Dear STR members,
I am delighted to present some highlights of the STR program, to be held in July 31–August 4, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 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, 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: Kenneth Huang (National University of Singapore), Arianna Marchetti (Singapore Management University), 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 Philadelphia.
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: Daphne Baldassari (University of Southern California), David Chung (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), Aldona Kapacinskaite (INSEAD), Xina Li (INSEAD), Marco Minervini (IE Business School), Sanghyun Park (INSEAD), Lisa Tang (National University of Singapore), and Bo Yang (University of Hong Kong).
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-up from 57 countries last year, though a 4.5% decrease in total reviewers-signed up to review for the division. The review completion rate was an impressive 90.58%. 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 members for their outstanding work this year: Andy Wu (Harvard Business School), Cameron Miller (Syracuse University), Daniel Albert (Drexel University), Naga Lakshmi Damaraju (Sonoma State University), Charlotte Jacobs (Louisiana State University), Sina Khoshsokhan (University of Colorado, Boulder), Min Jung Kim (Korea University), Bukky Akinsanmi Oyedeji (London Business School), Eugene Pyun (Rotterdam School of Management), and Gui Deng Say (Singapore Management University).
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 Alina Andrei (Texas A&M University), Melody Chang (University of Southern California), Yeyanran Ge (University of Nottingham Ningbo China), Luchi He (London Business School), Qing He (National University of Singapore), Young Hou (University of Virginia), Hyo Kang (Seoul National University), Jin-Hyun Kim (George Washington University), Derek Lief (Fordham University), Ahmadreza Mostajabi (Singapore Management University), Kaushik Mukherjee (Worcester State University), Deepak Somaya (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), May-Anne Very (IESE Business School), Haifeng Wang (Hong Kong Baptist University), Nety Wu (INSEAD), Adele Xing (Santa Clara University), Weikun Yang (Hong Kong Chinese University), Axel Zeijen (ETH Zurich), and Miros Zohrehvand (Leiden University) for coming through with high-quality reviews in an extremely short deadline.
Finally, I would like to thank Qing He (Chinese University of Hong Kong–Shenzhen) for her a fantastic job as assisting with me on the program. I am also thankful to the AOM Staff, especially Brianna Giampia and Arpan Shah, for all of their assistance during the past year. And warm thanks to the other STR officers–Deepak Somaya, Brian Wu, Isin Guler, and John Joseph for their guidance and support throughout the year.
STR Submission Stats:
The STR division received submissions of 988 papers, 148 symposia, and 40 poster submissions in 2026. Continuing a trend from recent years, 76% of these submissions originated from outside of the United States. The final STR program features 473 papers, 110 symposia, and 15 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 4:30pm (Convention Center, Room 113C), 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 (3:00pm in the same room). The Business Meeting will be followed by the STR Social at 6:00pm at Love City Brewing - a spacious craft brewery set in a historic former factory building in Philadelphia's Callowhill neighborhood, featuring an outdoor garden and food by Viva. This is the first year the STR Social is held offsite, and we think it will be a memorable evening! The brewery is located at 1023 Hamilton St and is about a 15-minute walk from the Convention Center.
I would also like to highlight the STR Plenary session titled "Core Strategy Meets AI and AI Meets Core Strategy" (Monday 9:00am at Convention Center, Grand Ballroom B), preceded by the Plenary Breakfast (8:00am at Grand Ballroom B). This session will feature two distinguished scholars: Connie Helfat and Dan Levinthal.
In addition, we are excited to have an STR Career Awards Breakfast Social (Sunday 8:00am–9:00am at Convention Center, Room 113C), followed by the STR 2026 Distinguished Scholar Award in honor of Sidney G. Winter (Sunday 9:00am–10:00am, Room 113C), and the STR 2026 Outstanding Educator Award in honor of Frank T. Rothaermel (Sunday 10:00am–11:00am, Room 113C).
Below is a table of these key events for easy reference:
|
Sub #
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Session Title
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Day / Time
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Location
|
|
16099
|
STR Plenary – Core Strategy Meets AI and AI Meets Core Strategy ★
|
Monday, Aug 3 9:00–10:30am
|
Convention Center, Grand Ballroom B
|
|
16091
|
STR Plenary Breakfast
|
Monday, Aug 3 8:00–9:00am
|
Convention Center, Grand Ballroom B
|
|
16083
|
STR 2026 Career Awards Breakfast Social
|
Sunday, Aug 2 8:00–9:00am
|
Convention Center, Room 113C
|
|
16087
|
STR 2026 Distinguished Scholar Award in Honor of Sidney G. Winter
|
Sunday, Aug 2 9:00–10:00am
|
Convention Center, Room 113C
|
|
16086
|
STR 2026 Outstanding Educator Award in Honor of Frank T. Rothaermel
|
Sunday, Aug 2 10:00–11:00am
|
Convention Center, Room 113C
|
|
16101
|
STR 2026 Best Dissertation Finalists' Presentations
|
Monday, Aug 3 3:00–4:30pm
|
Convention Center, Room 113C
|
|
16104
|
STR Business Meeting
|
Monday, Aug 3 4:30–5:30pm
|
Convention Center, Room 113C
|
|
16109
|
STR Social
|
Monday, Aug 3 6:00–8:00pm
|
Love City Brewery, 1023 Hamilton St, Philadelphia
|
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 and PDWs that you may find interesting.
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Sub #
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Session Title
|
Day / Time
|
Location
|
|
21411
|
PDW: Research in Non-Western Contexts: Challenges, Opportunities, and New Frontiers
|
Sat, Aug 1 1:00–3:30pm
|
Convention Center, Room 122A
|
|
10800
|
PDW: Research in Emerging Markets: Theoretical and Methodological Frontiers (Third Annual)
|
Sun, Aug 2 1:00–3:30pm
|
Convention Center, Room 115B
|
|
17875
|
PDW: Unbounding Bounded Rationality: Reimagining Cognition and Strategic Decision Making with AI in Organizations
|
Sun, Aug 2 8:00–10:30am
|
Convention Center, Room 106B
|
|
13176
|
PDW: AI and the Carnegie School: Collaborative Pathways to Advancing Strategy and Organizational Research
|
Sat, Aug 1 9:00am–12:00pm
|
Convention Center, Room 113A
|
|
10520
|
PDW: How Do Top Executives Think? Upper Echelons and Executive Education in Dialogue (feat. Donald Hambrick)
|
Sun, Aug 2 2:00–4:00pm
|
Convention Center, Room 119A
|
|
10127
|
PDW: Resource Reallocation: Technological Foundations
|
Sat, Aug 1 2:00–4:30pm
|
Convention Center, Room 113B
|
|
10142
|
Showcase: Machine Learning Across Methods: Expanding What Strategy Research Can Measure, Explain, and Theorize
|
Tue, Aug 4 1:15–2:45pm
|
Marriott Downtown, Room 308
|
|
10333
|
Showcase: Beyond Fads and Fashions: How to Produce Relevant, Rigorous, and High-Impact Research
|
Tue, Aug 4 8:00–9:30am
|
Convention Center, Room 112A
|
|
13097
|
Showcase: The Role of AI in Navigating Disruptive Context
|
Tue, Aug 4 8:00–9:30am
|
Convention Center, Room 113A
|
|
13224
|
Showcase: The Geopolitics of AI: Competition, Innovation, and Institutions
|
Tue, Aug 4 11:30am–1:00pm
|
Convention Center, Room 113A
|
|
16106
|
Showcase: Strategy, Innovation, and Performance in the Global Auto Industry
|
Mon, Aug 3 3:00–4:30pm
|
Convention Center, Room 120B
|
|
17869
|
Showcase: The Theory of the Firm in the Age of Generative Machines
|
Mon, Aug 3 1:15–2:45pm
|
Marriott Downtown, Room 405
|
|
20460
|
Showcase: Resilience to AI Disruption: Multi-Level Perspectives and Future Research Agenda
|
Sun, Aug 2 8:00–9:30am
|
Marriott Downtown, Room 403
|
|
10188
|
Showcase: Rethinking Management Theories in the Age of AI
|
Tue, Aug 4 1:15–2:45pm
|
Marriott Downtown, Franklin 9
|
|
14273
|
Showcase: Navigating Geopolitical Uncertainty: Should Firms in Latin America Align with a Global Power?
|
Tue, Aug 4 9:45–11:15am
|
Convention Center, Room 113C
|
|
15961
|
Showcase: Beyond the Focal Firm: The Broader Impact of Nonmarket Strategy
|
Mon, Aug 3 8:00–9:30am
|
Convention Center, Room 120B
|
|
16339
|
Showcase: Experiments with African Firms: Collaboration, Data, and the Future of Management Research
|
Mon, Aug 3 8:00–9:30am
|
Convention Center, Room 116
|
|
22373
|
Showcase: Managerial Problem Solving: New Challenges and Frontiers in the Age of AI
|
Mon, Aug 3 4:45–6:15pm
|
Convention Center, Room 122A
|
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 Philadelphia!
Nan
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Nan Jia
STR Program Chair
Marshall School of Business,
University of Southern California
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Nan Jia
University of Southern California
Los Angeles CA
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