How Owners Shape Corporate Strategies
Management literature reveals a surprising lack of studies about the role of owners in shaping corporate strategy. "The prevalent focus so far has been on how managers, rather than owners, shape strategies," says Mario Daniele Amore, Associate Professor at Bocconi Department of Management and Technology and co-organizer of Owners as Strategists, an online conference organized by Bocconi and University of St. Gallen, and supported by Professor Guido Corbetta's AIDAF-EY Chair in strategic Management of Family Business in memory of Alberto Falck, which will be held on 21 and 22 June.
"In a time when ownership around the world is (again) becoming progressively concentrated," continues Professor Amore, "we must discuss and develop new theories about how shareholders shape strategies and affect performances. Families are a prime example of influential owners, but they are not the only ones and the conference also covers the role of venture capitalists, governments or funds."
The conference is at its second edition. After having dealt with owners' influence on growth and sustainability last year, the sub-theme for 2022 is digitalization. "New technological advancements, such as blockchain, AI and machine learning, provide new methods of contracting that may alter long-standing assumptions about the boundaries of firms and how we organize collaboration," says Paola Taricco, Academic Fellow at Bocconi Department of Management and Technology and co-organizer of the conference. The organizers for University of St. Gallen are Christine Scheef and Thomas Zellweger.
The blockchain, in particular, allows certification of ownership and the protection of property rights in a way that may support the emergence of markets for assets that were so far not easily tradable.
The aim of the conference has always been to bring together scholars and practitioners, leveraging on the large networks that both Bocconi and St. Gallen are at the center of. Given the relevance of digitalization for banks, the likes of Mathias Imbach (Founder and CEO, SYGNUM), Corrado Passera (Founder and CEO, illimity), and Pietro Sella (CEO, Sella) will share their innovative experience with conference participants.