Tomi Laamanen

Prof. Dr. Dr. Tomi Laamanen

Tomi Laamanen is chair holder and professor of Strategic Management, Executive Director of the Institute of Management & Strategy (IoMS), Director of the PhD Program in General Management and Academic Director of the Master Program in Strategy and International Management (SIM) at the University of St. Gallen. Previously, he was Professor of Strategic Management and Director of the Institute of Strategy at Aalto University (1997-2011), Dean of the Faculty of Management (TKK, Tuotantotalous) (2001-2002) and visiting professor at the University of St. Gallen and the Graduate School of Management (GSOM) of St.Petersburg State University (2011-2013). Tomi Laamanen holds doctoral degrees in strategy and finance.

Tomi Laamanen conducts research in the field of strategic management. Special emphasis is placed on mergers and acquisitions, particularly on acquisition programs and series buyer and strategy processes, managerial cognition and capability dynamics. Professor Laamanen’s works were published in leading international journals like the Strategic Management Journal, the Journal of Management, the Journal of International Business Studies, the Journal of Management Studies, the Academy of Management Learning and Education, the Research Policy, the Long Range Planning and the Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Strategic Organization and Harvard Business Review.

Tomi Laamanen is Editor-in-Chief of Long Range Planning (2016–present), former Associate Editor of the Strategic Management Journal (2009-2015) and a member of editorial boards of the Academy of Management Journal, the Academy of Management Discoveries, the Journal of Management and the Strategic Management Journal. He also initiated and edited three special editions; on “Strategy Processes and Practices” in the Strategic Management Journal (2018), on “Business Models, Ecosystems, and Society in the Sharing Economy” at the Academy of Management Discoveries (2018), and on “Dispersion of Corporate Headquarters in Contemporary Firms” in the Journal of Management Studies (2017).

As for strategic consulting, Professor Laamanen worked with companies of various industries as chairman, board member, consultant or strategy coach. He was chairman of five companies, including the listed SSH Communications Security Corporation (2002-2009: NASDAQ: SSH) and a board member in five other companies, including Helsinki’s second largest retail bank. Among the companies he worked with are ABB, Aldata Solution Oyj, Alma Media Oyj, Audi AG, Cable & Wireless Plc, Credit Suisse AG, Deltagon Oy, Electrobit Oyj, Elisa Oyj, Eltel Oy, Emtele Oy , Fortum Oyj, Fresenius SE, Forbo AG, Halton Oy, Helsingin OP Pankki Oyj, Honkarakenne Oyj, KPMG Finland and Switzerland, Kesko Oyj, Lemminkäinen Oyj, LähiTapiola, Metso Oyj, Nokia Oyj, Nokia Siemens Networks, Orion Oyj, Ponsse Oyj, Pöyry Oyj, Sanoma Oyj, SSH Communications Security, Teliasonera Oyj, TÜV-SÜD AG, UPM Kymmene Oyj, Wärtsilä Oyj and YIT Oyj.

Particular focus in his applied research was on the Swiss private banking industry. Cooperation with KPMG resulted in seven studies that documented the state of private banking in Switzerland.

Tomi Laamanen is a member of the senior management, a Board Member and Treasurer of the Strategic Management Society. He led two special conferences of the Strategic Management Society (in Lapland and St. Gallen), managed the Strategy Research Fund (SRF), the Strategy Process Interest Group of the Strategic Management Society, and the Strategic Activities and Practices (SAP) Interest Group of the Academy of Management. He is also former Chairman of the Strategic Management Interest Group of the European Academy of Management (2013-2017).