Waqas Nawaz

Biography

My research sits at the intersection of strategy and sustainability, with a particular focus on: CEO rhetoric, cognition, and motivation; competitive dynamics; cross-sector partnerships; unintended consequences of innovations; knowledge-based economies; and management systems. I am particularly interested in uncovering the drivers and barriers of organizational performance in sustainability contexts, as well as identifying strategies that enable underperforming firms to generate greater impact.

I adopt a multi-method research approach that blends qualitative and quantitative techniques, including linguistic and thematic content analysis, historical case studies, one-on-one interviews, online surveys, panel regression, and other parametric and non-parametric statistical tests, such as t-test and Wilcoxon test. To support my PhD research, I utilize large-scale textual data, including earnings call transcripts, obtained through Finnhub Stock API. Finnhub also offers Financial Co-pilot, which is an AI-powered stock research platform. Additional data sources I use, or have used in the past, include Compustat, CRSP, ExecuComp, ISS, Factiva, Raven Pack, MSCI ESG, CDP, Bloomberg Terminal, ToxicDocs, organizational reports and press releases, and video interviews with corporate executives.

Educational Background

• Ph.D. Candidate in Management (Strategy), Queen’s University, Canada (2019 to present)
• Ph.D. in Sustainable Energy, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar (2015-2019)
• M.S. in Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University at Qatar, Qatar (2012-2014)
• B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering, University of the Punjab, Pakistan (2004-2008)

Published Papers

• Nawaz, W., & Koç, M. (2020). Industry, university and government partnerships for the sustainable development of knowledge-based society: Drivers, models and examples in US, Norway, Singapore and Qatar. First edition; Springer.
• Nawaz, W., & Bashir, H. (2022). Managing the unintended consequences of radical sustainability innovations: The case of catastrophic failure of leaded gasoline industry. Journal of Cleaner Production, 375, 134175.
• Al-Mana, A. A., Nawaz, W., Kamal, A., & Koç, M. (2020). Financial and operational efficiencies of national and international oil companies: An empirical investigation. Resources Policy, 68, 101701.
• Nawaz, W., Linke, P., & Koç, M. (2019). Safety and sustainability nexus: A review and appraisal. Journal of Cleaner Production, 216, 74-87.
• Nawaz, W., & Koç, M. (2018). Development of a systematic framework for sustainability management of organizations. Journal of Cleaner Production, 171, 1255-1274.

Conferences & Presentations

• Nawaz, W. (2023). Theorizing cross-sector network density and strength of ties: How companies can draw sustainable benefits from cross-sector partnerships. In Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC) Conference, Toronto, Canada;
• Nawaz, W. (2022). Respond or forbear? How stakeholders influence rivalry in a non-financial context. In Academy of Management (AOM) Conference, Virtual;
• Nawaz, W., & Bashir, H. (2022). It’s time to think inside the box: How reliable are existing innovation management methods against catastrophic failure of radical sustainability innovations? In Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC) Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia;
• Nawaz, W. (2021). Organizational sustainability cognition and its relationship with sustainability performance. In Academy of Management (AOM) Conference, Virtual;
• Nawaz, W. (2021). Let’s get down to sustainable business: Towards an integrated organizational sustainability management framework. In Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC) Conference, Virtual.

Awards & Honours

• Co-Recipient of D.D. Monieson Doctoral Fellowship, Queen’s University, 2023
• Best Paper Award for Social Responsibility Division, ASAC Conference, 2022
• SSHRC’s Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarship – Doctoral, Queen’s University 2020 and 2022-24
• R.S. McLaughlin Fellowship, Smith School of Business, Queen’s University, 2019