Thomas C. Lawton

Professor Lawton is an authority on nonmarket strategy and business model innovation, particularly during corporate turnaround or in response to political risk. Much of his work explores organizational forms and strategy processes for engaging political and social actors and arenas. The research leverages institutional perspectives and extends capabilities theory beyond market settings and into the nonmarket contexts of corporate political activity (CPA) and corporate social responsibility (CSR). His research has explored and advanced our understanding of how the firm competes beyond market settings, partnering with government in industrial policy initiatives, engaging external stakeholders through intermediaries like trade associations, and managing and mitigating political risk when entering and embedding in foreign markets, particularly emerging economies. He teaches a course in International Strategy at Tuck.