Strategy

This topic crystallises the reflection of the researchers of the area on the strategies of innovation, partnerships and intellectual property as well as on the entrepreneurial dynamics and in particular spin-offs, whether they are created by managers or by researchers. The researchers study the research and development policies of innovative companies, their strategy in terms of intellectual property and the valorisation of innovation, and the different forms of partnerships to promote innovation. They also pay particular attention to the issues of co-creation, co-development, knowledge transfer and organisational ambidexterity.

The performance of mergers and acquisitions depends heavily on the organisational capacity to exploit synergies in terms of scope and costs and to combine two initially distinct organisations. The work of the researchers in this area focuses on organisational issues in the integration phase following a merger or acquisition, and is particularly interested in the cooperative and identity-based dynamics favouring the combination of resources and the transfer of skills between merged companies.

The researchers are also interested in coopetition strategies (cooperation between competing companies), the way they are structured and implemented.

The work of the researchers studies the managerial practices underlying the formulation and implementation of strategy. They are part of the strategy-as-practice field and discuss the attention-based view. They focus on both local managers and company directors, and aim to contribute to a detailed understanding of the day-to-day experience of these actors, their context of action, their strategic role, and their learning of strategic action. To this end, the researchers adopt a fine-grained approach, studying the key strategic events and attentional episodes that contribute to the daily construction of strategy.