John Arthur Ricketts

Dr. John Arthur Ricketts is an IBM distinguished engineer. This is a top technical honor in the IBM Corporation based on outstanding and sustained achievement. As a distinguished engineer in Business Transformation Outsourcing (BTO), Dr. Ricketts does applied analytics, develops intellectual capital, and coaches others. He speaks frequently at professional conferences, academic conferences, user consortia, and executive briefings. His publications have appeared in MIS Quarterly, Interface, Information and Management, Journal of Software Maintenance, Informatica, and Computer Programming Management.

Author Podcasts

Using the Theory of Constraints in Services
from the Business901 Podcast

John Arthur Ricketts

John Arthur Ricketts is a distinguished engineer in IBM Global Services. As a consulting partner and technical executive, he deals with business and technical issues every day. His recent experiences range from Managed Business Process Services to Maintenance and Technical Support Services.

He began his career in manufacturing, where he saw firsthand the problems that Theory of Constraints was created to solve. While in graduate school, he managed a research laboratory studying computer users, and he developed decision support software for the U.S. Department of State. His graduate degrees are in information systems, with supporting fields in computer science and behavioral science.

After graduate school, John became a professor, teaching mostly MBAs and PhDs. He also taught in advanced information systems faculty development institutes. His publications have appeared in MIS Quarterly, Interface, Information & Management, Journal of Software Maintenance, Informatica, and Computer Programming Management. The IEEE Press, Wm. C. Brown, and EDP Auditor’s Foundation have published his monographs.

After a decade in academia, John returned to the business world, where he led research and development of software reengineering products for a large consulting and systems integration firm. He later became director of software engineering at a major telecommunications firm.

Since joining IBM, he has worked in solution development, service delivery, new ventures, professional development, intellectual capital development, and asset development. John has dozens of patents pending. He has received awards from the Decision Sciences Institute and the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, as well as IBM.