Thomas C. Lawton is Professor of Strategy and International Business at University College Cork. He is a field-shaping scholar in strategic management and international business, specializing in nonmarket strategy, strategic foresight, and business model innovation. His award-winning research examines how companies develop anticipatory capabilities to navigate disruptions and risks arising from technological transformation, regulatory fragmentation, and global political volatility. Integrating and advancing real options theory, institutional analysis, and political capabilities, his work bridges the gap between academic rigor and executive relevance across developed and emerging markets.
He has published over 60 peer-reviewed papers and eight books, including Breakout Strategy (McGraw-Hill) and Aligning for Advantage (Oxford University Press). He is co-editor of the Cambridge Handbook of Nonmarket Strategy in a Global Context. His work has appeared in top-tier journals, including Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of Management Studies, Global Strategy Journal, Journal of International Business Studies, and Journal of World Business.
As Editor-in-Chief of Long Range Planning (AJG 4/ABDC A*), Professor Lawton has strategically repositioned the journal, elevated its impact and ranking, broadened editorial diversity, and enhanced future-oriented research. He has commissioned and curated pioneering strategy special issues on themes including corporate purpose, diversification in the digital age, platform multinationals in the global digital economy, and strategizing for sustainable business model innovation. He serves on the editorial boards of Academy of Management Perspectives, Global Strategy Journal, International Business Review, and Management International Review.