureau of Economic Research in Cambridge, MA. Before her doctoral studies, she worked in the San Francisco and Seattle offices of Deloitte Consulting LLP helping clients optimize their business processes. She has also passed all three levels of the CFA curriculum.

Sen grew up in Paris, NYC and Montreal, and is also fluent in French and Mandarin. She enjoys sailing and traveling during her free time.

Courses: 
  • MGPO 460 - Managing Innovation
  • BUSA 465 - TechnologicalÌýEntrepreneurship
  • MGPO 630 - Managing Strategy & Innovation
Curriculum vitae: 
PDF icon schai_academic_cv_0626_online.pdf
Group: 
Faculty
Tenured & Tenure Track
Research areas: 
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Innovation Management
Knowledge Strategy
Technology & Innovation
Selected publications: 
  • Tröbinger, M.,ÌýDoshi, A.,ÌýandÌýChai, S.Ìý(2026). ÌýResearch Policy,Ìý55(8).
  • Chai, S., Doshi, A., Silvestri, L. and Zuzul, T. (2026).Ìý.ÌýAdministrative Science Quarterly.Ìý
  • Zhou, S., Chai, S. and Freeman, R. (2024). .ÌýResearch Policy, 53(1).
  • Chai, S., Doshi, A. and Silvestri, L. (2022). Organization Science, 33(3), pp. 1068-1093.
  • Mell, J.N., Jang, S. and Chai, S. (2021). Organization Science, 32(3), pp. 731-751.
  • Chai, S. and Menon, A. (2019). Research Policy, 48(3), pp. 733-747.
  • Chai, S. and Freeman, R. (2019). Strategic Management Journal, 40(13), pp. 2138-2164.
  • Chai, S. (2017). Organization Science, 28(3), pp. 411-428.
  • Chai, S. and Shih, W. (2016). Research Policy, 45(1), pp. 148-158.
  • Chai, S. and Shih, W. (2016). MIT Sloan Management Review, 58(2), pp. 57-61.
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