Call for Papers for a Special Issue of Strategic Management Journal
RESOURCE ALLOCATION AND STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT
Submission window: May 1, 2022 through June 30, 2022
Guest Editors:
Dan Lovallo (University of Sydney)
Catherine A. Maritan (Syracuse University)
Brian Wu (University of Michigan, Ann Arbor)
SMJ Advising Editor: Brian S. Silverman
Resource allocation is a fundamental element of strategic management – whether at the corporate level, business level, or functional level; whether in an established firm or a new firm; whether in the context of a defined competitive environment or an emerging one. Despite its importance, the topic is remarkably understudied. Even when it is examined, resource allocation is often in the background of studies on other strategy topics, or invoked in a general sense, but not the focus of articles. Treating resource allocation as a background feature both underplays its importance and impedes learning about this critical management function. Treating resource allocation in broad terms oversimplifies the specific choices facing managers.
The goal of this special issue is to bring resource allocation to the forefront of strategic management research, with an emphasis on nonfinancial resources. Much of the existing research on resource allocation in economics, finance, and strategic management has examined the allocation of financial capital, which is one type of resource. However, this capital is typically converted into nonfinancial resources – physical, technological, knowledge, and human – that are relevant to a firm's strategy. The literature lacks empirical accounts of nonfinancial resource allocation; as a result, we have little understanding of the strategic choices managers make regarding the types, quantities, and combinations of nonfinancial resources that are allocated.
This special issue aims to spur research that addresses this underexplored aspect of firms' resource allocation choices, establishing an empirical base that offers insights into the complexity of the strategic choices that managers make about what resources to allocate in what combinations and for what purposes.
Further information including the full call for papers can be found at SMJ Resource Allocation Special Issue Call
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Catherine Maritan
Whitman School of Management
Syracuse University
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