Santi Furnari

Dr. Santi Furnari is Senior Lecturer in Strategy at Cass Business School, City, University of London. Prior joining Cass, he was an IRI Foundation Fellow at the University of Chicago.

Dr. Furnari does research on how new ideas, new practices, and new industries emerge, particularly in the context of creative industries and creative projects. He has also studied the performance consequences of different business models and organization designs. To address these issues, Dr. Furnari uses institutional theory, configurational approaches, qualitative methods, and fuzzy-set/Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fs/QCA). His paper titled “A Chemistry of Organization” (with Anna Grandori) has been among the first empirical applications of the fs/QCA methodology in management studies.

His research has been published in leading academic journals, such as the Academy of Management Review, Human Relations, Industrial and Corporate Change, Journal of Management, Organization Studies, and Strategic Organization (among others). His paper titled “Interstitial Spaces” has received the AMR Best Paper Award for the best paper published in the Academy of Management Review in 2014. He serves on the Editorial Boards of Organization Studies and Journal of Management Studies.

At Cass, Dr. Furnari teaches "Corporate Strategy for a Globalized World" in the Executive MBA (EMBA) program, "Research Methods for Business" in the MSc in Management and EMBA programs, and various PhD seminars in strategy, organization theory, and qualitative methods. From 2010 to 2013, he has also taught "Advanced Strategic Management" in the Undergraduate Program. He received (in 2013) the Staff Recognition Award for the outstanding quality of his teaching.

Dr. Furnari is also the Deputy Director of the school's Centre for Research in Corporate Governance, the Coordinator of the Faculty of Management's Research Workshops, and he served as member of the school's Research Committee (from 2013 to 2016).

Dr. Furnari’s areas of expertise in Executive Education include: networking for business development; collaboration across silos; coalition-building, negotiation, and influence skills; strategy, organization design and business models; and strategy in digital ecosystems. He has been involved in the design and delivery of several Executive Education and Strategic Leadership programs for international corporations, including global banks, global executive search firms, and large UK manufacturing and media companies.

Qualifications

MSc (cum laude) and PhD.

Visiting Appointments

Research Affiliate, University of Chicago's Cultural Policy Center, Sep 2010 – Sep 2013

Memberships of Professional Organisations

• Advisory Board Member, COMPArative Methods for Systematic cross-caSe analySis (COMPASS), Jan 2012 – present
• Member, Academy of Management, Jan 2005 – present
• Member, European Group of Organization Studies, Jan 2004 – present

Awards

• Academy of Management (Organization and Management Theory Division) (2012) Nomination for Louis R. Pondy Best Paper Award
• Nomination for Louis R. Pondy Best Paper Award at the 2012 Academy of Management Meeting
• 2010 Organization Science Winter Conference (2010) Second runner-up award
• Second runner-up award at the Organization Science 2010 Winter Conference.
• European Group for Organization Studies (EGOS) (2009) EGOS Best Student Paper Award

Languages

Italian.

Expertise

Primary Topics

• Business Models
• Digital Economy
• Innovation & Creativity
• Organization Theory
• Qualitative Research Methods
• Strategic Management

Additional Topics

Design Thinking

Industries/Professions

creative industries

Chapters (7)

• Furnari, S. (2011). Exaptation and Innovation in Architecture: The Case of Chicago's Millennium Park. In Grandori, A. and Gaillard Giordani, L. (Eds.), Organizing Entrepreneurship London: Routledge.
• Furnari, S. and Grandori, A. (2010). Dalle Forme alle Formule Organizzative: Una Chimica dell’Organizzazione. In Fabbri, T. (Ed.), Organizzare: Concetti e Metodi (pp. 433–454). Roma: Carrocci Editore.
• Grandori, A. and Furnari, S. (2009). Types of Complementarity, Combinative Organization Forms and Structural Heterogeneity: Beyond Discrete Structural Alternatives. In Morroni, M. (Ed.), Corporate Governance, Organization and the Firm: Co-operation and Outsourcing in a Globalised Market London: Edward Elgar Publishers.
• Furnari, S. (2007). Modeling Multidimensional Fit through Boolean Algebra: New Methods for Combinative Organization Design. In Golzio, L.E. and Fabbri, T.M. (Eds.), Relazioni di Lavoro e Forme Organizzative: Nuovi Modelli Progettuali Rome: Carrocci.
• Soda, G., Sommaruga, M. and Furnari, S. (2005). Il Processo di Formazione delle Alleanze Strategiche: Razionalita Economica o Sociale? In Bodega, D. (Ed.), Organizzare a Misura d'Uomo (pp. 141–155). Milan: McGraw-Hill.
• Furnari, S. (2004). Organizzare e Gestire il Lavoro in Rete: Dinamiche di Apprendimento Organizzativo e Politiche del Significato. In D'Atri, A. (Ed.), Innovazione Organizzativa e Tecnologie Innovative (pp. 163–175). Milan: ETAS.
• Soda, G. and Furnari, S. (2004). Le Dinamiche Temporali della Condivisione di Conoscenza in Contesti di Lavoro Virtuale: uno Studio Empirico Longitudinale. Knowledge management e successo aziendale Bologna, Italy: Arti Grafiche Friulane.

Journal Articles (11)

• Furnari, S. and Rolbina, M. (2018). Brokerage Styles and Interaction Rituals in Creative Projects: Towards an Interactionist Perspective on Brokerage. Research in the Sociology of Organizations, forthcoming .
• Furnari, S. (2017). When does an Issue trigger Change in a Field? A Comparative Approach to Issue Frames, Field Structures and Types of Field Change. Human Relations, forthcoming .
• Luedicke, M.K., Husemann, K.C., Furnari, S. and Ladstaetter, F. (2017). Radically Open Strategizing: How the Premium Cola Collective Takes Open Strategy to the Extreme. Long Range Planning, 50(3), pp. 371–384. doi:10.1016/j.lrp.2016.07.001.
• Furnari, S. (2016). Institutional fields as linked arenas: Inter-field resource dependence, institutional work and institutional change. Human Relations, 69(3), pp. 551–580. doi:10.1177/0018726715605555.
• Misangyi, V.F., Greckhamer, T., Furnari, S., Fiss, P.C., Crilly, D. and Aguilera, R. (2016). Embracing Causal Complexity: The Emergence of a Neo-Configurational Perspective. Journal of Management, 43(1), pp. 255–282. doi:10.1177/0149206316679252.
• Furnari, S. (2015). A cognitive mapping approach to business models: Representing causal structures and mechanisms. Advances in Strategic Management, 33, pp. 207–239. doi:10.1108/S0742-332220150000033025.
• Aversa, P., Furnari, S. and Haefliger, S. (2015). Business model configurations and performance: A qualitative comparative analysis in Formula One racing, 2005-2013. Industrial and Corporate Change, 24(3), pp. 655–676. doi:10.1093/icc/dtv012.
• Furnari, S. (2014). Interstitial spaces: Microinteraction settings and the genesis of new practices between institutional fields. Academy of Management Review, 39(4), pp. 439–462. doi:10.5465/amr.2012.0045.
• Grandori, A. and Furnari, S. (2013). Configurational Analysis and Organization Design: Towards a Theory of Structural Heterogeneity. .
• Soda, G. and Furnari, S. (2012). Exploring the topology of the plausible: Fs/QCA counterfactual analysis and the plausible fit of unobserved organizational configurations. Strategic Organization, 10(3), pp. 285–296. doi:10.1177/1476127012452826.
• Grandori, A. and Furnari, S. (2008). A Chemistry of Organization: Combinatory Structural Analysis and Design. Organization Studies, 29(3), pp. 459–341. doi:10.1177/0170840607088023.

Editorial Activities (9)

• Journal of Management Studies, Member of Editorial Board, 2015 – present.
• Organization Studies, Member of Editorial Board, 2015 – present.
• Strategic Management Journal, Referee, 2013 – present.
• Administrative Science Quarterly, Referee, 2012 – present.
• Corporate Governance: An International Review, Referee, 2011 – present.
• Journal of Management Studies, Referee, 2011 – present.
• Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Referee, 2011 – present.
• Industrial and Corporate Change, Referee, 2010 – present.
• Organization Studies, Referee, 2010 – present.