Academic Articles

Santangelo, G.D. and Symeou, P.C. (2024). The internationalization of state-owned enterprises in liberalized markets: the role of home-country pro-market reforms. Journal of International Business Studies, 55.5: 638-651.

Kretschmer, T. and Symeou, P.C. (2024). Absorptive capacity components: Performance effects in related and unrelated diversification. Long Range Planning, 57.2: 102416.

Symeou, P.C. and Kassinis, G.I. (2024), Corporate Social Performance, Legitimacy, and the Choice of Foreign Partners by State-Controlled Entities in the Global Extractive Industries. Journal of Management Studies, 61: 477-524. (nominated for the Best Conference Paper Prize and the Best Research Methods Conference Paper Prize at the 41st annual conference of the Strategic Management Society, Toronto, Canada).

Williamson, P. J., Symeou, P.C., & Zyglidopoulos, S. (2022). International diversification, legitimacy, and corporate social performance of extractive industry multinationals. Global Strategy Journal, 12.2: 359–393.

Symeou, P.C. and Merchant, H. (2019) “The Impact of Home-country Conditions and Geographical Diversification on the Domestic Productivity of Telecom Multinationals: A Multi-country Study.” Multinational Business Review, 27.4: 364-396. (Academy of International Business – SE Chapter, Best Track and Best Conference Paper).

Symeou, P.C. and Zyglidopoulos, S., and Gardberg, N. (2019) “How Organizational Slack Absorption Impacts Environmental Performance.” Journal of Business Research 96: 169-182.

Gardberg, N.A., Zyglidopoulos, S., Symeou, P.C. & Schepers, D. (2019) “The impact of corporate philanthropy on reputation for corporate social performance,” Business & Society 58.6: 1177-1208, special issue on Corporate Reputation: Being Good and Looking Good.

Symeou, P.C., Zyglidopoulos, C.S., and Williamson, P. (2018) Internationalization as a Driver of the Corporate Social Performance of Extractive Industry Firms, Journal of World Business 53.1: 27-38, special issue on Multinationals, Sustainability and the Extractive Industries; Best Paper in Track 12: MNEs, governments and sustainable development, European International Business Academy, 2016.

Zyglidopoulos, S., Williamson, P., and Symeou, P.C. (2016) "The corporate social performance of developing country multinationals." Business Ethics Quarterly 26.03: 379-406.

His scholarly work centers on three interrelated lines of research: global strategy, competitive strategy, and corporate social and environmental performance. In all three, he draws on real market environments to test existing theories, propose theoretical extensions, or identify practical managerial issues that can be situated for empirical examination. He collaborates with accomplished foreign researchers and field experts to produce research that is genuinely interesting, timely, and relevant to a broad audience of academics and practitioners.

FUNDED RESEARCH

• ORGANIKO (LIFE14 CCM/CY/000990 ORGANIKO LIFE+): acted as a lead researcher in a LIFE-co-funded project (€950,000) with a duration of 4 years (2015-2019), coordinated by Cyprus University of Technology’s Institute for Public Health. The project examined the comparative advantages of organic versus conventional farming, products, and markets.
• GLOBAL VALUE (EC FP7 project no. 613295): Acted as a consultant for a platform of experts that advise the largest to date European Commission-funded project dealing with the impacts of multinational companies (MNCs) on global development. The 3-year project was coordinated by the Institute for Managing Sustainability of Vienna University of Economics and Business (2014-2017).

CONFERENCE PAPERS

85th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management, Copenhagen, Denmark (2025).

• Symeou, P.C. and Kassinis, G.I. “Multimarket Contact and the Environmental Sustainability Actions of Multinational Enterprises”.
• Symeou, P.C. and Santangelo, G. “MNEs’ environmental technology transfer in the face of natural disasters”.

Strategic Management Society’s special conference, Palermo, Italy (2025).

• Symeou, P.C. and Kassinis, G.I. “Multimarket Contact and the Environmental Sustainability Actions of Multinational Enterprises”.

19th Corporate Responsibility Research Conference, University of Cambridge, UK (2023).

• Symeou, P.C. and Kassinis, G.I. “Corporate Social Performance, Legitimacy, and the Choice of Foreign Partners by State-controlled Entities in the Global Extractive Industries”.

Annual Conference of the Academy of International Business, Warsaw, Poland (2023).

• Symeou, P.C. and Kassinis, G.I. “Corporate Social Performance, Legitimacy, and the Choice of Foreign Partners by State-controlled Entities in the Global Extractive Industries”.

41st Annual Conference of the Strategic Management Society, Toronto, Canada (2021).

• Symeou, P.C. and Kassinis, G. “Partnering with MNEs in the extractives industries: How the corporate social performance of MNEs affects the legitimacy of the host state partner,” Nominated for Best Conference Paper Prize and Best Research Methods Conference Paper Prize.

Annual Conference of the Academy of International Business, Miami, USA (2021).

• Symeou, P.C. and Santangelo, G. “State Ownership and Foreign Entry Strategy: The Joint Role of Home and Host-Country Pro-market Institutions.”

46th European International Business Academy conference, Vienna, Austria (2021).

• Symeou, P.C. and Kassinis, G. “Partnering with MNEs in the extractives industries: How the corporate social performance of MNEs affects the legitimacy of the host state partner.”

Currently, he serves on the editorial board of Global Strategy Journal. He serves as an ad hoc reviewer for several journals, including the Strategic Management Journal, Global Strategy Journal, Journal of World Business, Journal of International Management, and Journal of Business Ethics. He has been involved in organizing conferences and has been invited to give talks and seminars in Cyprus and abroad. He has taught courses at the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral levels, including "Management and Development of Startups and SMEs" (Master’s level), "Marketing Strategy" (Undergraduate and Master’s levels), "Management of Innovation and Information" (Master’s level), and "Research Methods" (PhD level).