Dear STR members, I am delighted to present some highlights of the STR program, to be held in July 25-29 2025 in Copenhagen, Denmark. As usual, we prepared the STR program in eight topical tracks: Corporate and International Strategy; Organization Structure, Networks and Relational Strategies; Resources, Capabilities, and Strategic Factor Markets; Nonmarket Strategy; Knowledge, Learning and Innovation Strategy; Industry, Competition, and Strategic Entrepreneurship; Strategic Leadership, TMT, and Corporate Governance; and Behavioral Strategy. Each track features a number of exciting paper sessions and symposia. In addition, for the first time, the STR program features a number of poster sessions.
Before I get into the highlights of the program, I would like to thank the amazing volunteers that have helped me put together the program this year. First, I sincerely thank the three outstanding scholars and STR executive committee members who played a key role in developing the program this year: Olga Hawn (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), David Tan (University of Washington), and Yue Maggie Zhou (University of Michigan). They have each done an incredible job and I hope you get a chance to personally thank them if you see them in Copenhagen.
I would also like to thank the Track Organizers, who have helped us create interesting and cohesive sessions for each track. Many thanks to our outstanding Track Organizers: Cha Li (Behavioral Strategy), Catherine Magelssen (Corporate and International Strategy), Alicia DeSantola (Industry, Competition, and Strategic Entrepreneurship), Aldona Kapacinskaite (Knowledge, Learning and Innovation Strategy), Haram Seo (Nonmarket Strategy), John Eklund, Luke Rhee (Organization Structure, Networks and Relational Strategies), Jasmina Chauvin (Resources, Capabilities, and Strategic Factor Markets), and MK Chin (Strategic Leadership, TMT, and Corporate Governance).
Next, I thank each of you who signed up to review for the STR division. I am delighted to report that 1,532 scholars from 64 countries signed up to review for the division, a 21.7% increase compared to the previous year. The review completion rate was an impressive 93.1%. I am personally grateful to all the new continuing and new reviewers who volunteered their time and insights to help create an exciting program that reflects the high standards and research interests of our division.
I would also like to thank the Membership Engagement Committee member Bukky Oyedeji (London Business School) for organizing and hosting a (now annual) reviewing workshop with Catherine Maritan (Syracuse University), offering very valuable guidance on reviewing in general, and reviewing for a conference like AOM in particular.
In addition, I am very grateful for the work of a select group of "trusted reviewers," who stepped in at the last minute to provide high-quality reviews, ensuring the timely completion of the review process. I sincerely thank Aldona Kapacinskaite, Angie Fairchild, Charlotte Ren, Cheng Gao, Christine Choi, David Chung, Elena Vidal, Emanuele Bettinazzi, Heather Berry, James Westphal, Jasmina Chauvin, Jeffrey Martin, Jiayi Bao, Jin Hyung Kim, Justin Frake, Louise Mors, Mahka Moeen, Marlo Raveendran, Megan Lawrence, Metin Sengul, MK Chin, Nell Dutt, Rose Kim, Shirish Sundaresan, Sukhun Kang, Tim Ott, Ulya Tsolmon, Vanessa Burbano, Young Hou for coming through with high-quality reviews in an extremely short deadline.
Finally, I would like to thank Shingi Hong, a Ph.D. candidate in Strategy at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, for his careful and prompt work as my program assistant. I am also thankful to the AOM Staff, especially Brianna Giampia and Gabe Bramson, for all of their assistance during the past year. And warm thanks to the other STR officers –Louise Mors, Deepak Somaya, Brian Wu, and Nan Jia for their guidance and support throughout the year.
STR Submission Stats:
The STR division received submissions of 1,002 papers, 158 symposia, and 65 posters submissions in 2025. This is up 21.8% from the prior year. Continuing a trend from recent years, even more of these submissions (79%) originated from outside of the United States than last year (76%), representing authors from 45 countries. The final STR program features 471 papers, 116 symposia, and 19 posters this year.
STR Program Socials, Meetings, and Plenary
There is a lot to look forward to in this year's AOM. We hope to see you all in our in-person Business Meeting on Monday at 5pm CEST (Bella Center Hall C-C1-m1), where we will provide an overview of our activities, announce the winners of division awards, and recognize outstanding reviewers of the division. Before the Business Meeting, we will feature presentations from the Best Dissertation Award finalists (3pm CEST in the same room). The Business Meeting will be followed by the STR Social at 6pm CEST (Hall E-EN-B).
I would also like to highlight the STR Plenary session titled "Digital Meets Strategy: Will AI and Digitalization Replace Strategic Management?" (Monday 9:30am CEST at Hall C-C1-m1), preceded by the Plenary Breakfast (8:30am CEST at Hall C- C2-C). This session will be moderated by Deepak Somaya (Division Chair) and will feature an exciting roster of speakers from academia and practice: Rajshree Agarwal, Teppo Felin, Karim Lakhani, Peter Zemsky, Mette Kaagaard, CEO Microsoft Denmark & Iceland, and Eivind Kolding, Ex-CEO Maersk.
In addition, we are excited to have an STR Outstanding Educator Award session in honor of Rajshree Agarwal (Sunday 9:30am at Bella Center MR181) preceded by a breakfast social (8:30am CEST at Hall C – C4-A).
Below is a table of these key events for each access:
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Event
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Date and time (CEST local)
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Location in Bella Center
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STR 2025 Outstanding Educator Award Breakfast Social
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Sunday, Jul 27 8:30AM-9:30AM
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Hall C – C4-A
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STR Outstanding Educator Award
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Sunday, Jul 27 9:30AM-10:30AM
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MR181
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STR Plenary Breakfast
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Monday, Jul 28 8:30AM-9:30AM
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Hall C- C2-C
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STR Plenary: Digital Meets Strategy: Will AI and Digitalization Replace Strategic Management?
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Monday, Jul 28 9:30AM-11:00AM
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Hall C-C1-m1
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STR 2025 Best Dissertation Finalists' Presentations
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Monday, Jul 28 3:00PM-4:45PM
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Hall C-C1-m1
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STR Business Meeting
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Monday, Jul 28 5:00PM-6:00PM
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Hall C-C1-m1
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STR Social
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Monday, Jul 28 6:00PM-7:00PM
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Hall E-EN-B
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Of course, we have an exciting set of presentations, symposia, and workshops throughout the conference. Don't miss our showcase symposia and best paper proceedings entries sprinkled throughout our program. In addition, here are some highlights across our eight tracks that you may find interesting. All times listed are in CEST.
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Session Title
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Day and Time
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Location in Bella Center
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Chaos or Opportunity? Agility, Innovation, and the Data Economy
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Sunday 10:15AM - 11:45AM
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MR5
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Behavioral Complexity and Strategic Governance in the Digital Age: New Theory and Future Directions
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Sunday 10:15AM - 11:45AM
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Hall D- D4-m4
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Organizing for AI-enabled Business Model Innovation
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Sunday 10:15 AM- 11:45AM
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Hall D- D4-m3
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AI, Automation, and Firm Performance
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Sunday 10:15AM - 11:45AM
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Hall B- B1-m5
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The Intersection of Corporate Strategy and Strategic Human Capital
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Monday 10:15AM - 11:45AM
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Hall D- D3-m10
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CEO Dilemmas in Turbulent Times
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Monday 12:00PM - 13:30PM
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MR64/65
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Investor Influence on Entrepreneurial Strategy, Market Entry, and Value Creation
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Monday 12:00PM - 13:30PM
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Hall D- D3-m10
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Algorithms and Strategic Decision-Making
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Monday 13:45PM - 15:15PM
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Hall D- D1-m4
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Applying New Technologies to Organizational Problems
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Monday 13:45PM - 15:15PM
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Hall C- C3-m5
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Corporate Activism in a Polarized Era
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Monday 13:45PM - 15:15PM
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Hall C- C3-m6
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Surviving and Thriving in Crisis: Organizational Responses and Strategic Adaptation
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Monday 13:45PM - 15:15PM
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Hall C- C3-m7
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Local Interactions: How Micro-Geography Shapes Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Competition
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Tuesday 08:30AM - 10:00AM
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Hall C- C1-m1
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Scaling and Growth
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Tuesday 08:30AM - 10:00AM
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Hall B- B2-m7
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How can business schools retain their relevance and rethink their value add in a world of AI?
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Tuesday 10:15AM - 11:45AM
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Hall C- C4-m3
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Private Equity and Hedge Fund Activism: Ownership Cycles, Litigation, and Organizational Outcomes
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Tuesday 10:15AM - 11:45AM
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Hall B- B1-m3
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Strategic Leadership in Purpose-driven Renewal, and Transformative Change: Actors' Perspectives
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Tuesday 15:30PM - 17:00PM
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Hall C- C2-m1
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Organizing the STR program this year has been an honor for me. It was inspiring to see all the volunteers work together to bring it all together. I thank each one of you for contributing to the STR program this year and look forward to welcoming you in person. See you in Copenhagen!
Isin
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Isin Guler
STR Program Chair
Kenan-Flagler Business School
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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