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Laura.Costanzo@soton.ac.uk

Professor Laura A Costanzo BA(Hons), MA, MBA, PhD, FHEA, ITP

Head of Southampton Business School, Professor of Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

Professor Laura A Costanzo

Professor Laura Costanzo is the Head of Southampton Business School and Professor of Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

She holds a PhD from the University of Leeds. She has previously worked at the University of Leeds as Research Fellow in Financial Services and the University of Surrey as Lecturer in Strategic Management. She Joined the University of Southampton as Associate Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship to subsequently be promoted to Full Professor in Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship in 2016.

At Southampton Professor Costanzo has held a number of key administrative roles that were instrumental to the successful development of the Southampton Business School. As Director of the Southampton Business School (SBS) PhD Programmes, she successfully contributed to the redevelopment of the PhD programme and established its worldwide reputation by attracting 150+ high quality candidates from all continents. In the last five years, prior to her appointment as Head of School, as Head of Department she enormously contributed to the development of Department of Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (DSIE), which has become one of the very few distinctive UK academic departments in the subject area of strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship. In leveraging the interdisciplinary research underpinning the DSIE, she has been a founder member of the Centre of Inclusive and Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CISEI) and, recently, she has become the research lead and founder of the Family Business Lab. She is one of founder members of the SBS ‘Strategic Group’ playing a key role in setting out the refreshed SBS vision, mission, goals and values.

Professor Costanzo has researched in the subject areas of strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship with papers published in top ABS 3* and 4* including the British Journal of Management, European Management Review, Journal of Small Business Management, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development. Her research work presented at international conferences received international awards including the EURAM/SIMA best paper award for SMEs/International Management, BAM Strategic Foresight SIG, Emerald Literati Network Awards for Excellence for Outstanding Paper in JFRC, and a nomination for top 10 Strategic Management Society/McKinsey Best Papers (USA). She has been chairing conference tracks at international conferences (European Academy of Management, Strategic Management Society) and she has been an invited keynote speaker at international conferences on sustainability issues with a focus on entrepreneurial strategic processes. She is an active reviewer for a number of leading academic journals (Human Relations, British Journal of Management, Journal of Small Business Management, and European Management Review to cite a few). She is on the editorial board of the British Journal of Management and European Management Review, and she served as an Associate Editor of the European Management Review (2015-2018). She is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Sinergie (Italian Journal of Management).     

Professor Costanzo has extensive experience of teaching across undergraduate, postgraduate, MBA, DBA and PhD programmes. She has delivered modules in strategic management, corporate strategy, innovation management, global entrepreneurship, family business and qualitative research methods, which have covered a range of topics taught through business problems and the case study method. As an engaged scholar, she connects with business leaders and entrepreneurs for knowledge exchange within the delivery of her educational and research activities. She has examined PhD theses at top UK and overseas universities.

Research interests

Professor Costanzo is a qualitative researcher. Her research interests include entrepreneurship and strategic behaviour of family businesses and SMEs, sustainable entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, management teams’ strategic dynamics, uncertainty and intuition in entrepreneurial decision-making. These subjects are researched within different industry contexts in both developed and developing economies by applying different theoretical lens of investigation, which so far have mainly included institutional theory, institutional logics, ambidexterity, paradox, strategy-as-practice perspectives, imprinting theory, affect-as-information theory, appraisal tendency framework, narratives. 

Professor Costanzo has successfully supervised to completion 13 doctoral theses. She welcomes PhD applications on topics concerning sustainable entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, intuition and business venturing, strategic decision making and entrepreneurial behaviour of SMEs and family businesses.

Particularly, with regard to family businesses she is interested in understanding how these innovate and ensure a smooth transgenerational change, their environmental, social and economic sustainability, female leadership in family businesses, the interface between the family and business entities and how such interface influences the trajectory of the family business development, the impact of family conflicts on decision-making, the influence of the macro culture and family identity in embracing innovation versus tradition, the role of the family founder’s intuition in business opportunity’s exploitation.

She also welcomes applications on new topics to address contemporary social, business and managerial issues. Some of the latter include individual and collective well-being, business preparedness to dealing with crises, shaping the post-pandemic entrepreneurial ecosystem, individual freedom and survival. Professor Costanzo is keen in developing new theoretical paradigms and empirical approaches to research these new topics with the ultimate aim to make a contribution not only to the scholarship of strategy, entrepreneurship and management studies, but also to effectively impact on society.      

Affiliate research group

Centre for Inclusive and Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Innovation (CISEI)

  • Head of Southampton Business School (2020 -).
  • Head of Department of Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (2015-2020).
  • Director of SBS PhD Programmes (2015-2019).
  • ESRC-DTC Management & Business Studies pathway coordinator (2015-2020).
  • Member of the SBS Executive Team (2015 -).
  • Member of the SBS Small Grant Committee (2015 -).
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Articles

Books

Book Chapters

Conferences

  • MSc Global Entrepreneurship
  • MSc Family Business
  • MBA Strategic Decision Making

Perrini, F., Costanzo, L.A. and Karatas-Ozkan, M (October 2019), “A Systematic Literature Review of Social Value Metrics. Measuring the Societal Impact of Social Enterprises and the Advantages of SROI”, 18th Annual Colloquium of the Academy of Business in Society (ABIS), 29th – 30th October, Berlin, Germany.

Tunalioglu, M., Karatas-Ozkan, M., Costanzo, L.A. and Baruch, Y. (September 2019), “Understanding academic entrepreneurship and diversity through the lens of institutional logics”, Annual Conference of the British Academy of Management, 5th – 7th September, Aston Business School, Birmingham, U.K.

Rauseo, S., Costanzo, L.A. and Baruch, Y. (August 2019), “Deep Uncertainty and its Effects on Managerial Perceived Environmental Uncertainty: The Case of the UK Firms in the Context of Brexit”, 79th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, 9th – 13th August, Boston, U.S.A.

Tunalioglu, M., Karatas-Ozkan, M., Baruch, Y. and Costanzo, L.A. (August 2019), “Interacting institutional logics that shape academic entrepreneurship and diversity in the U.K.”, 79th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, 9th – 13th August, Boston, U.S.A.

Perrini, F., Costanzo, L.A. and Karatas-Ozkan, M (July 2019), “New Social Entrepreneurship Map: The Discrete Charm of Maturity. A Conceptual Integration from the Past to the Future Research”, Social Entrepreneurship Conference, University of Edinburgh, (2nd – 3rd July) Edinburgh, U.K. 

Su, S., Costanzo, L.A. and Lange, K. (February 2019), “How do tensions become salient in family firms? A paradox perspective applied to Chinese family firms”, 16th Annual Conference of the Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research Exchange (ACERE), 5th – 8th February, Sydney, Australia.

Sassetti, S., Cavaliere, V., Costanzo, L.A. and Mishra, T. (February 2019), “Be positive and rational to make effective entrepreneurial decisions, WOA (Workshop dei docenti di Organizzazione Aziendale) on Identity and Pluralism Across Organizational Studies and Practices, 7-8 February, Palermo, Italy.

Nguyen, H., Costanzo, L.A. and Karatas-Ozkan, M. (October 2018), “Organizational sustainable actions in island tourism destinations: An institutional logics perspective”. 17th GLOSEARCH Conference (Global Conference on Business, Hospitality and Tourism Research), 2th – 5th October, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Nguyen, H., Costanzo, L.A. and Karatas-Ozkan, M. (June 2018), “Stakeholders’ perceptions of sustainable tourism entrepreneurship at different stages of tourism development in the Vietnamese marine protected areas”. 18th Annual Conference of the European Academy of Management, Reykjavik, Iceland.

Tunalioglu, M.N., Karatas-Ozkan, M. and Costanzo, L.A. (June 2018), “Academic entrepreneurship and diversity through the lens of institutional logics”, 18th Annual Conference of the European Academy of Management, Reykjavik, Iceland.

Sassetti, S., Cavaliere, V., Costanzo, L.A. and Mishra, T. (June 2018), “Thinking is in the middle. Testing the relationship between entrepreneurs’ affect, cognition and decision-making effectiveness”. 18th Annual Conference of the European Academy of Management, Reykjavik, Iceland.

Su, S. Costanzo, L.A. and Lange, K. (2018), “How do Initial Set-up Impacts on SMEs’ Entrepreneurial Behaviour: Couple-Founders versus Lone-Founders in Chinese Family Businesses”, Annual Conference of Societa Italiana di Management (SIMA), 13 – 15 June, Ca’Foscari University, Venice, Italy.

Chalkias, K., Geppert, M. and Costanzo L.A. (August 2017), “The recursive relationship between entrepreneurship and institutions: An international comparative study of entrepreneurial small businesses across diverse institutional contexts”, Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Atlanta. 

Costanzo, L.A., Lange, K. and Su, S. (June 2017) “Entrepreneurial orientation of Chinese SMEs”, 17th Annual Conference of the European Academy of Management, Glasgow.  

Su, S. Costanzo, L.A. and Lange, K. (October 2016) “Institutional Impact on Chinese SMEs”, 20th Annual Interdisciplinary Conference on Entrepreneurship and Innovation, HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management Leipzig, Germany.  

Costanzo, L.A. (June 2016) “The Reciprocity of Formal and Informal Interactions across Different Management Levels”, 16th Annual Conference of the European Academy of Management, Paris. 

Costanzo, L.A. (17–20 June 2015) “Managing Dual Identities in Social Entrepreneurship: An Application of the Ambidexterity Theoretical Framework”, 15th Annual Conference of the European Academy of Management, Warsaw. 

Costanzo, L.A., Kaltheuner, G. and A. Saka-Helmhout (20-23 September 2014) “A Micro-Foundational Analysis of an SME's Strategic Renewal Process: Pro-fast's Longitudinal Case Study”, 34th Annual Conference of the Strategic Management Society, Madrid. 

Alcaraz-Barriga, J., Banerjee, B., Costanzo, L.A., Dobson, A.N.H., Jonsen, K., Kakabadse, N., Levy, O., Maak, T., Matten, D., Nicolopoulou, K., Peiperl, M., Pinnington, A., Starik, M., Tirado, F.J., Jermier and  Haertle,   (August, 1-5, 2014), “Cosmopolitanism and Ecological Citizenship: Re-Thinking the Politics of Sustainability”, PDW (accepted), Academy of Management, Philadelphia, USA.  

Chialkas, K., Costanzo, L.A. and M. Geppert (2-5 July 2014), “An international comparative study of institutional entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurial SMEs across diverse institutional contexts”, 30th EGOS Colloquium,  Pre-Colloquium Workshop,  Rotterdam. 

Lucas, I., Nicolopoulou, K., Karatas-Okzan, M., Costanzo, L.A. and G. Manville  (27– 29 November 2013), “Is the pursuit of legitimacy still an adequate response to contemporary challenges of social enterprises? Lessons from engaging with Gramsci and Bourdieu”, presented at the Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Research Centre Conference, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand.  

Costanzo, L.A. Vurro, C., Foster. D. and F. Perrini (28 September-1 October 2013) “Antecedents of institutional entrepreneurship in the informal economy: the case of the LMN”, 33rd Annual Conference of the Strategic Management Society, Atlanta, USA.  

Costanzo, L.A. (28-20 June 2012) “Is innovation in multinationals regional or global? The case of Innova-Group”, presented at the 24th Annual Conference of the Society for the Advancement of Socio-Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, USA.  

Costanzo, L.A., Foster, D. and F. Servato (26-30 June 2011) “Value-creation in social entrepreneurship: A Resource-Based View Perspective applied to social firms in the UK”, presented at the Fourth Research Colloquium on Social Entrepreneurship, Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, Durham, NC, USA. 

Dederichs, J. and L.A. Costanzo (11-14 October 2009) “Strategy Implementation in Practice: A Multi-faceted Phenomenon Consisting of Formal and Informal Ingredients” presented at the 29th Annual International Conference of the Strategic Management Society, Washington DC, USA. 

Costanzo, L.A. and J. Dederichs (12-15 October 2008) “Strategy-as-Practice: Putting Strategy into Action in a Subsidiary of a Multinational Corporation” presented at the 28th Annual International Conference of the Strategic Management Society, Cologne, Germany. 

Akinci, C., Costanzo, L.A. and E. Sadler-Smith (9-11 September 2008) “The Role of Intuitive Judgement in Strategic Decision Making” presented at the British Academy of Management Conference, Harrogate, United Kingdom. (Awarded best paper for the BAM SIG Foresight). 

Costanzo, L.A., Hales, C. P. and V. Tzoumpa (9-11 September 2008) “Facilitating Knowledge Transfer in Cross-Functional Project Teams: Exploring the Role of the Middle Manager” presented at the British Academy of Management Conference, Harrogate, United Kingdom.  

Costanzo, L.A., Perrini, F. and C. Vurro (8-13 August 2008) “A process-based view of the social entrepreneurship: The case of San Patrignano” presented at the Academy of Management Conference, Anaheim, California. 

Costanzo, L.A. (29 October -1 November 2006) “Strategic Decision-Making within The Context of a High-Tech Start-Up: A Case of Strategizing Following Organising?” presented at the 26th Annual International Conference of the Strategic Management Society, Vienna, Austria. 

Costanzo, L.A., MacKay, R.B. and S.K.Masrani (11-16 August 2006) “Organisational Renewal as an Ongoing Process” presented at the Academy of Management Conference, Atlanta, USA. 

Costanzo, L.A. (13-15 October 2005) “Determinants of Firm’s Innovativeness in A Hypercompetitive Environment: A case of Strategizing Following Organizing?” presented at the 25th Annual International Conference of the Strategic Management Society, Orlando, USA. 

Costanzo, L.A. (13-15 October 2005) “Strategic Innovation in High-Speed Companies” presented at the Conference on Managing Global Trends and Challenges in A Turbulent Economy, University of the Aegean, Department of Business Administration, Chios, Greece. 

Costanzo, L.A. (4-7 May 2005) “Knowledge Integration in Turbulent Environments: A Relational Perspective” presented at the 5th Annual Conference of the European Academy of Management, TUM Business School, Munich, Germany. 

Costanzo, L.A and O. Kyriakidou (30 August-1 September 2004) “A Network Perspective to the Study of Strategic Innovation and Foresight”, presented at the British Academy of Management Annual Conference, St. Andrews University, Scotland.  

Costanzo, L.A. (9-12 November 2003) “Avoiding the myopia of adaptive learning”, presented at the 23rd Annual International Conference of the Strategic Management Society, Baltimore, USA. (Nominated in the category of the top 10 SMS/McKinsey Best Papers). 

Costanzo, L.A (3-5 July 2003) “Knowledge creation in financial services: a process controlled by the top management” presented at the 19th Annual Colloquium of the European Group of Organisational Studies (EGOS), Copenhagen Business School, Copenhagen. 

Costanzo, L.A (3-5 April 2003) “Strategic Foresight”, presented at the 3rd Annual Conference of the European Academy of Management, Bocconi University, Milan. 

Costanzo, L.A (28-30 August 2002) “A Balanced Strategic Approach to Competing in the Knowledge Economy” presented at the Mini-Conference of the SMS Strategic Thinking interest group on “Plurality, Perspectives & Paradoxes in Strategy”, Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, Netherlands. 

Costanzo, L.A (11-13 July 2002) “Managing Continuous Innovation in the Face of Uncertainty”, presented at the International Conference on “Probing the Future: Developing Organizational Foresight in the Knowledge Economy”, Strathclyde Business School, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland.

Books

Costanzo, L.A. (2010). Cases in Strategic Management. New York: McGraw-Hill.  

Costanzo, L.A and R.B. MacKay (2009). The Handbook of Research on Strategy and Foresight. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar. (Reprinted in 2011)

Book Chapters

  1. Costanzo, L.A. (2017). The application of the ‘ambidexterity’ theoretical perspective to sustainable entrepreneurship: balancing the sustainability-development equilibrium over time. K. Nicolopoulou, M. Karatas- Ozkan, F. Janssen and J. Jermier (Eds.) Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Social Innovation. UK: Routledge.  
  2. Cavalli, A. Costanzo, L.A., Lange, L., Lubaite, S. and T. Marston (2010). The UK Broadcasting & Cable TV Industry and the Future of ITV. In L.A. Costanzo (Ed.) Cases in Strategic Management (Chapter 1). New York, USA: McGraw-Hill.  
  3. Costanzo, L.A and R.B. MacKay (2009). Introduction. In L.A. Costanzo, and R.B. MacKay (Eds.) The Handbook of Research on Strategy and Foresight, (Chapter 1).  Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.   
  4. Costanzo, L.A. and V. Tzoumpa (2009). The Role of Middle-Managers in Enabling Foresight. In L.A. Costanzo and R.B. MacKay (Eds.) The Handbook of Research on Strategy and Foresight, (Chapter 16). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.   
  5. Costanzo, L.A. and V. Tzoumpa (2007). The engaging manager and the role of knowledge absorptive capacity: an organizational life cycle perspective. In M. Ozbilgin and A. Malach-Pines (Eds.) Career Choice in Management and Entrepreneurship, (Chapter 17). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.  
  6. Costanzo, L.A. (2006). Knowledge Integration in Turbulent Environments: A Relational Perspective. In O. Kyriakidou and M. Ozbilgin (Eds.) Relational Perspectives in Organisational Studies: A Research Companion (Chapter 12). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar.  (Cited in the Academy of Management Review 2008, Vol. 33, No. 3, 776–798).  
  7. Costanzo, L.A. (2004). Strategic Innovation in Financial Services. In R. Bettis (Ed.) Strategy in Transition (Chapter 7). Strategic Management Society Best Papers Book Series. USA: Blackwell. 
Professor Laura A Costanzo
Southampton Business School, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton SO17 1BJ, UK

Email: Laura.Costanzo@soton.ac.uk

Executive Assistant Ms Sue Westcott: email S.Westcott@soton.ac.uk

Room Number : 2/4031

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