Rick Aalbers is a Full Professor in Corporate Restructuring and Innovation at the department of Business Administration of Radboud University. He has been a visiting scholar at Imperial College London and and The Tokyo Institute of Technology. Rick’s research focuses on organizational restructuring and innovation and revolves around corporate collaboration and innovation, corporate restructuring and organizational resilience. His work on these themes has been accepted for publication by leading international journals, including Research Policy, Long Range Planning, Journal of Product Innovation Management, MIT Sloan Management Review, Journal of Business Research, Harvard Business Review and Social Science and Medicine, among others. Rick serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Management Studies. Spearheading the theme of Responsible Restructuring, he had several research grants awarded at EU and national levels (horizon2020 / NWO) on technology and restructuring related themes. A native of The Netherlands, he holds a Masters degree in Business Administration from Rotterdam School of Management, a second Masters degree in Business Economics (cum laude) from Erasmus University’s School of Economics and a PhD in Business and Economics from Groningen University (recipient best dissertation award). Prior Rick worked as a Manager at Deloitte Consulting where he advised on strategic change.
Candidate Statement:
I am excited to announce my candidacy for the Representative-at-Large position in the Strategy Process Interest Group of the Strategic Management Society. As a Full Professor of Corporate Restructuring and Innovation at Radboud University, my research on organizational restructuring and corporate collaboration addresses the dynamic challenges we face in strategic management. My work has appeared in journals such as Research Policy, Long Range Planning, Journal of Product Innovation Management, MIT Sloan Management Review, and Harvard Business Review. Over the past years I have co-organized SMS Extension tracks focusing on behavioral biases in corporate transformation (London, Berkeley), enhancing my engagement with the Society.
My global perspective on strategy as a process has been enriched through visiting scholar positions at Imperial College London and the Tokyo Institute of Technology. In addition to my academic expertise, I bring practical insights from my industry experience as a manager at Deloitte Consulting. After earning my PhD from the University of Groningen (winner SOM best dissertation award), I have led several national and EU-funded research projects and co-founded the Restructuring & Renewal Lab, which centers on responsible restructuring. These experiences combine to shape my perspective on strategic decision-making and strategy implementation at large. I balance my professional life with family time, windsurfing and volunteering as a firefighter in my local community. If elected, I am committed to fostering collaboration within our community and facilitating discussions that advance both theory and practice in strategy formulation and execution. I would be honored to represent our interest group and contribute to navigating the gap between academic research and real-world applications in strategic decision-making.