SMS Special Conference in Tel Aviv

At the heels of the recent financial crises, nations and corporations seek policies and strategies that drive innovation, entrepreneurship and growth. Policy makers, business practitioners and academics attempt to uncover the strategies and best practices that can revitalize the economy. Old strategies are revisited while new strategies are evaluated in an effort to restart the economy and leave the crisis behind. Startup firms are formed with the aim of introducing innovative solutions while established firms attempt to leverage their market access. In this pursuit for entrepreneurial drivers, nations and corporations seek to cooperate and coordinate their policies and strategies in order to recover and reengage in business development. Startup and restart strategies are needed to cope with these challenges and opportunities. How can corporations facilitate innovation and harness an entrepreneurial spirit? How can startup firms in various parts of the world achieve leadership positions in international markets? How can startup firms organize their operations and establish supportive infrastructures of investors, business partners, suppliers and customers that enable them to enhance efficiency and performance? What common challenges do developing countries face in nurturing multinational corporations? What business practices support innovation and enhance firms’ positions in international markets? What roles do interfirm cooperation and coordination serve in the economic development of corporations and nations? These important questions have captured the attention of strategy scholars and business practitioners interested in capitalizing on the opportunities that await countries and corporations beyond the economic recovery.

This special SMS conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, will bring together academics, practitioners, and consultants in an effort to contemplate how entrepreneurs, corporations and nations can leverage cooperation and coordination in order to revitalize their operations, initiate growth, and bring innovation to international markets. The conference theme “Startup and Restart Strategies” underscores both the challenges and opportunities that startup firms and corporations face when seeking to foster innovation, commercialization and global market reach following a period of economic setback. The conference seeks to explore ideas and deliver cutting-edge knowledge in areas of organization, collaboration, entrepreneurship, and international business that shed light on this phenomenon. The Tel Aviv special SMS conference calls for relevant conceptual and empirical contributions from various parts of the world that can facilitate conversation and scholarly debate, and inform academic thought and practice.

The conference combines four competitive tracks with plenary keynote sessions, a practice track, a doctoral consortium and academic development workshops that together promote the theme of startup and restart strategies. The competitive tracks align broadly with the domains of the Competitive Strategy, Corporate Strategy, Global Strategy, Knowledge and Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Strategy, and Cooperative Strategies interest groups of SMS.