The Penrose Lectures 2025/2026

Christos Pitelis is Professor of Strategy and International Business, University of Southampton Business School, Life Fellow of Queens' College, University of Cambridge, Professorial Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, Emeritus Professor, University of Athens and Fellow of the Academy of International Business. 

Christos’s scholarly contributions include the behavioural resource-based theory of the firm, strategic theory of the multinational enterprise, organization market and ecosystem co-creation and orchestration, theory of open team production, theory of value co-creation and capture, public entrepreneurship and public supply side (antitrust, industrial, innovation, regional, renewable energy, competitiveness) policy. 

He has published in 'elite' journals, such as Academy of Management Review, Organization Science, and Journal of International Business Studies and in leading political economy journals such as the Cambridge Journal of Economics (CJE). He is co-editor of the CJE, member of the Cambridge Political Economy Society, and literally executor of the works of Edith Penrose. He has worked in and visited universities worldwide and consulted for businesses, governments, international organizations, NGOs, and accreditation bodies. He has served as Business School Dean, Department Head, President of a national public sector, and of an international, organization.

The Penrose Lectures were established in memory of Professor Edith Penrose who made an outstanding contribution to social science. Her work on innovation, international corporations, the theory of the firm, organisation and economic development have left a lasting legacy on the disciplines of economics and management. 

Penrose was also an inspirational teacher of students at all levels – undergraduate, postgraduate, PhD, MBA – and a major contributor to important public policy issues and debates. In keeping with her legacy, the Penrose Lectures have been established to honour her contribution. The lectures are held each year on a subject in economics, management or political economy.

Edith Penrose was appointed to a Chair in Economics at SOAS in 1964 having previously held a joint Readership in Economics at LSE and SOAS. After retiring from SOAS in 1978 she was appointed Professor of Political Economy at INSEAD, Paris. As well as being a pioneer in the disciplines of economics and management, Penrose was also the first woman to hold a professorial position in economics at SOAS. In recognition of her work and legacy, the Penrose Lectures provide a platform for outstanding scholars to communicate their research work to faculty, students, practitioners and the wider public.

A biography of Edith Penrose has been published by Oxford University Press: Penrose, A (2017) No Ordinary Woman: The Life of Edith Penrose, OUP, Oxford.