SPEAKER: Professor Stephen Zhang, Baylor University

TIME/DATE：2025.6.5  14：00

CLASSROOM：A505

ABSTRACT：

Why do some organizations rapidly gain strategic momentum in turbulent environments while others, despite similar resources or intent, stall? Strategic Affordance Theory (SAT) addresses this puzzle by reframing strategy as the harnessing of affordances—action-enabling environmental features that emerge from actor–environment interactions. Unlike resource-based views (RBV) focusing on internal assets, dynamic capabilities emphasizing reconfiguration, institutional theories centered on legitimacy, or Austrian economics prioritizing alertness, SAT uniquely explains how environments afford differential traction for strategic action before capabilities mature. SAT offers a novel lens for understanding strategic initiatives by predicting early traction and guiding strategic pivots to advance both theory and practice.

GUEST BIO：

Stephen X. Zhang is the Mannes Chair Professor of Entrepreneurship at Baylor University. His research examines how entrepreneurs and executives impact their businesses under uncertainty. His work appears in top entrepreneurship journals (Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice; Journal of Business Venturing) and management journals (Academy of Management Journal; Strategic Management Journal). He has secured over US$1.5 million in basic research grants and US$4 million in applied research funding across multiple countries. Before entering academia, he worked in multiple industries and founded several startups.