PVMI is the largest and oldest international researcher consortium focused on understanding the challenges facing the global automotive industry.
In 2013, the Mack Institute for Innovation Management at the Wharton School expanded its research network through the integration of the Program on Vehicle and Mobility Innovation (PVMI). This arrangement allows the Mack Institute and PVMI to focus their expertise and rigorous research techniques on the critical questions of mobility and automotive innovation.
PVMI’s network includes more than 50 prominent scholars of innovation, strategy, technology, operations, organization, and human resources, who have conducted interdisciplinary, often collaborative, research at more than 25 universities worldwide. This network of scholars combines insights from engineering, economics, sociology, political science, and management perspectives to produce innovative, influential research; establish benchmarking standards; and probe topics across the automotive value chain. They share a commitment to gathering primary data — both quantitative and qualitative — during field research and developing knowledge of the industry context to deepen the theoretical and empirical contributions of their work.
Originally founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1979 as the International Motor Vehicle Program (IMVP), the program has been restructured and renamed as part of its incorporation into the Mack Institute.
John Paul MacDuffie is a leading researcher of the auto industry and the Director of PVMI. Professor MacDuffie is also a Professor of Management at the Wharton School and a Mack Institute Core Team member.