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Francisco Polidoro

Professor

Department:     Management

Additional Titles:     College of Business Administration Foundation Advisory Council Centennial Fellow Deputy Editor and Senior Editor, Organization Science

Industry Areas:     Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals, Product Development

Research Areas:     Knowledge Management, Social Networks, Strategic Alliances, Strategic Management, Technology & Innovation Mgmt, Venture Capital

Francisco Polidoro Jr. is a professor of management at The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business. Polidoro has taught courses on technology strategy, technology transfer in the global economy, general management and strategy, and special issues in strategic management. Prior to working at McCombs, he taught corporate strategy and special issues in strategy at the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.

Polidoro has established himself as an esteemed researcher of strategic management, having won many international awards and honors for his work on technology strategy, technology and innovation management, entrepreneurship and innovation, social networks, and corporate venture capital. His research has appeared in the most prestigious management journals, including Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, and Strategic Management Journal. In addition to being invited to speak in major international conferences in the field of strategic management, he has also been invited to present his research at numerous institutions in the U.S., Europe, and Asia, including Cornell University, Imperial College London, INSEAD, Johns Hopkins University, London Business School, Seoul National University, Singapore National University, Stanford University, and University of Pennsylvania. 

Along with his academic interests in strategic management, Polidoro has an extensive history in the field of biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, as well as sociology in drug discovery and development, with his expertise noted in research media such as Lab Manager, Pharmafile, and Big Think. Before his career in research and teaching, Polidoro gained extensive managerial experience in the automotive industry, where he worked for 13 years. During that time, he had several senior management positions at Mercedes-Benz and DaimlerChrysler and a variety of assignments in the U.S., China, Europe, and Latin America.

Polidoro received a Ph.D. in business administration from the University of Michigan. He also earned an MBA from Henley Business School in England, a postgraduate diploma in general management and industrial relations from Fundação Getulio Vargas in Brazil, and a diploma in French literature and civilization from the Université de Nancy II, France.

 

ACADEMIC LEADERSHIP & AWARDS

2024

Strategy Research Foundation Co-Chair

2021-22

Strategic Management Society Best Proposal Award, Runner-up 

2021

Recipient of the Strategic Management Society Competitive Strategy Track Best Reviewer Award.

2020

Recipient of Research Excellence Award for Associate Professors. McCombs School of Business.

2020

Recipient of the "Academy of Management Review" Exemplary Performance as Developmental Reviewer Award.

 

2019

Nominee, Research Excellence Award for Associate Professors. McCombs School of Business.

Francisco Polidoro, Jr., and Wei Yang.
Porting Learning from Interdependencies Back Home: Performance Implications of Multihoming for Complementors in Platform Ecosystems. 
Strategic Management Journal. Forthcoming.

Francisco Polidoro, Jr., and Charlotte Jacobs. Apr 2024.
Knowledge Diffusion in Nascent Industries: Asymmetries between Startups and Established Firms in Spurring Inventions by Other Firms. Strategic Management Journal 45(4): 807-845.

Francisco Polidoro, Jr., Curba Morris Lampert, and Minyoung Kim.  Dec 2022. External Knowledge Sourcing, Knowledge Spillovers, and Internal Collaboration: The effects of Intrafirm Linkages on Firm‐university Co‐authorship Linkages. Strategic Management Journal 43(13): 2742-2776.

Francisco Polidoro and Wei Yang. 2021. Corporate Investment Relationships and the Search for Innovations: An Examination of Startups’ Search Shift Toward Incumbents. Organization Science 32(4), 909-939.

 

Francisco Polidoro and Charlotte Jacobs. 2021. Knowledge Spillovers in Schumpeterian Environments: Asymmetries Between New Entrants and Incumbents. Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings 2021(1).

 

Curba Morris Lampert, Minyoung Kim, and Francisco Polidoro. 2020. Branching and Anchoring: Complementary Asset Configurations in Conditions of Knightian Uncertainty. Academy of Management Review 45(4), 847-868.

 

Francisco Polidoro. 2020. Knowledge, Routines, and Cognitive Effects in Nonmarket Selection Environments: An Examination of the Regulatory Review of Innovations. Strategic Management Journal 41(13), 2400-2435.

 

David Chandler, Francisco Polidoro, and Wei Yang. 2020. When is it Good to be Bad? Contrasting Effects of Multiple Reputations for Bad Behavior on Media Coverage of Serious Organizational Errors. Academy of Management Journal 63(4), 1236-1265.

 

Francisco Polidoro and Wei Yang. 2019. Venture Growth and Multi-Homing Expansion: Evidence from Open Source Platform Complementors. DOI: 10.5465/AMBPP.2019.128. Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings 2019(1).

 

Matt Theeke, Francisco Polidoro, and James W. Fredrickson. 2018. Path-dependent Routines in the Evaluation of Novelty: The Effects of Innovators’ New Knowledge Use on Brokerage Firms’ Coverage. Administrative Science Quarterly 63(4), 910-942.

 

Francisco Polidoro and Wei Yang. 2016. Stock Market Responses to Firms’ Greening Strategies in the Face of Climate Change, in Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings,

 

Francisco Polidoro. 2016. Why Organizations Forget What They Learn from Failures. Harvard Business Review Feb. 29.

 

Pamela R. Haunschild, Francisco Polidoro, and David Chandler. 2015. Organizational Oscillation Between Learning and Forgetting: The Dual Role of Serious Errors. Organization Science 26(6), 1682-1701.

 

PK Toh and Francisco Polidoro. 2013. A Competition-Based Explanation of Collaborative Invention with the Firm. Strategic Management Journal 34(10), 1186-1208.

 

Francisco Polidoro. 2013. The Competitive Implications of Certifications: The Effects of Scientific and Regulatory Certifications on Entries into New Technical Fields. Academy of Management Journal 56(2), 597-627.

 

Francisco Polidoro and Matt T Theeke. 2012. Getting Competition Down to a Science: The Effects of Technological Competition on Firms' Scientific Publications. Organization Science 23(4), 1135-1153.

 

Matt T Theeke, Francisco Polidoro, and James W. Fredrickson. 2012. The Influence of a Firm's Approach to Innovation on its Ability to Attract Analyst Coverage, in Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings,

 

Francisco Polidoro and PK Toh. 2011. Letting Rivals Come Close or Warding Them Off? The effects of Substitution Threat on Imitation Deterrence. Academy of Management Journal 54(2), 369-392.

 

Francisco Polidoro and Matt T Theeke. 2011. When Knowledge Walks Out the Door: A Longitudinal Examination of Inventors' Mobility Across Firms. Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings.

 

Francisco Polidoro, Gautam Ahuja, and Will Mitchell. 2011. When the Social Structure Overshadows Competitive Incentives: The Effects of Network Embeddedness on Joint Venture Dissolution. Academy of Management Journal 54(2), 369-392.

 

Gautam Ahuja, Francisco Polidoro, and Will Mitchell. 2009. Structural homophily or social asymmetry? The formation of alliances by poorly embedded firms. Strategic Management Journal 30, 941-958.

 

Francisco Polidoro and Matt Theeke. 2009. Technological competition and knowledge disclosure: A study of firms' scientific publications. Academy of Management Best Paper Proceedings.