Student 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 goal of publishing in top-tier academic journals.

Current Projects

“Leap of Faith? How Diffusion Dynamics Obfuscate the Commercial Potential of Novel Innovations” — a demand-side explanation for why many novel innovations succeed despite small initial market signals.
Blended Finance & Follow-On Growth — whether blended finance spurs follow-on growth for development-focused ventures in Africa (e.g., solar).

Current Students

Conner Rice — rising senior, Business Strategy.
George Bingham — rising sophomore, targeting Business Strategy.
Thomas Newell — BYU alum and Kellogg MBA, targeting PhD applications.

For Prospective Members

How to Join

Reach out. Contact me and send your resume or CV.
Pick a paper. Choose one from the Research page and come in for a conversation about why you liked it and your goals.
Volunteer task. If it’s a fit and I have capacity, I’ll give you a short data-collection or literature-review task (a few hours).
Trial period. I may then hire you for a one-semester trial — projects plus lab meetings.
Mutual fit check. I assess your proactivity, responsiveness, and willingness to learn; you assess the work and grade me as a mentor.
Long-term commitment. If both sides agree, you become a full member 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 Student

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.
A business, social-science, or STEM major — business, economics, math, statistics, sociology, etc.
Has taken basic econometrics or statistics (e.g., Econ 388 / 488).
Has basic coding knowledge (self-taught or a class like CS 142).

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

Work Structure

Rather than grunt tasks AI can do, I 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 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 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.