Encourages students to think outside the box.
David Oliver is Professor of Strategic Management and Head of the Department of Management in Monash Business School at Monash University, having joined in 2024. Previously, he was Head of the Discipline of Strategy, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the University of Sydney Business School, leading its expansion into areas such as innovation, entrepreneurship, sustainability, and Indigenous success. Earlier in his career, Oliver served as Associate Professor at HEC Montreal and as a Research Fellow at the Swiss-based Imagination Lab Foundation, where he researched and refined the “serious play” strategy-making technique. His research specializes in organizational identity and its links to strategy processes and practices. Oliver examines the conditions under which individual and collective identities affect coherence and innovation in organizational strategy work. More recently, his studies address how identity and strategy processes can engage external stakeholders effectively in both established organizations and startups.
With 20 peer-reviewed journal articles, eight book chapters, one book, and 12 research grants to his name, Oliver's scholarship has garnered over 1,674 citations according to Google Scholar. Notable publications include “Creating and sustaining stakeholder emotional resonance with organizational identity in social mission-driven organizations” (Academy of Management Journal, 2022), “Practicing identity in emergent firms: How practices shape founders’ organizational identity claims” (Strategic Organization, 2020), “Building trust in multi-stakeholder partnerships: Critical emotional incidents and practices of engagement” (Organization Studies, 2013), and “Identity work as a strategic practice” (Cambridge Handbook of Strategy as Practice, 3rd ed., 2025). Recent articles have also appeared in Strategic Management Journal, Academy of Management Discoveries, and Academy of Management Perspectives. An award-winning teacher of strategic management in MBA, Executive MBA, postgraduate, and executive education programs, Oliver serves on the Editorial Board of the European Management Journal (2020–2025). He regularly presents, participates on panels, mentors, and convenes sessions at international conferences.
