Dear Conference Participants,
We warmly welcome you to the SMS Copenhagen Special Conference, “Microfoundations for Strategic Management Research: Embracing Individuals.” Why microfoundations? The quest to build microfoundations has become increasingly important in our field over the last decade. The fact that this Special Conference has had a record number of proposal submissions indicates that microfoundations are high on the research priorities of the strategic management research community.
The interest in microfoundations is partly a matter of a natural wish to connect levels of analysis that for too long have been separate. But perhaps more importantly, it is a matter of bringing individuals back in, of highlighting how heterogeneous individuals interact and produce firm-level phenomena, such as competitive advantage, capability, and innovation. While we have made progress in understanding these issues, many questions still remain open in the quest to furnish microfoundations for strategic management research.
The conference’s four–track program features close to 300 scholars from around the globe who are conducting cutting-edge research on microfoundations as they relate to knowledge and innovation, entrepreneurship, strategic human resources, the role of topmanagement teams and other key strategy issues. We have lined up an exceptional group of keynote speakers and contributors, including thought leaders in strategy, economics, and sociology. We feature a series of panels with leading scholars who will discuss key questions related to such micro-foundational issues as the psychological foundations of strategic management research, the role of foresight in strategic decision-making and the role of CEOs in causing firm performance.
Copenhagen is a popular international tourist destination with a youthful atmosphere, lots of restaurants, bars, parks, funky neighborhoods, and many and highly varied cultural offerings. We hope you will be able to sample a bit of Copenhagen during your stay here. We would like to thank our sponsoring institutions and foundations that have made this conference become a reality, including the Copenhagen Business School-Department of Strategic Management and Globalization, The Otto Mønsted Foundation, The Hedorf Foundation, CBS-Competitiveness Platform, and the Danish Society for Education and Business. We would also like to express our gratitude to the many individuals who volunteered their time to serve as track chairs, workshop organizers and panelists, reviewers, session chairs, discussants, and facilitators. Finally, a particularly huge thank you to the staff of the SMS Executive Office for their amazing assistance.
Nicolai Foss
Torben Pedersen
Program Chairs
