I am an Assistant Professor in Strategy at HEC Paris. My research is at the intersection of innovation strategy, non-market strategy, and public policy. I investigate how firms navigate and interact with their institutional environments when formulating innovation strategies. I pay particular attention to how firms and courts interact to shape patent policy and how in turn those policies shape firms’ innovative activities.
I received my doctoral degree at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Prior to joining academia, I worked in management consulting, telecom and media regulation and investment banking. I completed an undergraduate degree in Mathematics, and graduate degrees in I.T. engineering and in applied economics.
Innovation Management & Strategy, Nonmarket Strategy, Intellectual Property, Science & Technology Policy
Conti, A., Ortega, L., & Sung, E. (2025). Sharpen your sword for litigation: incumbent strategic reaction to the threat of entry. Management Science, 71(1), 803-824.
Corporate Political Activity at the U.S. Supreme Court - with John P. Walsh and Yasir Dewan
under third-round review at Administrative Science Quarterly
The Heterogeneous Response to Weaker Excludability for Patented Technology
manuscript ready for submission
Finalist for the Kauffman Prize (REER Conference Best Student Paper Award), 2018
Best Paper for an Emerging Scholar Award at the European Policy for Intellectual Property 2017 conference
National Constraints in the Innovation Process: Alliances for New Product Development in Aircraft Manufacturing - with Joao Albino-Pimentel, Pierre Dussauge, Louis Mulotte, and Steve Tallman
under third-round review at Research Policy
Lobbying the Courts - with Yasir Dewan and Jiao Luo
R&R at the Strategic Management Journal
Lobbying Meetings and Contract Winners: Evidence from the European Union - with Nel Dutt, Miguel Espinosa, Andrea Fosfuri, Ruyue Li, and Johan Rath
under review at the Strategic Management Journal
Lobbying in the EU - with Nel Dutt, Miguel Espinosa, Andrea Fosfuri, Ruyue Li, and Johan Rath (available on SSRN)
Innovation in Publicly Backed Small Firms and External Knowledge Sources - with John P. Walsh
Authorship as member of a consortium (peer-reviewed):
Fišar, M., Greiner, B., Huber, C., Katok, E., Ozkes, A. I., & Management Science Reproducibility Collaboration. (2024). Reproducibility in Management Science. Management Science, 70(3), 1343-1356. (open access, online appendix).
White paper for public disseminationed:
Dutt, Nilanjana and Espinosa, Miguel and Li, Ruyue and Rath, Johan and Sung, Elie, Lobbying in the EU (May 19, 2025). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=5260257
Strategy Core, Spring 2019 - present
Nonmarket Strategy, doctoral course (co-teaching), 2023, 2025
Competitive Strategy and Firm Heterogeneity, doctoral course (co-teaching), Spring 2022, 2024, 2026
Business simulation, MBA, 2023 - present
Business simulation, Executive MBA, 2023
Guest lecture on Industry Analysis, Executive MBA, Fall 2021
Advisory Editor for Research Policy, 2022 – Present
Ad hoc reviewer for Management Science, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal, Journal of Economics & Management Strategy
Representative-at-large for the TIM division at the Academy of Management, 2026 and 2027 (current)
Representative-at-large for the Entrepreneurship & Strategy Interest group at the Strategic Management Society, 2025 and 2026 (current)
Representative-at-large for the Competitive Strategy Interest group at the Strategic Management Society, 2022 and 2024
HEC Qatar grant , 2025 (€10,000, co-grantee with Yasir Dewan)
HEC Foundation, F-budget, 2023 (€25,000)
Best Dissertation Award, Academy of Management, Technology and Innovation Management (TIM) Division, 2020. Winner.
HEC Foundation, F-budget, 2020 (€25,000)
Best Reviewer Award, Academy of Management, TIM Division, 2019
William H Read Award, Georgia Tech, 2018-2019
Kaufman Best Student Paper Award (REER Conference), 2018. Finalist.
Best Reviewer Award, Academy of Management, TIM Division, 2018
Outstanding doctoral student, School of Public Policy, Georgia Tech, 2017-2018. Winner.
NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Grant (#1759991) to the Science of Science and Innovation Policy (SciSIP) program (co-PI, PI: John P. Walsh), 2017-2018
Best Paper for an Emerging Scholar Award at the European Policy for Intellectual Property 2017 conference. Winner.
Best Presentation Award at the Technology Management and Policy Graduate Consortium, 2017. Winner.
Best Presentation Award at the Doctoral Workshop of the European Policy for Intellectual Property 2016 conference. Winner.
sung@hec.fr
+33 (0) 1 39 67 9813
HEC Paris
1 rue de la Liberation, 78351 Jouy-en-Josas, France