Deepak Somaya

Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship &
Stephen and Christy King Faculty Fellow, Gies College of Business
Academic Director, Illinois Consulting Academy
Professor, College of Law (by courtesy)

About

Deepak Somaya is the Steven and Christy King Faculty Fellow, Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship and Director of Graduate Studies in Business Administration at the College of Business, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

Professor Somaya received his Ph.D. in Business Administration from the Walter A. Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley, his MBA from the Indian Institute of Management (Calcutta), and his B.Tech. in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology (Bombay).

In his research, he studies how companies strategize about and derive competitive advantage from their knowledge assets, particularly their human capital, relational assets, and intellectual property. Much of this research is conducted in the context of the legal profession and legal institutions. His research has been published in over thirty journal articles, book chapters and conference proceedings, and has received numerous awards including a best dissertation award (Technology and Innovation Division, Academy of Management), several conference best paper awards, and the 2012 California Management Review Best Article Award.

Professor Somaya teaches courses on Strategic Management, Technology Strategy, Intellectual Property Strategy, and Strategic Human Capital. He currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Management, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, and Strategic Management Journal, and is a past Chair of the Strategic Human Capital interest group of the Strategic Management Society.

College of Business bio

Education

PhD University of California at Berkeley
PGDM (MBA) Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta
B Tech Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

Areas of Expertise

Intellectual Property Strategy
Talent Management
Technology Strategy
Business Strategy

Selected Publications

Mawdsley, J., Somaya, D. 2018. Demand-side strategy, relational advantage, and partner-driven corporate scope: The case for client-led diversification. Strategic Management Journal, 39: 1834-1859

Raghuram, S., Gajendran, R., Liu, X., Somaya, D. 2017. Boundaryless LMX: Examining LMXs Impact on External Career Outcomes and Alumni Goodwill. Personnel Psychology, 70: 399-428

Gajendran, R. and Somaya, D. 2016. Employees Leave Good Bosses Nearly as Often as Bad Ones. Harvard Business Review online (HBR.org). Published March 8, 2016.

Somaya, D. 2016. How Patent Strategy Affects the Method and Timing of Patent Suit Resolution. Advances in Strategic Management, 34: 469-502

Mawdsley, J., and Somaya, D. 2016. Employee Mobility and Organizational Outcomes: An Integrative Conceptual Framework and Research Agenda. Journal of Management, 42(1): 85-113.

Carnahan, S., and Somaya, D. 2015. Competing through Alumni: The Other Talent War. MIT Sloan Management Review, 56(3): 14-16. 

Corredor, S., Forero, C., and Somaya, D. 2015. How External and Internal Sources of Knowledge Impact Novel and Imitative Innovation in Emerging Markets: Evidence from Colombia. Advances in International Management, 28: 161-199.

Mawdsley, J., and Somaya, D. 2015. “Strategy and Strategic Alignment in Professional Service Firms.” In Empson, L., Muzio, D., Broschak, J., Hinings, B. (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Professional Service Firms, Oxford UK: Oxford University Press.

Carnahan, S., and Somaya, D. 2013. Alumni Effects and Relational Advantage: The Impact on Outsourcing When a Buyer Hires Employees from a Supplier’s Competitors, Academy of Management Journal, 56(6): 1578-1600.

[Conference Best Paper Prize (Honorable Mention) and Ph.D. Best Paper Prize (for Seth Carnahan), Strategic Management Society Conference]

Moeen, M., Somaya, D. and Mahoney, J. T. 2013. Supply Portfolio Concentration in the Outsourcing of Knowledge Based Services. Organization Science, 24(1): 262-279.

[Highlight Paper runner-up, ASQ-HEC-OMT Conference on Coordination within and among Organizations]

Mayer, K. J., Somaya, D. and Williamson, I. O. 2012. Firm-Specific, Industry-Specific and Occupational Human Capital, and the Sourcing of Knowledge Work. Organization Science, 23 (5):1311-1329.

Somaya, D. 2012. Patent Strategy and Management: An Integrative Review and Research Agenda. Journal of Management, 38(4):1084-1114.

Somaya, D., and C. McDaniel. 2012. Tribunal Specialization and Institutional Targeting in Patent Enforcement. Organization Science, 23(3): 869-887.

Somaya, D., D. J. Teece and S. Wakeman. 2011. Innovating in Multi-Invention Contexts: Mapping Solutions to Technological and Intellectual Property Complexity. California Management Review (Summer Issue) 53(4): 47-79.

[Winner of the 2012 California Management Review Best Article Award]

[Top 20 most frequently downloaded article from the journal]

Somaya, D., Y-J. Kim, and N. Vonortas. 2011. Exclusivity in Licensing Alliances: Using Hostages to Support Technology Commercialization. Strategic Management Journal, 32(2): 159–186.