De Agostini Endowed Chair in Corporate Strategy

Chair holder: Sonja Opper

Sonja Opper

Sonja Opper is a professor of Global Strategy and Institutions. She holds a PhD in Economics from the University of Tubingen (Germany). Before joining Bocconi, she held the position of Gad Rausing Professor of International Economics and Business at the Department of Economics at Lund University, Sweden, from 2005 to 2020. Her research focuses on the analysis of how individual effort and local institutions influence different levels of business success.

Joint Purpose

Diversification and internationalization are complex strategic decisions that require careful consideration of companies' specific resources and capabilities, as well as the competitive environment of the sector. Moreover, competitive advantage depends on the ability to adapt to various institutional environments, which differ across locations and sectors.

Companies need to address these challenges strategically, while maintaining their values and identity. To support companies in this process, Bocconi and De Agostini have chosen to establish, in 2022, the new De Agostini Chair in Corporate Strategy, a new academic position aimed at analyzing through a broad research program these complex issues.

Core activities

Research

Research activities focus on four thematic areas:

  • Institution-based strategy research: the aim is to analyze how institutional differences in different markets influence the quality of investment decisions.
  • Leadership networks and institutions: strategies can only be as good as the team shaping and implementing them. This line of research focuses on leadership networks and the factors that foster the effective implementation of corporate strategies, while reducing associated risks.
  • Interface between politics and corporate strategy: the focus is on analyzing interactions between corporate strategy and political institutions, a relationship that will gain in importance due to the rise of emerging economies with non-democratic institutions.
  • Local culture and corporate development: the aim is to study how cultural variations within a country can influence the success of corporate internationalization and diversification strategies.

In summary, the research aims to understand how institutions, business networks, politics and local culture can influence the success of business strategies in different contexts, in order to provide novel insights and tools for strategic business planning and management.

 

Communication and dissemination

In order to disseminate the results of Professor Opper's current research activities and create a shared pool of knowledge within De Agostini, the Chair will carry out seminars and events dedicated to De Agostini's key players to communicate insights from ongoing research activities.