This is an exciting time to be a Strategy scholar. Following the digital revolution of the last 20 years, we are now on the cusp of another technological revolution with AI, virtual reality, robotics, and machine learning combining to radically transform the business landscape once again. Companies—still trying to adjust to the numerous disruptions that hit them over the past 20 years—need to rise up again and prepare for the next wave of disruption. They have to do so in a political and geopolitical context that is ripe with risks and threats at every turn.
At the SMS 40th Annual Conference, we want the research community to take stock of the changes of the last two decades and then consider what the future holds and how firms can cope with a disrupted and disruptive world. The potential to learn new things in these times of change is enormous, and so is the potential for us as academics to develop ideas that will help transform our societies and world.
Conference Schedule Now Available!
We are pleased to announce the schedule for the SMS 40th Annual Conference! Click below to view a full list of Conference Workshops, IG&C Sessions, and Competitive Program Sessions, as well as a snapshot of other conference activities.
Register for an Extension of the SMS Annual Conference!
We are excited to host 7 extensions of the SMS Annual Conference this year!
These additional virtual sessions will be hosted on October 22, October 23, and November 2. Click below to learn more about the content of these sessions and register for the unique events!
Can Purpose Deliver Better Corporate Governance?
The IESE Center for Corporate Governance and ECGI are partnering to bring together leading scholars from the fields of strategy, organizational theory, organizational economics, finance and corporate law to address this question at their virtual conference on October 28-30, 2020.
Read the Welcome from the Program Chairs!
The Conference Program Chairs, Julian Birkinshaw and Costas Markides, invite you to the SMS 40th Annual Conference! Click below to read their welcome.
Interest Group & Community Workshops
Did you know that your Annual Conference registration includes access to 12 Interest Group & Community Workshops? Learn more about these workshops held from Monday, October 19 through Saturday, October 24. All workshops do require registration by September 22 and some workshops also require an application by September 2.
After careful consideration, the SMS Board of Directors has voted to hold the SMS 40th Annual Conference virtually this October instead of through a traditional in-person meeting. We approached this decision very carefully, considering the health and safety of our attendees, restrictions imposed by many of our members’ governments and institutions, and the uncertainty surrounding phased reopening plans in the UK and what that would entail for an in-person conference.
While we are disappointed that we will not be enjoying London together this year, we can’t help but marvel at how apt the conference theme is--Strategy in a Disruptive World indeed! Just as this theme has inspired a record number of proposals about how firms can cope with the challenges of disruption, so the Conference Committee and SMS Executive Office are inspired to rise to the challenge of delivering a virtual conference experience worthy of your enthusiasm. Our objective is to replicate as many in-person components as possible, using a platform that facilitates a variety of session types and multiple opportunities for engagement and networking.
We would like to recognize and thank the 40th Annual Conference Committee and all our volunteers who have already contributed so much to this conference and who will continue to create and innovate in the coming months. We also wish to express our gratitude to our members for your support of SMS. This is a critical juncture in the history of our Society, and we hope that you will continue to support the SMS with your membership and engagement, so that we can keep contributing to the infrastructure of the strategic management field.
