Asli M. Arikan is an Associate Professor of Strategic Management at Kent State University. She received her Ph.D. from the Ohio State University with concentrations in Strategic Management and Corporate Finance. Her research focuses on corporate strategy; technological investment decisions; firm survival, IPO, and growth; entrepreneurial opportunities, valuation, and cognition and the relationship between intangible assets and firm performance. Her recent papers appeared in Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Finance, Academy of Management Review, and Journal of International Business Studies. She is a recipient of several research awards, including the Strategic Management Society Booz-Allen Hamilton Paper Prize and Robert Litschert Best Doctoral Student Paper Award. She is currently serving on the Editorial Boards of SMJ and AMR. Asli also has been active in the leadership of SMS’s Corporate and Competitive Strategy Interest Groups as well as the Research Methods Community. She also served on the Research Committee of BPS Division in the Academy of Management.
What initiatives have you been involved in within the SMS recently, or what is something you’re excited about that is coming up for SMS?
“I have been an active participant in the leadership teams of several IGs. In that capacity, I was part of the early development and launch of the Research Methods Community membership circle. Seeing how much knowledge we have accumulated as a field is impressive. We needed an organic platform to showcase and facilitate sharing and pollinating new ideas. More recently, I am very excited to chair the SMS 2024 annual conference in İstanbul, Türkiye. The conference’s theme is the “Strategic Management of Fault Lines, Contradictions, And Divergences” among strategic management paradigms in scholarship and practice. We especially invite proposals and workshops directly exploring the existing and emerging tensions due to geopolitics, the pursuit of values, and AI. İstanbul is perhaps the best location for this theme given its mesmerizing history, culture, and beauty.”
Please share an impactful article or book that has shaped your professional life, career, or journey in strategic management, and explain it’s impact.
“Randall Collins: The Sociology of Philosophies: A Global Theory of Intellectual Change. Belknap: Harvard University Press, 1998.
This book contributed to my scholarship in two fundamental ways. First, I realized most of the boundaries between scientific fields are porous. These boundaries are convenient for classification but also create the illusion that we can generate meaningful knowledge in silos. This porousness is most relevant for applied fields such as strategic management. Consequently, exciting work takes the constraints of related fields seriously instead of ignoring them. The second one is that intellectual creativity can flourish by having a “coalition in the mind” through internal conversations with past and present scholars. I read and learn from the prior literature in a conversational mode with an inquisitive mindset.”
When you are not immersed in strategic management, what can we find you doing?
“Like most people, my family life is paramount. Spending time with Ilgaz, my husband and colleague, and Serin, our daughter, is what I am most excited about on any given day. To add, Serin is quite a busy bee. She pursues her passions in science and research, studies classical piano, and sings as a soprano in multiple choirs such as the Cleveland Orchestra’s Youth Chorus and Chamber Choir or the Apollo’s Fire’s (a Baroque Orchestra) Musettes, in addition to being a varsity competitor in the Speech and Debate team of her high school. Ilgaz and I are usually spectators in any of those events and occasionally roped into serving as judges in speech and debate tournaments. As a family, we love to “hunt” for antique unsigned Tiffany slag-glass lamps made by Clara Driscoll of Ohio. She was an exceptional glass designer who was a creative force at Tiffany Studios, but as a woman, she could not get to sign her name on her creations, and her impact got lost in time until 2007. Interestingly, she was one of the highest-paid women of her time in the industry.”
What does a perfect Sunday look like to you?
“The day starts with a relaxed brunch and continues with a drive with no destination. We enjoy long drives in a vintage vehicle. (By the way, Ilgaz is an ad hoc mechanic intern, given the frequent breakdowns and tows to his bona fide mechanic’s shop). The rest of the day is up for grabs unless it’s crunch time and I have an R&R deadline. Then Sunday is just a workday I don’t teach.”
