Dr. Barrie Nault

Biography

Dr. Barrie R. Nault is Distinguished Research Professor, and director of the Informatics Research Centre (iRC) at the University of Calgary. Before moving to Calgary in 2001 he was on faculty at the Ohio State University, the University of California, and the University of Alberta. He received his Ph.D. in Management Information Systems at the University of British Columbia (1990). Dr. Nault was an Information Systems Department Editor for Management Science from 2004 to 2007 and is a Distinguished Fellow of the INFORMS Information Systems Society. He has held research grants as Principal Investigator from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) in Canada, including active projects with both NSERC and SSHRC as of 2025, as well as held past grants with the National Science Foundation (NSF) in the U.S.

His additional experience includes consulting for the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences, as a joint venture consultant for the British Columbia Systems Corporation's board of directors, as a network alliance consultant for Shell Canada Limited, and as an information systems advisor to the Canadian Cholesterol Reference Foundation. Prior to completing his Ph.D., he worked for Merck Frosst Canada Inc. (Subsidiary of Merck and Co.), and for Canadian Pacific Limited.

About Current Research

Dr. Barrie R. Nault’s current research explores how information technology influences productivity—both directly and indirectly—through mechanisms such as outsourcing, complementarities with capital and labor, transaction costs, and supply chain relationships. He also investigates ownership structures, incentive systems, membership dynamics, and investment strategies in emerging organizational forms, including alliances, networks, virtual organizations, and supply chains. His recent work includes studies on versioning strategies for information goods, market entry in e-commerce, third-party logistics, and environmental incentives for adopting new energy technologies. Additionally, he examines the interplay between information technology and macroeconomic factors such as inflation, trade, and productivity, aiming to understand how IT creates value and shapes the broader economy.

Publications

Dr. Nault has published articles in Information Systems Research; Management Information Systems Quarterly; Management Science; Production and Operations Management; Strategic Management Journal; Marketing Science; Journal of Money, Credit and Banking; Journal of Monetary Economics; and Organization Science, among others. 

For further information about Dr. Nault's research and publications, please visit his website here