Innovation Research Lab

About the Lab

The Innovation Research Lab is a group of BYU undergraduate and MBA students working with Professor Ryan Allen to produce publishable academic research on innovation, strategy, and growth. Students are paired on real projects and mentored at a PhD-research level, with the primary goal of publishing in top-tier academic journals. We also occasionally build teaching materials (cases and simulations) on strategy and innovation topics.

Current Projects

“Leap of Faith? How Diffusion Dynamics Obfuscate the Commercial Potential of Novel Innovations” — an academic research paper investigating demand-side explanations for why many novel innovations succeed despite small initial market signals.
“The impact of firm LLM adoption on innovation outcomes” — an academic research paper investigating how the extent of manufacturing and pharma firms’ adoption of LLMs since 2022 has impacted innovation outcomes.
“The role of blended finance in African entrepreneurship” — an academic research paper investigating how blended finance institutions promote innovation and growth in African startups.
Strategy AI simulation — a non-research project building a strategy simulation to be used primarily for teaching in Strategy classes.

Current Students

Conner Rice — Research Assistant. Rising senior in Strategy.
George Bingham — Research Assistant. Rising sophomore.
Thomas Newell — Research Assistant. Recent MBA grad.
Chad Larman — Research Assistant. Recent MBA grad.
Caleb Haymore — Product Manager for AI simulation. Rising senior in Finance.

Interested in Joining the Lab?

If you’re not sure whether a PhD is a good option for you, reach out and I’m happy to chat prior to any formal lab work.

If you know you are interested in joining the lab, know that I have limited student slots. But if you’re interested it’s always worth a conversation to see what we can do! Read on below.

How to Join

Reach out. Contact me and send your resume or CV.
Pick a paper. Choose one of my papers from the Research page and come in prepared for a conversation about why you liked it
Initial Conversation. We will find a time for you to meet in my office to discuss the paper you are interested in, and your motivations for joining the lab.
Volunteer task. If it seems like a fit and I have capacity, I’ll give you a short data-collection or literature-review task (a few hours).
Trial period. If that goes well for both of us, I may then hire you for a one-semester trial — beginning project work plus lab meetings.
Final checkpoint. At the end of the trial period, we assess “fit” both ways. I assess your proactivity, responsiveness, and willingness to learn; you assess the work and grade me as a mentor.
Long-term commitment. If we both agree, you become a full member of the lab committed through graduation so I can count on you and you can help train the next cohort. If not a fit, no hard feelings — but I don’t want you to stay without committing

The Ideal Lab Member

Seriously considering a PhD in strategy or innovation.
A junior or younger (or first-year MBA), so there’s time to be trained and contribute meaningfully. Trying to join the lab a few months prior to graduating / applying to PhDs is less helpful.
Probably a business, social-science, or STEM major — business, economics, math, statistics, sociology, etc. There are exceptions, but only if strongly interested in a strategy/innovation PhD.
Has taken or will soon take econometrics or statistics (e.g., Econ 388 / 488).
Ideally, has basic coding knowledge (self-taught or through classes like CS 142) or desire and willingness to learn. You will also receive some on-the-job training in this.

The most important overall requirement is commitment and proactivity. You won’t know how to do most of what I ask — I want you to proactively solve problems and “learn how to learn”. My goal is to work with you like a coauthor, not a boss that has to tell you every task. I’ll give guidance, but you should be the driving force on your projects.

Work Structure

Rather than assigning just one-off grunt tasks, I would assign you to a specific paper or project — usually paired with another student — and your job is to push it forward, using me for support. The ultimate goal of every project is publication in a top-tier academic journal.

Benefits to Lab Members

PhD-level project-based mentorship in real academic research on strategy and innovation.
Strong letters of recommendation for graduate school for students who perform well.
A campus job at standard Marriott School undergraduate RA pay.
Practical skills in statistical analysis, coding, and the academic research process.

Time Commitment & Pay

1-hour weekly lab meeting for project updates, coordination, and training.
10–15 hours per week of project work, as needed.
Standard Marriott School undergrad RA pay.

Recommended Classes

Ideally taken before joining; some can be taken during the early stages of working in the lab.

The 7-week Marriott Research Fellows program — paid training in research fundamentals like literature reviews.
Econ 388 (Intro to Econometrics) and Econ 488 (Applied Econometrics).
Pre-PhD Strategy Seminar (Strat 585R) or other PhD-related seminar classes (business, economics, sociology, psychology).
Additional statistics and coding classes.