About the Conference

Hosted by the Entrepreneurship & Strategy Department at the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business, sponsored by the Sorenson Center for Discovery & Innovation.

An Invitation-Only Gathering of Strategy Scholars. The Winter Strategy at Black Desert Conference brings together a global community of scholars to share, debate, and advance cutting-edge research in corporate strategy, organizational design, leadership, and transparency. This intimate, in-person event is designed to foster deep intellectual exchange and spark ideas that shape the future of management science.

Event Details

Date: March 12–14, 2026
Location: Black Desert Resort
1275 E Black Desert Circle Ivins, UT

Event Contact: Deb Coffey
Agenda: coming soon

Call for Papers

We invite submissions from scholars working at the forefront of corporate strategy, leadership, organizational design, and related fields. Selected presenters will be notified in Fall 2025.

Submissions: open September 8

Paper Guidelines (.docx)

Accommodations & Travel

Rooms have been reserved at the Black Desert Resort.

Guests are also welcome to call our reservations team at 855-241-6781 to confirm their stay.

Travel Tips: Click Here

Agenda

Download PDF Version

6:30 – 8:00 pm – Reception and Dinner, Tourmaline 1

8:00 – 8:45 pm – Plenary Session: “Microfoundations of Strategy: What Now?”
Presenter: Teppo Felin

7:00 – 8:00 a.m. – Breakfast, Tourmaline 1

8:00 – 8:45 a.m. – Plenary Session: What Strategy Took from UCLA – and What it Missed, Tourmaline 2
Presenter: Peter Klein

8:45 – 9:00 a.m. – Break, Tourmaline 1

[Tourmaline 2]
9:00 – 11:30 a.m. – Concurrent Paper Sessions
    Title 1: Data Privacy Regulation and Innovation
     9:00 – 9:45 a.m.
     Presenter: Sukhun Kang
     Discussant: Nile Hatch

    Title 2: LLMs as Belief amplifiers: How Human Mental Representations Shape AI-Augmented Strategy
    9:45 – 10:30 a.m.
    Presenter: Mana Heshmati
    Discussant: Andy Wu

10:30 – 10:45 a.m. – Break, Tourmaline 1

    Title 3: Strategic Investment in Competitors: Theory and Evidence from Technology Startups
    10:45 – 11:30 a.m.
    Presenter: Mario Leccese
    Discussant: David Hsu

[Black Diamond]
9:00 – 11:30 a.m. – Concurrent Paper Sessions
    Title 4: Search Speed, Knowledge Domains, and Growth: Evidence from YouTube Channels
     9:00 – 9:45 a.m.
     Presenter: Sebastian Niederberger
     Discussant: Jay Barney

    Title 5: Cultural Brokers as Appreciators or Appropriators? How Identity Shapes Evaluations of Value Capture and Redistribution
    9:45 – 10:30 a.m.
    Presenter: Susie Choe
    Discussant: Lamar Pierce

10:30 – 10:45 a.m. – Break, Tourmaline 1
    Title 6: Accountable Secrecy: Scrutiny, Appropriability, and the Technology-Disclosure Trade-off
    10:45 – 11:30 a.m.
    Presenter: Shirley Tang
    Discussant: Tim Gubler

11:30 – 5:45 p.m. – Box lunch and activities, Tourmaline 1

5:45 –6:00 p.m. – Snack, Tourmaline 1

6:00 – 6:45 p.m. – Plenary Session: Tourmaline 1
    Introduction: Jay Barney — University of Utah
    Tribute: Todd Zenger — University of Utah
    Title: TBA
    Presenter: President Taylor Randall — University of Utah

7:00 – 8:30 p.m. – Dinner, Tourmaline 1

7:00 – 8:00 a.m. – Breakfast, Tourmaline 1

8:00 – 8:45 a.m. – Plenary Session: Tourmaline 2
     Title: TBA
Presenter: Hong Luo

8:45 – 9:00 a.m. – Break, Tourmaline 2

[Tourmaline 2]
9:00 – 11:30 a.m. – Concurrent Paper Sessions
    Title 7: Knowledge Without Borders? Brexit and the Geography of Technical Q&A
     9:00 – 9:45 a.m.
     Presenter: Maria Roche
     Discussant: Josh Feng

    Title 8: Noise or Signal? Professional Backgrounds and Prediction of Startup Success
    9:45 – 10:30 a.m.
    Presenter: Nathan Rietzler
    Discussant: Lyda Bigelow

10:30 – 10:45 a.m. – Break, Tourmaline 2

    Title 9: Lost in Translation? Science Communication and the Commercial Diffusion of Ideas
    10:45 – 11:30 a.m.
    Presenter: Saqib Choudhary
    Discussant: Todd Zenger

[Black Diamond]
9:00 – 11:30 a.m. – Concurrent Paper Sessions
    Title 10: Patent–Secrecy Complementarity and Knowledge Sharing with Partners
     9:00 – 9:45 a.m.
     Presenter: Evgenii Fadeev
     Discussant: Colleen Cunningham

    Title 11: Kindle’s Shadow: How Digitization Dims Novelty in Creative Industries
    9:45 – 10:30 a.m.
    Presenter: Manav Raj
    Discussant: Mary Benner

10:30 – 10:45 a.m. – Break, Black Diamond
    Title 12: The Effect of Automation on University Science Labs*
    12:45 – 11:30 a.m.
    Presenter: Raviv Murciano-Goroff
    Discussant: Jason Snyder

11:30 – 11:45 p.m. – Break, Tourmaline 1

11:45 –12:15 p.m. – Closing Remarks, Tourmaline 1

Advisory Board

Todd Zenger
Teppo Felin
Victor Bennett
Bill Hesterly
Jason Snyder

Presenters

Team not found