Johan Chu

Johan Chu is the Sarofim Family Career Development Assistant Professor and an Assistant Professor of System Dynamics at the MIT Sloan School of Management. His research focuses on the dynamics of social power, corporate advantage, and competitive strategies in the digital age. He explores how technological advancements reshape markets, inequality, and organizational structures.

Chu holds dual PhDs: a PhD in Physics (Artificial Life) from Caltech (1990s) and a later PhD in Management & Organizations from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business. Prior to academia, he consulted in the U.S., Korea, and China; led enterprise software ventures; and managed a global executive search firm's Asia-Pacific Consumer Practice.

His research streams include: 1) durable dominance of firms/ideas; 2) mass attention direction via technology; and 3) evolving work/organizational power in the 21st century. Empirical methods include simulations, large datasets, social network analysis, machine learning, and qualitative interviews.

His work bridges physics-inspired computational models with social science theory, addressing topics like scientific collaboration decline, corporate governance shifts, and elite dynamics. Recent insights highlight slowed scientific progress in large fields and the strategic role of attention economies.