Stephanie Decker

I am a Professor of Strategy at the University of Birmingham and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (FAcSS) and the British Academy of Management (FBAM). I am currently Vice Dean of BAM Fellows, Doctoral Colloquium Convenor, and previously served as Co-Vice Chair for Research & Publications (2022-2025). Over the years, I have held several roles, including editor-in-chief of the journal Business History (2019-2024), one of the Deputy Deans for Birmingham Business School (2023-2024) and Associate Dean Research for Aston Business School (2017-2019).

My research spans several areas, including historical methods in organizational studies, international strategy, and business development in Africa. I am known for my innovative approaches to theorizing from historical research and developing archival methods to study organizations and also promote interdisciplinary approaches to bridging the gap between social sciences and history. My work has been published in prestigious journals such as the Academy of Management Review, Journal of Management Studies, Human Relations, Journal of World Business, Business & Society, and Business History.

I also authored a research monograph "Postcolonial Transitions and Global Business History" about the strategic responses by British imperial companies to the independence of Ghana and Nigeria, former British colonies in West Africa. If you are interested, here is a podcast about the book's content. Together with colleagues, I edited and contributed to the "Handbook of Historical Methods for Management", a key collection of different interdisciplinary approaches in the field. If you want to know more, there is also a podcast for the New Books Network that gives you an idea of our approach and the content. I have been awarded several research grants from major research funders in the UK, including the Economic & Social Science Research Council, the Arts & Humanities Research Council, and the Leverhulme Trust.

I currently serve on the editorial (review) boards of Organization Studies, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management Studies, Business History, Accounting History and Management & Organizational History and run a newsletter called "The Organizational History Network" on Substack which promotes events and content relevant to fellow scholars in this field.