Dr Thomas C. Lawton is an award-winning strategic management author, educator, and advisor. He works internationally and is Chaired Professor of Strategy and International Business, Academic Director of the Irish Management Institute, and Director of the Global Competitiveness Institute at Cork University Business School, University College Cork, Ireland. He is also Professor of Strategy and International Business at the University of Surrey in the U.K., Visiting Professor of Business Administration at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College in the USA, and an Associate at the Møller Institute, University of Cambridge.
Professor Lawton’s research focuses on strategies for stakeholder engagement and corporate risk and reputation management when entering and embedding in foreign markets. He also works on business model innovation during corporate turnaround and international expansion. He has published eight books, including Breakout Strategy (McGraw-Hill) and Aligning for Advantage (Oxford University Press), and over fifty articles in such journals as Academy of Management Perspectives, Global Strategy Journal, Journal of World Business, and Strategic Organization. He is Associate Editor of the leading strategy journal, Long Range Planning and the Strategy Matters Series Editor for Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group). His work has featured in media outlets including BBC, Business Channel, Channel 4, European CEO, Fast Company, Sky News, Strategy + Business, The Conversation, and U.S. News & World Report.
Thomas has served as a non-executive director and he has over 25 years of experience as a consultant, speaker, and executive educator. He has advised entrepreneurs, managers, and leaders on how to develop and enhance their strategic thinking and practice. He has partnered with a wide range of companies and organizations in developing their present and future leaders and charting international growth trajectories. Clients include Alcon, Bombardier, Casella, China CITIC Bank, Clancy Docwra, Enterprise Ireland, IBM, Irish Stock Exchange, China Industrial Bank, International Air Transport Association, Phoenix Group, UnionPay, United Technologies, and Volvo Group. He has been Academic Director of the global Executive MBA in International Financial Services Management for JP Morgan Asset Management. He has facilitated senior management and board level workshops, been a keynote speaker, and run executive programs on corporate strategy, leadership, business model innovation, and international business dynamics at universities and corporations in Asia, Europe, the Middle East and North America.
Thomas has a PhD in Political Science from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, an MSc (Econ) from the London School of Economics in the U.K., and a BA (Hons) from University College Cork in Ireland. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA) and Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute. He has held visiting and full-time faculty appointments at Cranfield University, EMLYON Business School, Imperial College London, INSEAD, Open University, University of California at Berkeley, and University of London.
Thomas is based in Cork, Ireland, works several days a month in London, England, and spends part of the year in Vermont in the United States, with his wife Katalin, their daughter, Méabh Alyona, and their son, Ruaidhrí James.