I am an Assistant Professor of Strategic Management at the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto. I completed my Ph.D. at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. My research focuses on cooperative strategy—formal interorganizational relationships such as alliances or collaborations—in nonmarket settings. More specifically, I study how and when strategically aligning with often-adversarial stakeholders, such as social activists, NGOs, and local communities can benefit firms, and the implications for stakeholders and society. My research explains why cooperative strategy is an increasingly popular approach to managing nonmarket stakeholders, when and why existing theories of interorganizational relationships fail in nonmarket settings, and the critical role conflict and networks play in cooperative nonmarket strategy. In newer projects, I explore how cooperative and conflictual stakeholder relationships affect firm innovation, returns to corporate scope expansion, and political strategies.
I serve on the Editorial Boards of the Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, and the Strategic Management Journal, and am a member of the OMT Research Committee at the Academy of Management. Prior to joining Rotman, I spent three years at Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business, and prior to academia, I worked in private, public and non-profit sectors.