Program Summary

Strategic management addresses the directional decisions defining an organization's ultimate and operational goals. Emphasis is placed upon assessing environmental change and adapting the organization to the resulting threats and opportunities. Strategic decisions are global, cut across functional lines, and usually involve long-time horizons and long-term resource commitments and risks. Students typically take four seminars in strategic management. These often include classes in strategic management, seminar in business strategy, seminar in corporate strategy, and processes in the formulation and implementation of strategy.

Unique Features

• Faculty on Editorial Boards for top academic journals.
• Doctoral fellowships available
• Quantitative research receives emphasis in program of study
• Small program with low student-faculty ratio

Student Profile (what we look for in an applicant)

• Strong analytical background.
• MBA is helpful, but not required; graduate degree a plus.
• Work experience not required, although applicants typically have some experience in strategy, consulting, or a technical field such as engineering.

Typical Program of Study

The typical sequence of courses for Ph.D.'s in Strategic Management is as follows:

Semester 1:
Econ 670
MGMT 659: Seminar on Topics in Strategic Management
Seminar in minor area of study
Research Assistant for Faculty

Semester 2:
Econ 671
MGMT 659: Seminar on Topics in Strategic Management
Seminar in minor area of study
Research Assistant for Faculty

Summer End of First Year:
MGMT 672

Semester 3:
MGMT 677
MGMT 659: Seminar on Topics in Strategic Management
Other course of interest
Research Assistant for Faculty

Semester 4:
MGMT 679
MGMT 659: Seminar on Topics in Strategic Management
Other course of interest
Teaching Assistant

Students are required to submit a formal plan of study to the Graduate School by the end of the spring semester of their second year in the doctoral program, and prior to taking the preliminary examination.

In the four semesters after the prelims, and to some extent, prior to the prelim, students can take additional research methods courses suited to their particular needs. The faculty work closely with the student to develop the individual's course plan.

Within twelve months after passing the preliminary examination, each student must formally present and defend a dissertation research proposal to his/her dissertation committee. To be accepted, the proposal must represent substantial progress towards completion of a doctoral thesis along with a statement of further work to be performed. Once accepted by the committee, the proposal is considered a "contract" that will guide the student towards completion of the dissertation. A student may be dropped from the program if there is a significant delay in achieving an acceptable proposal.

Each student is required to make a public defense of his/her dissertation. The required procedures for holding a dissertation defense are listed in the revised Ph.D. Program in Management.

Faculty & Research Interests

Joan Allatta the role of knowledge in the firm, communities at practice, and the acquisition integration process

Thomas H. Brush supplier relationships to e-commerce marketplaces and outsourcing, use of transaction costs analysis, information economics, and the knowledge based view of the firm to determine the likely success of disintermediation or extension of existing business models with e-business initiatives

Timothy B. Folta determinants of performance, entry, and survival of entrepreneural firms, entrepreneurship and geographic clusters, the impact of technology on firm strategy, real options and the management of strategy under uncertainty

Carol Jacobsonstrategic management, global strategy, international management, industry and competitive analysis, organization theory (on leave)

Aldas Kriauciunas barriers to change, knowledge acquisition and transfer, transitional economies, organizational imprinting

Matthew Lynall governance and executive management of SMEs during early stages of corporate development; the role and effectiveness of boards of directors and executive management in growth-related transitions; and the effects of temporal phenomena on firm development and performance

Charlotte Ren technology and innovation management, organizational learning, productivity comparisons, organizational decision-making processes

Jeffery Reuer business and corporate strategy, strategic investment decisions, strategic alliances, information economics, options theory

Dan E. Schendel global strategy and international competition, strategic planning system design and implementation, business strategy across the product life cycle, and organization structure and strategy, new product development, mathematical models of corporate strategy, corporate turnaround strategies, and acquisition and divestiture

Robert White corporate governance, corporate political activity, agency theory

Recent Graduates
(First/Last Name, year of graduation, dissertation title, placement)

Dinesh N. Iyer, 2007, Performance Feedback View of the Timing of Acquisitions, Direction of Diversification, and Firm Performance. Ohio University

John Francis Burr, 2006, Innovation, Leverage, and Internal Controls. Purdue University

Paul Louis Drnevich, 2006, Resources, Capabilities, and Performance Heterogeneity. University of Alabama

Derek Ruth, 2006, Transaction Costs, Technology, and the Scope of Human Resource Outsourcing Relationships. Wichita State University

Yoon-Suk Baik, 2004, The Impact of Signal-Based Strategic Leadership on Research Development Search Behavior. Long Island University.

Jonathan O'Brien, 2004, Interactions Between Industry Conditions and Firm Characteristics: Influences on Investment Behavior and Performance. University of Notre Dame.

Paul Mudde, 2004, Competitive Strategy, Operational Effectiveness, and M&A: Examining the Role of Acquirer and Target Strategy and Effectiveness on M&A Performance. Grand Valley State University.

Natalia Weisz, 2004, A Theoretical and Empirical Assessments of the Social Capital of Nascent Entrepreneurial Teams. IAE Business School, Universidad Austral.

Jianfeng Wu, 2004, Knowledge Stock, Search Competence and Innovation Performance in the U.S. Electrical Medical Device Industry. Guanghua School of Management, Peking University.

Wei-Ru Chen, 2003, Firms' Technological Search Behaviors. INSEAD.

Margaretha Hendrickx, 2003, Moving Beyond the Causal Ambigumy Conundrum. Binghamton University.