Dr Alessandro Giudici

About

Overview

Alessandro Giudici is a Reader in Strategy, Head of the Strategy Group, and Director of the Modular Executive MBA at Bayes Business School (formerly Cass). He serves as elected senator on the Senate of City, University of London, and its Academic Governance and Nomination Committee, and he is a member of Bayes' Board of Studies. He is also an Associate Research Fellow in Digital Social Innovation at the University of Ca' Foscari (Venice, Italy), a Visiting Research Fellow in Impact Innovation at ALTIS - Catholic University of Milan (Milan, Italy), and a member of the PhD board at University La Sapienza (Rome, Italy). He is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Freeman of the City of London, and a member of the Company of Communicators.

In April 2020, he was included in Poets & Quants' prestigious list "Top 40 Under 40 Business School Professors" with the highest number of nominations on record (interview: https://bit.ly/3f2IRS9). In November 2020, he was awarded the ASFOR-Spina Award for "Best Under 40 Italian Business Professor" (see: https://bit.ly/37mVzbe). In 2018, he was awarded the university-wide "President's Award for Excellence in Learning & Teaching" at City, University of London. In 2014, he was awarded the 'Commendation for Excellence in Teaching & Learning' by Bayes Business School (formerly Cass).

Alessandro's research investigates the processes through which innovation can be facilitated in entrepreneurial ecosystems mainly from the perspective of 'pro-social' intermediary organizations such as (corporate and non-corporate) incubators, accelerators, venture associations, government agencies, etc. He also works on business models, particularly if digitally-enabled and/or for social innovation in emerging economies (Sub-Saharan Africa, especially), and on corporate innovation. His work has been published in the Academy of Management Journal, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, Business History, Industrial Marketing Management, Long Range Planning, and Strategic Organization.

Alessandro is currently integrating his research interests with a personal passion for social and impact-oriented organizations. His portfolio of on-going projects includes research (with co-authors) on a) the orchestration of impact innovation in sub-Saharan Africa; b) institutional rejuvenation in a large league of cooperatives via open innovation initiatives; c) pitching by social entrepreneurs to financial and impact-oriented audiences (in social incubators). In addition, he has side projects on business model innovation and digital transformation. As part of this research agenda, Alessandro was awarded a 'Pump Priming' grant [£5k] by Bayes Business School (formerly Cass) in 2016, three UKRI 'Global Challenges Research Fund' grants [£14k+£16k+£15k]; and a research grant [€6k] by Legacoop-Coopfond in 2017. In 2013, he received an RCUK-DE/NEMODE grant [£3k].

At Bayes Business School (formerly Cass), Alessandro teaches 'Introduction to Strategy and the Case Method', the core Strategy module, and 'Strategy Skills' in the FTMBA program, the core Strategic Leadership module in the MEMBA programme, and the session on 'Resources and Capabilities' on the PhD program. In addition, he has been leading the FTMBA Strategy Consulting Project since 2014/2015 and, from 2019, the MEMBA International Consulting Week (in Vietnam and Iceland) and the cross-MBA International MBA Study Tour on 'Tech for Impact' in Kenya. In past years, he taught 'Corporate Strategy' in the EMBA program (2018-2019), 'Strategy Consulting Skills' across MSc programs (2017-2020), ''Advanced Strategic Management' in the BSc in Management and Business Studies (2014-2018), and also led the International MBA Study Tour in China (2016-2018) and the International MSc Study Tour in Milan (2018). Between 2017-2019, he delivered the module 'Strategy & the Board' part of the School's executive education program for non-executive directors in collaboration with PwC.

Every year, Alessandro supervises a significant number of dissertations across programs/levels that take the form of applied strategy consulting projects or business plans in preparation for raising investment.

Alessandro serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Management Studies and of Strategic Organization. He is also a regular reviewer for major academic journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Entrepreneurship Theory & Practice, and others as well as for major international conferences. In 2013, he received the Outstanding Reviewer Award from the Business and Policy Division of the Academy of Management conference. In 2011, 2012, and 2013, he received three Outstanding Reviewer Awards in the Strategy Practice Interest Group from the Strategic Management Society conference.

Alessandro joined Bayes Business School (formerly Cass) as Research Fellow in January 2014 to work on a EPSRC-funded research program focusing on "Building better business models" under the direction of Professor Charles Baden-Fuller, Centenary Professor of Strategy, and Professor Stefan Haefliger, Professor in Strategic Management and Innovation. As part of this program, he co-developed the free resource for business model thinking: www.businessmodelzoo.com. He has also delivered strategic consulting assignments on (digital) business model innovation, most notably in collaboration with the Corporate Marketing & Sales division at Bosch Global.

Before joining the School, in 2013 Alessandro completed his PhD in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at Cranfield School of Management (Cranfield University, UK), focusing on how intermediary organizations can support entrepreneurial firms in systematically sensing and seizing new opportunities. His PhD was awarded with no corrections and with the Director’s Prize for Best Doctoral Thesis 2013.

Alessandro holds an MSc (cum laude) in Strategy and a BSc (Hons) in Management from the University of Pisa, a Master of Research from Cranfield School of Management, and in 2012 he was a visiting researcher at Mays Business School (Texas A&M University). Before his PhD, Alessandro gained industry background as a marketing executive for the UK subsidiary of a large FMCG multinational company.

Qualifications

• PhD, Cranfield University, United Kingdom, Sep 2009 – Apr 2013
• MRes, Cranfield University, United Kingdom, Sep 2008 – Aug 2009
• MSc (cum laude), University of Pisa, Italy
• BSc (Hons), University of Pisa, Italy

Employment

• Elected Senator, City, University of London, Aug 2022 – present

Languages

Italian.

Expertise

Primary topics

• Business Models
• Strategic Management

Additional topics

• Entrepreneurship & Small Business Management
• Voluntary Sector Management

Research

1^st supervisor

• Victor Schiller, Research Student

Research students

Publications

1. Giudici, A., Reinmoeller, P. and Ravasi, D. (2018). Open-System Orchestration as a Relational Source of Sensing Capabilities: Evidence from a Venture Association. Academy of Management Journal, 61(4), pp. 1369–1402. doi:10.5465/amj.2015.0573.

   [publisher’s website]

Professional activities