People_

Associate Professor Llewellyn Thomas

Associate Professor

Email

llewellyn.thomas@sydney.edu.au

Websites

Prof. Llewellyn D W Thomas is an Associate Professor at the University of Sydney Business School and Visiting Professor at Imperial College Business School. He holds a PhD in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from Imperial College Business School, an MBA with Distinction majoring in Finance & Strategy from Bayes Business School London, an Honours Degree in Law majoring in jurisprudence, and an Honours Degree in Arts majoring in geography, both from the University of Sydney, Australia.

Research interests

Prof. Thomas's research interests lie in the co-evolutionary processes that lead to successful innovation, with a particular interest in ecosystem creation, evolution and dynamics in digital economy contexts.

Teaching and supervision

SIEN2001 - Validating Ideas & Building Ventures

SMBA6002 - Strategies for Growth

Doctoral Supervision - Nira Wijesooriya

Doctoral Supervision - Denis

Doctoral Supervision - Ale Hirtenkauf

Selected publications

Strategy-Making and Organizational Evolution: A Managerial Agency Perspective

(Cambridge University Press, 2023)

Ecosystem Emergence: An Investigation into the Emergence of Six Digital Ecosystems

(LAP Lambert Academic Publishing, 2016)

Publications

By Type

Expand all

Books

Burgelman, R., Snihur, Y., Thomas, L. (2023). Strategy-Making and Organizational Evolution: A Managerial Agency Perspective. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]
Thomas, L. (2016). Ecosystem Emergence: An Investigation into the Emergence of Six Digital Ecosystems. United Kingdom: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. [More Information]

Book Chapters

Autio, E., Thomas, L. (2024). Effective Mission Integration: A Triple Bottom Line Canvas for Impact Business Model Innovation. In A. Aagaard (Eds.), Business Model Innovation: Game Changers and Contemporary Issues, (pp. 157-191). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. [More Information]
Parmar, R., Peters, M., Thomas, L. (2024). What Is Responsible Computing? ESG: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review. United States: Harvard Business Review Press. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Leiponen, A., Koutroumpis, P. (2023). Profiting from data products. In C. Cennamo, G.B. Dagnino, F. Zhu (Eds.), Research Handbook on Digital Strategy, (pp. 255-272). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. [More Information]
Aarikka-Stenroos, L., Ritala, P., Thomas, L. (2021). Circular economy ecosystems: a typology, definitions, and implications. In S. Teerikangas, T. Onkila, K. Koistinen, M. Mäkelä (Eds.), Research Handbook of Sustainability Agency, (pp. 260-276). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. [More Information]
Podoynitsyna, K., Snihur, Y., Thomas, L., Grégoire, D. (2020). Creating Meta-Narratives: How Analogies and Metaphors Support Business Model Innovation. In K.J. Sund, R.J. Galavan, M. Bogers (Eds.), Business Models and Cognition (New Horizons in Managerial and Organizational Cognition, Vol. 4), (pp. 135-167). Leeds: Emerald Publishing Limited. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Autio, E. (2020). Innovation Ecosystems in Management: An Organizing Typology. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. [More Information]
Autio, E., Thomas, L. (2020). Value co-creation in ecosystems: insights and research promise from three disciplinary perspectives. In S. Nambisan, K. Lyytinen, Y. Yoo (Eds.), Handbook of Digital Innovation, (pp. 107-132). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Sharapov, D., Autio, E. (2018). Linking entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems: the case of AppCampus. In E.G. Carayannis, G.B. Dagnino, S. Alvarez, R. Faraci (Eds.), Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and the Diffusion of Startups, (pp. 35-64). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. [More Information]
Kratochvil, D., Thomas, L. (2018). Measuring Student Success: A Review of Methods and Motives. In H.M. Fardoun, K.J. Downing, M. Mok (Eds.), The Future of Higher Education in the Middle East and Africa, (pp. 241-249). Cham: Springer. [More Information]
Snihur, Y., Thomas, L., Burgelman, R. (2018). The Performative Power of Words: How Business Model Innovators Use Framing for Strategic Advantage. In K.J. Sund, R.J. Galavan, S. Brusoni (Eds.), Cognition and Innovation (New Horizons in Managerial and Organizational Cognition, Vol. 3), (pp. 13-44). Leeds: Emerald Publishing Limited. [More Information]
Autio, E., Thomas, L. (2018). Tilting the Playing Field: Towards an Endogenous Strategic Action Theory of Ecosystem Creation. In S. Nambisan (Eds.), World Scientific Reference on Innovation, Volume 3, (pp. 111-140). Singapore: World Scientific Publishing. [More Information]
Abonamah, A., Korayim, S., Thomas, L. (2016). Delivering an Entrepreneurship-Focused MBA in the UAE. Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Education (Advances in Digital Education and Lifelong Learning, Vol. 2), (pp. 169-193). Leeds: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. [More Information]
Autio, E., Thomas, L. (2013). Innovation Ecosystems: Implications for Innovation Management? In M. Dodgson, D.M. Gann, N. Phillips (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Innovation Management, (pp. 204-228). United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. [More Information]

show 10 more

Journals

Gradillas, M., Thomas, L. (2025). Distinguishing digitization and digitalization: A systematic review and conceptual framework. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 42(1), 112-143. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Snihur, Y. (2025). Ecosystem framing and infomediary resonance: Amazon’s early years (1995–2003). Technovation, 140, 103159. [More Information]
Garud, R., Snihur, Y., Thomas, L., Phillips, N. (2025). How Founders Can Avoid The Deception Trap. Harvard Business Review. [More Information]
Coviello, N., Autio, E., Nambisan, S., Patzelt, H., Thomas, L. (2024). Organizational scaling, scalability, and scale-up: Definitional harmonization and a research agenda. Journal of Business Venturing, 39(5), 106419. [More Information]
Karhu, K., Heiskala, M., Ritala, P., Thomas, L. (2024). Positive, Negative, and Amplified Network Externalities in Platform Markets. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 38(3), 349-367. [More Information]
Garud, R., Snihur, Y., Thomas, L., Phillips, N. (2024). The Dark Side of Entrepreneurial Framing: A Process Model of Deception and Legitimacy Loss. Academy of Management Review, Published online: 7 December 2023. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Ritala, P., Karhu, K., Heiskala, M. (2024). Vertical and horizontal complementarities in platform ecosystems. Innovation: Management, policy & practice, Published online: 18 January 2024. [More Information]
Snihur, Y., Thomas, L., Burgelman, R. (2023). Strategically Managing the Business Model Portfolio Trajectory. California Management Review, 65(2), 156-176. [More Information]
Bogers, M., Garud, R., Thomas, L., Tuertscher, P., Yoo, Y. (2022). Digital innovation: transforming research and practice. Innovation: Management, policy & practice, 24(1), 4-12. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Ritala, P. (2022). Ecosystem Legitimacy Emergence: A Collective Action View. Journal of Management, 48(3), 515-541. [More Information]
Snihur, Y., Thomas, L., Garud, R., Phillips, N. (2022). Entrepreneurial Framing: A Literature Review and Future Research Directions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 46(3), 578-606. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Tee, R. (2022). Generativity: A systematic review and conceptual framework. International Journal of Management Reviews, 24(2), 255-278. [More Information]
Clements, Z., Parmar, R., Thomas, L. (2022). Measuring platform return on participation. Business Horizons, 65(2), 193-204. [More Information]
Hirtenkauf, A., Gurses, K., Thomas, L. (2022). On the naming of innovation districts. Journal of Evolutionary Studies in Business, 7(2), 268-297. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Autio, E., Gann, D. (2022). Processes of ecosystem emergence. Technovation, 115, 102441. [More Information]
Autio, E., Thomas, L. (2022). Researching ecosystems in innovation contexts. Innovation & Management Review, 19(1), 12-25. [More Information]
Leiponen, A., Thomas, L., Wang, Q. (2022). The dApp economy: a new platform for distributed innovation? Innovation: Management, policy & practice, 24(1), 125-143. [More Information]
Burgelman, R., Snihur, Y., Thomas, L. (2022). Why Multibusiness Corporations Split: CEO Strategizing as the Ecosystem Evolves. Journal of Management, 48(7), 2108-2151. [More Information]
Koutroumpis, P., Leiponen, A., Thomas, L. (2021). Digital instruments as invention machines. Communications of the ACM, 64(1), 70-78. [More Information]
Parmar, R., Leiponen, A., Thomas, L. (2020). Building an organizational digital twin. Business Horizons, 63(6), 725-736. [More Information]
Koutroumpis, P., Leiponen, A., Thomas, L. (2020). Markets for data. Industrial and Corporate Change, 29(3), 645-660. [More Information]
Koutroumpis, P., Leiponen, A., Thomas, L. (2020). Small is big in ICT: The impact of R&D on productivity. Telecommunications Policy, 44(1), 101833. [More Information]
Snihur, Y., Thomas, L., Burgelman, R. (2018). An Ecosystem-Level Process Model of Business Model Disruption: The Disruptor's Gambit. Journal of Management Studies, 55(7), 1278-1316. [More Information]
Autio, E., Nambisan, S., Thomas, L., Wright, M. (2018). Digital affordances, spatial affordances, and the genesis of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 12(1), 72-95. [More Information]
Koutroumpis, P., Leiponen, A., Thomas, L. (2017). How important is it?: Information and communication technology patents are more influential on subsequent inventions than are other types of patents. Communications of the ACM, 60(7), 62-68. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Vernet, A., Gann, D. (2016). Adoption readiness in service innovation: the case of digital money. Industry and Innovation, 23(4), 353-381. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Leiponen, A. (2016). Big data commercialization. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 44(2), 74-90. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Autio, E., Gann, D. (2014). Architectural Leverage: Putting Platforms in Context. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 28(2), 198-219. [More Information]

show 25 more

By Year

Expand all

2025

Gradillas, M., Thomas, L. (2025). Distinguishing digitization and digitalization: A systematic review and conceptual framework. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 42(1), 112-143. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Snihur, Y. (2025). Ecosystem framing and infomediary resonance: Amazon’s early years (1995–2003). Technovation, 140, 103159. [More Information]
Garud, R., Snihur, Y., Thomas, L., Phillips, N. (2025). How Founders Can Avoid The Deception Trap. Harvard Business Review. [More Information]

2024

Autio, E., Thomas, L. (2024). Effective Mission Integration: A Triple Bottom Line Canvas for Impact Business Model Innovation. In A. Aagaard (Eds.), Business Model Innovation: Game Changers and Contemporary Issues, (pp. 157-191). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan. [More Information]
Coviello, N., Autio, E., Nambisan, S., Patzelt, H., Thomas, L. (2024). Organizational scaling, scalability, and scale-up: Definitional harmonization and a research agenda. Journal of Business Venturing, 39(5), 106419. [More Information]
Karhu, K., Heiskala, M., Ritala, P., Thomas, L. (2024). Positive, Negative, and Amplified Network Externalities in Platform Markets. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 38(3), 349-367. [More Information]
Garud, R., Snihur, Y., Thomas, L., Phillips, N. (2024). The Dark Side of Entrepreneurial Framing: A Process Model of Deception and Legitimacy Loss. Academy of Management Review, Published online: 7 December 2023. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Ritala, P., Karhu, K., Heiskala, M. (2024). Vertical and horizontal complementarities in platform ecosystems. Innovation: Management, policy & practice, Published online: 18 January 2024. [More Information]
Parmar, R., Peters, M., Thomas, L. (2024). What Is Responsible Computing? ESG: The Insights You Need from Harvard Business Review. United States: Harvard Business Review Press. [More Information]

show 3 more

2023

Thomas, L., Leiponen, A., Koutroumpis, P. (2023). Profiting from data products. In C. Cennamo, G.B. Dagnino, F. Zhu (Eds.), Research Handbook on Digital Strategy, (pp. 255-272). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing. [More Information]
Snihur, Y., Thomas, L., Burgelman, R. (2023). Strategically Managing the Business Model Portfolio Trajectory. California Management Review, 65(2), 156-176. [More Information]
Burgelman, R., Snihur, Y., Thomas, L. (2023). Strategy-Making and Organizational Evolution: A Managerial Agency Perspective. United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press. [More Information]

2022

Bogers, M., Garud, R., Thomas, L., Tuertscher, P., Yoo, Y. (2022). Digital innovation: transforming research and practice. Innovation: Management, policy & practice, 24(1), 4-12. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Ritala, P. (2022). Ecosystem Legitimacy Emergence: A Collective Action View. Journal of Management, 48(3), 515-541. [More Information]
Snihur, Y., Thomas, L., Garud, R., Phillips, N. (2022). Entrepreneurial Framing: A Literature Review and Future Research Directions. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 46(3), 578-606. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Tee, R. (2022). Generativity: A systematic review and conceptual framework. International Journal of Management Reviews, 24(2), 255-278. [More Information]
Clements, Z., Parmar, R., Thomas, L. (2022). Measuring platform return on participation. Business Horizons, 65(2), 193-204. [More Information]
Hirtenkauf, A., Gurses, K., Thomas, L. (2022). On the naming of innovation districts. Journal of Evolutionary Studies in Business, 7(2), 268-297. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Autio, E., Gann, D. (2022). Processes of ecosystem emergence. Technovation, 115, 102441. [More Information]
Autio, E., Thomas, L. (2022). Researching ecosystems in innovation contexts. Innovation & Management Review, 19(1), 12-25. [More Information]
Leiponen, A., Thomas, L., Wang, Q. (2022). The dApp economy: a new platform for distributed innovation? Innovation: Management, policy & practice, 24(1), 125-143. [More Information]
Burgelman, R., Snihur, Y., Thomas, L. (2022). Why Multibusiness Corporations Split: CEO Strategizing as the Ecosystem Evolves. Journal of Management, 48(7), 2108-2151. [More Information]

show 7 more

2021

Aarikka-Stenroos, L., Ritala, P., Thomas, L. (2021). Circular economy ecosystems: a typology, definitions, and implications. In S. Teerikangas, T. Onkila, K. Koistinen, M. Mäkelä (Eds.), Research Handbook of Sustainability Agency, (pp. 260-276). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. [More Information]
Koutroumpis, P., Leiponen, A., Thomas, L. (2021). Digital instruments as invention machines. Communications of the ACM, 64(1), 70-78. [More Information]

2020

Parmar, R., Leiponen, A., Thomas, L. (2020). Building an organizational digital twin. Business Horizons, 63(6), 725-736. [More Information]
Podoynitsyna, K., Snihur, Y., Thomas, L., Grégoire, D. (2020). Creating Meta-Narratives: How Analogies and Metaphors Support Business Model Innovation. In K.J. Sund, R.J. Galavan, M. Bogers (Eds.), Business Models and Cognition (New Horizons in Managerial and Organizational Cognition, Vol. 4), (pp. 135-167). Leeds: Emerald Publishing Limited. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Autio, E. (2020). Innovation Ecosystems in Management: An Organizing Typology. Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Business and Management. United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. [More Information]
Koutroumpis, P., Leiponen, A., Thomas, L. (2020). Markets for data. Industrial and Corporate Change, 29(3), 645-660. [More Information]
Koutroumpis, P., Leiponen, A., Thomas, L. (2020). Small is big in ICT: The impact of R&D on productivity. Telecommunications Policy, 44(1), 101833. [More Information]
Autio, E., Thomas, L. (2020). Value co-creation in ecosystems: insights and research promise from three disciplinary perspectives. In S. Nambisan, K. Lyytinen, Y. Yoo (Eds.), Handbook of Digital Innovation, (pp. 107-132). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. [More Information]

show 3 more

2018

Snihur, Y., Thomas, L., Burgelman, R. (2018). An Ecosystem-Level Process Model of Business Model Disruption: The Disruptor's Gambit. Journal of Management Studies, 55(7), 1278-1316. [More Information]
Autio, E., Nambisan, S., Thomas, L., Wright, M. (2018). Digital affordances, spatial affordances, and the genesis of entrepreneurial ecosystems. Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, 12(1), 72-95. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Sharapov, D., Autio, E. (2018). Linking entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystems: the case of AppCampus. In E.G. Carayannis, G.B. Dagnino, S. Alvarez, R. Faraci (Eds.), Entrepreneurial Ecosystems and the Diffusion of Startups, (pp. 35-64). Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. [More Information]
Kratochvil, D., Thomas, L. (2018). Measuring Student Success: A Review of Methods and Motives. In H.M. Fardoun, K.J. Downing, M. Mok (Eds.), The Future of Higher Education in the Middle East and Africa, (pp. 241-249). Cham: Springer. [More Information]
Snihur, Y., Thomas, L., Burgelman, R. (2018). The Performative Power of Words: How Business Model Innovators Use Framing for Strategic Advantage. In K.J. Sund, R.J. Galavan, S. Brusoni (Eds.), Cognition and Innovation (New Horizons in Managerial and Organizational Cognition, Vol. 3), (pp. 13-44). Leeds: Emerald Publishing Limited. [More Information]
Autio, E., Thomas, L. (2018). Tilting the Playing Field: Towards an Endogenous Strategic Action Theory of Ecosystem Creation. In S. Nambisan (Eds.), World Scientific Reference on Innovation, Volume 3, (pp. 111-140). Singapore: World Scientific Publishing. [More Information]

show 3 more

2017

Koutroumpis, P., Leiponen, A., Thomas, L. (2017). How important is it?: Information and communication technology patents are more influential on subsequent inventions than are other types of patents. Communications of the ACM, 60(7), 62-68. [More Information]

2016

Thomas, L., Vernet, A., Gann, D. (2016). Adoption readiness in service innovation: the case of digital money. Industry and Innovation, 23(4), 353-381. [More Information]
Thomas, L., Leiponen, A. (2016). Big data commercialization. IEEE Engineering Management Review, 44(2), 74-90. [More Information]
Abonamah, A., Korayim, S., Thomas, L. (2016). Delivering an Entrepreneurship-Focused MBA in the UAE. Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Education (Advances in Digital Education and Lifelong Learning, Vol. 2), (pp. 169-193). Leeds: Emerald Group Publishing Limited. [More Information]
Thomas, L. (2016). Ecosystem Emergence: An Investigation into the Emergence of Six Digital Ecosystems. United Kingdom: LAP Lambert Academic Publishing. [More Information]

show 1 more

2014

Thomas, L., Autio, E., Gann, D. (2014). Architectural Leverage: Putting Platforms in Context. The Academy of Management Perspectives, 28(2), 198-219. [More Information]

2013

Autio, E., Thomas, L. (2013). Innovation Ecosystems: Implications for Innovation Management? In M. Dodgson, D.M. Gann, N. Phillips (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Innovation Management, (pp. 204-228). United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. [More Information]

The University of Sydney Business School

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Associate Professor Llewellyn Thomas

Selected publications

Publications

By Type

By Year