Laura Poppo holds the Donald and Shirley Clifton Chair in Leadership at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She earned her PhD from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, and has served on the faculties of Washington University, Virginia Tech, and the University of Kansas. Globally recognized as a thought leader in strategy, her research has influenced scholars across disciplines, including economics, law, accounting, marketing, supply chain management, public administration, and strategic management. In 2019, she received the Dan and Mary Lou Schendel Best Paper Prize from SMS.

Laura has enjoyed serving in various leadership roles for the Cooperative Strategy Interest Group, including Elected Representative-at-Large, Assistant Program Chair, Program Chair, and Outgoing Program Chair (January 2013 – September 2016). Her current research explores strategy process, with a focus on novel strategizing and the initiation of cooperation between strangers. One of these projects was nominated for best research methods at SMS (2024), while another was a finalist at AOM (MOC, 2023).

Laura’s teaching for professionals and executives guides them through the process of making complex strategic decisions, such as determining growth strategies, deciding between make-or-buy options, developing novel strategies, and assessing their company’s strategic strengths and deficits.

Candidate Statement:

Over the past decade, my research and teaching have increasingly focused on process-oriented questions, driven by the prompt: “How do managers do this?”. Now fully committed to the study of processes, I seek to engage more formally with the Strategy Process Interest Group (IG) to further develop and advance strategy process research. I aim to organize panels and workshops that: 1) explore the most novel and critical topics that should shape future research; and 2) share best process-oriented practices and materials for teaching business and corporate level strategy. My hope is that these efforts will lead to special issues in leading research and teaching outlets.