AWARD CRITERIA
The award is conferred in recognition of significant and enduring service that made an outstanding and distinguished contribution to the Strategic Management Society and its members.
Nominees for this award will be judged according to the following criteria:
- Length, significance, and effective service rendered to the SMS and its members
- Both volunteer and compensated work contributed to the field and/or the Society
Current members of the Board and current leaders of program activities (journals, conferences, research funding) are not eligible. Officers of the SMS are not eligible until 5 years after completion of their service.
The recipient of the SMS Service Award will be recognized during the Welcome Reception at the SMS Annual Conference.
Nomination Process:
Nominations are invited from any member of the SMS and should include:
- Name of the nominated individual
- Explanation for why the individual is deserving of the SMS Service Award
The recipient of this award is selected by a subcommittee appointed by the SMS Awards & Honors Committee.
SMS Service Award 2026 Recipient:
Howard Thomas
Howard Thomas was selected because of his contributions to SMS and the strategy field at large. He has rendered significant and important service to the SMS in multiple ways. He served on the Board for 12 years, as SMS President and Past President, as the Dean of the SMS fellows and served for 30 years on the SMJ editorial review board.
About Howard:
Howard Thomas is an Emeritus Professor at Singapore Management University (SMU) and an internationally recognised scholar in strategic management and management education. He has held business school deanships, and senior administrative positions, at LBS (UK), AGSM (Australia), University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, US), Warwick Business School (WBS, UK) and SMU (Asia). He has been awarded academic fellowships by AcSS (UK), AOM (US), CABS (UK), EURAM (Belgium), IOD (UK), LSW (Wales) and SMS (UK).
He was a founder member of SMS, Board Member, President, Dean of Fellows, and Chair of the SMS annual conference in Singapore. He has received Life – Time Achievement Awards from BAM(UK)
and EFMD (Europe). He was also awarded the Cooper Leadership Medal for Outstanding Leadership by BAM as well as a similar Strategic Leadership Award by AACSB(US). He has been elected to honorary degrees by universities in Africa, Asia, Europe and the UK. He is currently a special advisor to EFMD Global, and its CEO.
Award Past Recipients
Steven Floyd, 2018
Irene Duhaime, 2017
Richard Bettis, 2016
Michael Hitt, 2015
Lois Gast, 2014