Hosted by the SMS Competitive Strategy Interest Group
Free for Members | $29 for Non-Members
Can’t attend live? We still encourage you to register — you’ll be among the first to receive the session recording once it’s released.
Polarization increasingly affects organizational decisions often treated as separate from politics. Business leaders must consider not only whether to take a public position on sociopolitical issues or how to respond to activist demands, they also must contend with how polarization affects a broad range of strategic decisions, including hiring, investment, and stakeholder relationships.
Understanding these consequences requires perspectives from across strategy research. This 55-minute webinar brings together four scholars whose expertise spans political risk, social movements, and behavioral research on decision-making under uncertainty. We will discuss how firms make strategic decisions amid political volatility and polarization, and how activists and other stakeholders may respond. Drawing on academic research and experience in political consulting, panelists will explore these topics and respond to your questions in an interactive webinar.
Panelists:
- Daniel Blake, IE Business School
- Sinziana Dorobantu, New York University
- Kate Odziemkowska, University of Toronto
- J.P. Eggers, New York University
Sinziana Dorobantu is Associate Professor of Management and Organizations at the NYU Stern School of Business. Her interests span the areas of nonmarket strategy, global strategy, geopolitics, sustainability, and political economy. Her research has been published in the top management journals and has been recognized with various research awards. She also served as an Associate Editor at the Academy of Management Journal between 2022 and 2025. For more information, please see http://www.sinzianadorobantu.com/
Daniel Blake is an Associate Professor of Strategy and Director of the Strategy Research Group at IE Business School. His work spans nonmarket, global and corporate strategy addressing a variety of questions including: how political and institutional environments shape international investment, how social and political divisions affect firm strategy, how firms respond when relationships with governments break down, how firms and managers influence their political environments, and how geopolitical change alters the basis of competitive advantage.
Daniel’s research has been published in journals such as the American Journal of Political Science, International Organization, Journal of Management Studies, Organization Science and Strategic Management Journal. Prior to joining IE, Daniel was a Globalization and Governance Fellow at the Niehaus Center at Princeton University. He has been a visiting professor at INSEAD, ESMT and ESSEC, and he received a Ph.D. from the Ohio State University.
Kate Odziemkowska is an associate professor of strategic management at the Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto. Her research focuses on nonmarket strategy, including firms’ formal collaborations with nonmarket stakeholders, corporate activism, social movements, and their effects on firm innovation and corporate strategy. Recently she’s been exploring the anti-ESG movement and firms’ backtracking on sociopolitical commitments. She is a Senior Editor at Organization Science, and an International Research Fellow at the Oxford Centre for Corporate Reputation.
J.P. Eggers is a professor at NYU Stern. His research interests include behavioral theory (structure, decision making, cognition) and the evolution of firms, industries, and technologies.