Professor Lawton’s research focuses on business model innovation during corporate turnaround and international expansion, and strategies for stakeholder engagement and political risk management when entering and embedding in foreign markets. His work has explored and advanced our understanding of nonmarket strategy in international business, particularly how companies innovate and compete beyond market settings and in emerging institutional environments, partnering with government in industrial policy initiatives, engaging external stakeholders through intermediaries like trade associations, and managing and mitigating contextual risk when doing business abroad. He has published eight books, including Breakout Strategy (McGraw-Hill) and Aligning for Advantage (Oxford University Press), and over 60 articles in such journals as Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Perspectives, California Management Review, Global Strategy Journal, Journal of Management Studies, Journal of World Business, and Strategic Organization. He is Co-Editor-in-Chief of the leading strategy journal, Long Range Planning, and the Strategy Matters Series Editor for Routledge. His work has featured in media outlets including the BBC, Business Channel, Channel 4, European CEO, Fast Company, Irish Times, Sky News, Strategy + Business, The Conversation, and U.S. News & World Report.

RECENT ACADEMIC PUBLICATIONS, (2022-2024)

• Thomas C. Lawton, Duncan Angwin, Brice Dattée, Jean-Luc Arrègle, Paolo Barbieri (2024). Autonomy as a strategic dial: A dynamic framework for managing acquired subsidiaries. California Management Review. Vol.66, No.3, pp. 47-68. DOI: 10.1177/00081256241238054
• Vikrant Shirodkar, Tahiru A. Liedong, Tazeeb S. Rajwani, Thomas C. Lawton (2024). MNE nonmarket strategy in a changing world: Complexities, varieties, and a values-based approach. International Business Review. Vol. 33, No. 2, 102251. DOI: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2023.102251 
• Stephanie Tonn Goulart Moura, Thomas C. Lawton, Christian Falaster (2024). Knowledge exploration in cross-border acquisitions: How does absorptive capacity matter? Multinational Business Review DOI: 10.1108/MBR-01-2023-0012 
• Christopher A. Hartwell, Thomas C. Lawton, and Ishmael Tingbani (2023). Obstacles to collective action during a crisis: A meta-organizational perspective. European Management Review. 1-19. DOI: 10.1111/emre.12596 
• Thomas C. Lawton, Maria Andrea De Villa Correa, Sandra Milena Santamaria Alvarez (2023). Making sense of socio-political risks in international business: A configurational approach to embrace complexity. Journal of International Management, special Issue on Novel methodological approaches to studying socio-political risks. DOI: 10.1016/j.intman.2023.101066 
• Amrita Saha, Vikrant Shirodkar, and Thomas C. Lawton (2023). Bimodal lobbying and trade policy outcomes: Evidence from corporate political activity under uncertainty in India. Journal of International Business Policy. Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 26-46. DOI: 10.1057/s42214-022-00145-w 
• Thomas C. Lawton, Stephanie Tonn Goulart Moura, Damian Tobin, Bernardo Silva-Rêgo (2023). Geopolitics of the digital economy: Implications for states and firms. AIB Insights. Vol. 23, No. 1. DOI: 10.46697/001c.67966
• Thomas C. Lawton and Roberto Vassolo (2022). Dynamics in strategic management research: An agenda for LRP. Long Range Planning Editorial. Vol. 55, No. 5, 102246. DOI: 10.1016/j.lrp.2022.102246 
• Charles Mbalyohere and Thomas C. Lawton (2022). Engaging informal institutions through corporate political activity: Capabilities for subnational embeddedness in emerging economies. International Business Review. Vol. 31, No. 2. 101927. DOI: 10.1016/j.ibusrev.2021.101927 
• Brice Dattée, Jean-Luc Arrègle, Paolo Barbieri, Thomas C. Lawton, and Duncan N. Angwin (2022). The dynamics of organizational autonomy: Oscillations at Automobili Lamborghini. Administrative Science Quarterly. Vol. 67, No. 3, pp. 721-768. DOI: 10.1177/0001839222109185

WORKING PAPERS

• Andrew Perchard, Niall G MacKenzie, Thomas C. Lawton, Eun Sun Godwin, and Edda Nicolson. Navigating changing institutional complexity over time: Evidence from firm-state relations in home and host country contexts. Journal of International Business Studies. Special issue on “Integrating historical approaches in international business: moving beyond “history matters” (1^st round revise and resubmit).
• Andrew Perchard, Niall G MacKenzie, Thomas C. Lawton. Deglobalization in a born global industry: The antecedents and dynamics of nonmarket strategy in aluminium. Journal of Management Studies, special issue on “Historical perspectives on deglobalization’s antecedents, outcomes, and managerial responses” (1^st round revise and resubmit).
• Stephanie Tonn Goulart Moura, Thomas C. Lawton, Damian Tobin. How do multinational enterprises respond to geopolitics? A review and research agenda. International Journal of Management Reviews (1^st round revise and resubmit).