February 27, 2013
Submission Deadline for Proposals

March 6, 2013
Co-Author Confirmation Deadline

Mid April, 2013
Notifications of Review Program Committee Decisions

May 15, 2013
Presenter Registration Deadline

Mid-July 2013
Conference Program Available Online

September 28 - October 1, 2013
SMS 33rd Annual International Conference


Sustainability, the capacity to endure, has become a topic of global concern in recent years, but it has long been a concept central to strategic management. Though much has been learned over the years about how firms develop, acquire, and utilize resources to create sustainable competitive advantage, fundamental changes in competitive environments and in social concerns raise a relatively new and unaddressed set of issues in strategic management research and practice which present an opportunity to revisit our notions of sustainability.

Frequent significant changes in the nature of competitive business environmentshave challenged what it means to have sustained competitive advantage. Rapid shifts in the political and economic climates of multiple economies, shifting or disappearing industry boundaries, and the emergence of new technologies, including social media,have all influencedthe pace and complexity of competitive interaction. Separately and together, these dynamics have called into question established conceptualizations of sustainable competitive advantage.In recent years these changeshave highlighted the need for renewed focus onhow competitive advantage is sustained, includingthe processes by which firms utilize their current resources and make choices regarding investment in the future resources that will lay the foundation for their future competitive success.

Recently, increasing attention to ecological and social sustainability has suggested new dimensions for the concept of sustainability in strategic management research. These added dimensions raise questions about how researchers and managers can integrate social and ecological dimensions into business and corporate level strategy in a way that enhances, rather than detracts from, the creation of sustainable advantage. How is the ability to create and sustain advantage influenced by firm responses to increasing pressures from governments, customers, and other stakeholders to operate in a manner that promotes not only economic but also ecological and social sustainability? How will (or should) these concerns influence how a firm competes, the resources it creates and consumes, and the nature of the competitive advantages it attains?

The SMS Annual International Conference for 2013 will provide a forum for considering emerging and evolving notions of sustainability in strategy research and practice. The Conference invites contributions that represent original, interesting and theoretically bold research, as well as innovative empirical studies. The Conference tracks outlined below highlight a few of the potential questions and issues that can be addressed.

CONFERENCE THEME TRACKS
Track A: Sustaining Advantage
Track B: Stewardship and Sustainable Development
Track C: Social Dimension
Track D: General Track

INTEREST GROUP TRACKS

The SMS has formed different Interest Groups (IGs) that explore important subfields in strategic management. Through this Call for Proposals, each IG invites submissions for the main body of the conference in which authors address aspects of Strategy and Sustainability along with other topics relevant to the IGs’ focus. The conference program will include presentations and panels that IGs select in their topical areas, along with the selections from the above conference tracks. Submissions to the IG tracks are open to any interested party.
Track E: Competitive Strategy
Track F: Corporate Strategy
Track G: Global Strategy
Track H: Strategy Process
Track I: Knowledge and Innovation
Track J: Strategy Practice
Track K: Entrepreneurship and Strategy
Track L: Strategic Human Capital
Track M: Stakeholder Strategy
Track N: Cooperative Strategies
Track O: Strategic Leadership and Governance
Track T: Excellence in Teaching

Stand: 05.03.2013