Schulich School of Business

Overview

The field of strategic management is concerned with understanding the sources of firms’ success and failure as a prerequisite for improving their performance. Strategy is viewed as an important determinant of organizational success. The field draws from a variety of intellectual disciplines such as economics, sociology, psychology, and biology. It combines and complements other business specialties such as operations, marketing, finance, information technology, and human resources. The field is also distinct from other areas of study in its focus on major business goals, the definition of a firm’s scope of business, the search for sustainable competitive advantage, and the adoption of an integrative, top management perspective.

The PhD Program in Strategic Management at Schulich is offered by the Policy and Strategic Management Area at the Schulich School of Business, York University and coordinated with the School’s PhD program director. Faculty members in the Area explore many interests within the broad area of policy and strategic management and are active in a wide range of research projects. Key areas of research are international management, strategic alliances, mergers and acquisitions, entrepreneurship and technological innovation, corporate governance, and strategy processes. The faculty members share an interest in addressing important policy issues in an intellectually open environment and their work reflects the School’s distinctive innovative, global and diverse culture.

Throughout their program, students have many opportunities to collaborate with their peers as well as a large group of internationally known researchers from within the broad field of strategic management and other areas of research within Schulich. Faculty members in the Policy area at Schulich are highly regarded in their areas of specialization and regularly publish in the top journal of the field, such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, Organization Science and Journal of International Business Studies, among others. York University and the Toronto area provide additional access to high caliber faculty and great research opportunities.

Program of Study

The program is designed to develop the content knowledge and methodological skills necessary for a student to become a successful and productive scholar. Coursework and associated activities help students cultivate the values of research excellence and intellectual curiosity that are essential for their careers. Students are expected to engage actively in research projects throughout their entire graduate program.

The program of study consists of coursework, a research colloquium, and a research paper, followed by comprehensive exams and the dissertation. Throughout the first two years of the program, students are required to take a minimum of 12 courses:

• 6 methods courses
• 2 strategy foundation courses
• 3 courses from the following four:
• Strategy elective I
• Strategy elective II
• Organization theory
• Organizational behavior
• 1 specialization elective (anticipated to be from outside the Schulich School of Business)
• 2 Graduate Colloquium in Management courses

In addition, students are required to participate in the departmental research seminar series. By the end of the second year (24 months) students are also expected to have fulfilled the research paper requirement and passed their comprehensive exams.

The First Year

Upon entering the program, in consultation with the Policy and Strategic Management Area PhD Coordinator (hereafter PhD Coordinator), students select a faculty advisor. Faculty advisors help students design their program of study and provide them with opportunities to engage in research. The student’s faculty advisor, in consultation with the PhD Coordinator, determines the appropriate set of courses and the sequence that will best fit the particular student’s study needs. In addition to their course work, students are expected to work on research with their advisors as well as with other faculty members. They may also initiate their own research projects, but this is not expected in the first year.

A typical timeline for the first year is provided below:

The Second Year

By the end of the second year, students are expected to have completed their coursework, fulfill the research paper requirement and pass their comprehensive exams. In addition, students continue to participate in the Area’s research colloquium and develop expertise in their areas of interest. Students also maintain active involvement with faculty in other research projects.

The initial submission of the student’s research paper is due before the end of December of the second year. Students are required to present this paper in a research seminar series; typically these presentations are scheduled during the spring term. The final submission is due on May 15 of the second year. Following the successful completion of the research paper, students may schedule their comprehensive exams. Normally, exams will take place before the middle of September of the second year.

A typical timeline for the second year is provided below:

The Third Year

Upon successful completion of the comprehensive exams, students in the third year begin to develop a dissertation project. This involves intensive reading in relevant literatures, investigating options for collecting data and developing a research design, all under guidance of a faculty advisor, who will normally also serve as the dissertation chair. Students are expected to continue to actively participate in the seminar series and continue to work on other research projects with faculty. Students are expected to defend their dissertation proposal by the end of the third year and pass into candidacy.

The Fourth Year

Fourth year students are expected to work primarily on their dissertation. Students spend the fourth and sometimes fifth year conducting and writing their dissertation research. They submit their dissertations and present the findings orally to the dissertation committee and other interested attendees. As the senior students in the area, fourth and fifth year students play a leadership role in the colloquium. Among other activities, and as part of their involvement in the colloquium, students in their fourth year of studies are expected to present a practice job talk and a practice conference presentation.

Coursework

Detailed Program Requirements

A. Coursework

Students are required to take a minimum of 12 courses over their first two years. These are comprised of 6 methods course, 4 content courses in the strategy area and 2 courses in a minor or a foundational discipline.

Methods: (6 courses)
Students are required to take the following courses:

SB/DCAD 7100 3.00	Logics of Social Research
SB/DCAD 7250 3.00	Research Design
SB/DCAD 7400 3.00	Qualitative Research Methods
Two courses in quantitative research methods*
Selected advanced topics in empirical methods*

* Specific course selections are made after consultation with the faculty advisor and the PhD Coordinator.

Strategy: (4 courses)
Students are required to take:

A. The following two courses:

SB/PLCY 7010 3.00	Economic Foundations of Strategy
SB/PLCY 7020 3.00	Behavioral Foundations of Strategy

B. Three of the following four courses:

ORGS 7010 3.00	Individual and Group Behaviour in Organizations
ORGS 7020 3.00	Behavioral Foundations of Strategy*
PLCY 70X0 (2 courses)	One strategy elective will be offered each year

C. One specialization elective

The foundation courses are designed to provide the prerequisite disciplinary knowledge relevant to strategic management and to provide the background for the topical areas emphasized in the strategy elective courses. The strategy elective courses cover either advanced topics in strategy (e.g. cooperative strategies and networks) or specialized sub-fields within the strategic management field (e.g. international strategy or entrepreneurship). Finally, the specialization elective is expected to be provide you more solid grounding from a base discipline (e.g. Economics, Sociology, etc) outside the Schulich School of Business. Under rare circumstances, and with the approval of the area coordinator, this course may be substituted by an independent study. An independent study is undertaken under the supervision of an individual faculty member and normally has a term paper requirement that must be evaluated by the PhD area coordinator or an additional faculty member.

Research Colloquium:
In addition to the above 12 courses, students are expected to actively participate in the departmental research seminar series. Participation goes beyond just being present and carries an expectation of more involved engagement. Students are also expected to present their research paper and their dissertation proposal in this series.

Graduate Colloquium in Management:
Students are also expected to participate in two full-year Graduate Colloquia in Management in the first and second year (SB/DCAD 7600 1.50 + SB/DCAD 7610 1.50).

B. Research Paper Requirement

Students must submit one research paper that synthesizes a particular body of literature and furthers our understanding on a specific topic in strategy. The research paper is a prerequisite to the comprehensive exams and should comprise both a theoretical and an empirical component. Students work closely with a faculty advisor on this paper.

The initial submission of the research paper is due before the end of December of the second year. Students are required to present this paper in the research seminar series, normally during the spring term. Students are expected to submit the final version of the paper by May 15 of the second year. The paper is evaluated and must be approved by the research paper's faculty advisor, the area PhD Coordinator and an additional faculty member.

C. Comprehensive Examination

Following the successful completion of all coursework and the research paper, students may schedule their comprehensive exams. Typically, they take place before the middle of September of their third year. The comprehensive exams are designed to test a student’s breadth of knowledge in the field of strategic management as well as depth of knowledge in select areas. In preparation for their exams, students are given a list of classic readings at the beginning of their program; the list consists of books and journal articles that have defined the field. Students are expected to have a thorough comprehension and understanding of the historical development and the fundamental questions that have guided the discourse in the field. Students are also expected to be thoroughly versed in the current literature and research questions that occupy select areas of the field of strategy. It is assumed that these areas will subsequently define the scope of a student’s dissertation.

The exam is administered by an examination committee consisting of three area faculty members; normally, the student’s advisor will be a member and act as the chair of the committee.

The comprehensive exam has two components: a written exam taken over three days and an oral examination. The exam is designed to test students’ knowledge of theory, ability to conceptualize, and ability to extend or offer novel insights into current theory.

The written component is broken into three sections, each designed to test a different area of students’ understanding of the field. The first section focuses on the general field of strategic management. The questions in this section are typically provided by the faculty members who offer the core courses in Strategy. The second section is designed to test the students’ knowledge of their specific sub-field(s) and its (their) place in the greater field of strategic management. The questions in this section are typically provided by the exam committee members and the faculty who have taught the elective courses. Finally, the third section tests the students’ methodological knowledge by requiring that they prepare a written critique of a piece of empirical research related to their own research interests. Each of the first two sections is a four to five-hour time limited examination, taken in a classroom setting; while the students can bring along their books and notes, it is written on a clean computer. The third section is a take-home which will be given at the end of the second day and will be due on the following morning.

Students must answer all three parts of the examination to a high standard of acceptability. All questions in the first section are compulsory, though there may be some choice given in the second section. The answers will be evaluated by the exam committee as well as the faculty members who have written the questions. Students who fail more than one question will be considered to have failed the comprehensive exams and asked to leave the program. Students who fail one question will re-write a new question on the portion(s) of the exam that they fail. There is only one opportunity to re-write any answer.

The oral examination committee will be comprised of the examination committee members as well as the area PhD coordinator. The oral component of the exam normally occurs within three weeks after the completion of the written examination and after the examination committee concurs that the written submissions have been of sufficient quality to proceed with the oral exam. The oral component takes a question and answer format of a two to three-hour examination of the student that purports to clarify issues raised in the written component and expand the discussion to give the student the opportunity to demonstrate his/her capacity to engage in a discourse as a scholar of the field. Questions pertaining to any optional questions that were not selected by the students are also probable.

Students must successfully pass both the written and oral exam before proceeding to the next stage of the program.

D. Dissertation

The dissertation is the culmination of the PhD program and should lead to an original and substantial scholarly contribution to the Strategic Management field. Upon successful completion of the comprehensive exams, students commence the dissertation.

The first stage consists of developing a Dissertation Proposal. This involves intensive reading in relevant literatures, investigating options for collecting data and developing a research design, all under the guidance of a faculty advisor who acts as the supervisor and the dissertation chair. In consultation with the faculty advisor and the PhD Coordinator, students are required to form a dissertation committee prior to the proposal defense. This committee is normally comprised of the faculty advisor and two additional members from the Area. With the approval of the PhD Coordinator, one of those two members can be from another Area within Schulich or, in exceptional circumstances, with the approval of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, outside the School. The proposal defense takes the form of an oral examination and provides an opportunity to both the student and the committee to assess the suitability of the topic and research question, its anchoring in the current literature, the appropriateness of the proposed methodology, and the potential original contribution to the field.

Failing to pass the proposal defense will prevent the student from continuing formal work on the dissertation. The student has three months to re-convene the committee and attempt to defend the dissertation proposal. A second failure will mean the termination of the student’s participation in the PhD program.

Upon successful defense of the proposal, the dissertation work proceeds according to the Faculty of Graduate Studies regulations. When the committee is satisfied that the student has achieved the standards of original contribution and scholarship, the student is called to successfully defend the dissertation to a panel consisting of faculty members from within and outside of the School.

Other Program Related Arrangements

Advising:
At the commencement of the program, students are assigned an advisor by the PhD Coordinator. They may continue working with the same advisor through their studies or switch to another faculty member of the Area, after consulting with the PhD Coordinator. The advisor, along with the PhD Coordinator, is responsible for assisting with and approving course selection. Although the advisors are an integral part of a student’s successful progression through the program, students are expected to interact and work with other faculty members and be exposed to different ideas and methodologies throughout their program.

Research Assistantship:
Students are expected to work as research assistants (normally about 10 hours/week) for the duration of the program. This is an integral part of their training. Although research assistantship engagements may predominantly be with their advisor, students are encouraged to work with multiple faculty members over the course of their residence in order to get varied exposure.

Teaching:
Students are expected to teach one course, normally during their fourth year of the program. Since teaching is an integral part of the academic experience, they are also encouraged to develop their pedagogical skills and observe teaching techniques by attending courses in strategic management and teaching workshops that are regularly offered at York.

Evaluation:
Students undergo an annual evaluation of their progress in the program. The annual progress report is provided by the PhD Coordinator with input from the Area and relies on various indicators, such as performance in courses, involvement in seminars, and conference submissions.

Faculty

Preet Aulakh	International Business, Strategic Alliances, Technology Licensing, Emerging Economies, Firm Internationalization, Business-Government Relations
Ellen Auster	Strategic management, strategic organizational change; macro organization theory; women in management
Andrew Crane	Business ethics, corporate citizenship, corporations and politics, responsible marketing, ethical consumption, industrial espionage
James Darroch	Strategic management of financial services; international business; entrepreneurship
Yuval Deutsch	Entrepreneurship and business policy, corporate governance, inter and intra organizational signaling, and entrepreneurial decision-making.
Burkhard Eberlein	Comparative public policy, economic regulation, multi-level and international governance, regulatory networks, institutional theories of public policy, energy market regulation
Moshe Farjoun	Strategic decision making, organizational learning, managerial cognition, strategic change, organizational design, routines and institutions, industry evolution, innovation, high-reliability organizations, turbulent environments, historical research
Matthias Kipping	Business history; international transfer of management knowledge; development and role of management consulting and business education; business–government relations
Stan Li	Strategic Management; Organization Theory; International Management; Cross Cultural Psychology
Anoop Madhok	Multinational firm behaviour, foreign entry mode, interfirm collaboration, global strategic management
Dirk Matten	Corporate Social Responsiblity, Comparative International Management, Political Roles of the Corporation, Corporate Accountablity and Transparency, Business Ethics, Business and Sustainability
Charles McMillan	Globalization impacts on corporate decision making; moral hazard impacts of corporate failure; digital innovations and corporate design; e-learning; global supply chain linkages.
Theodore Peridis	Strategic alliances; cooperative strategies; industry and competitor analysis; strategic management of technology-based firms: biotechnology, electronics, telecommunications
Willow Sheremata	Strategic Management; Management of Technology and Innovation: Organization Theory
Justin Tan	Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Technology Management, Firm Strategy in Emerging Markets.
Stephen Weiss	International corporate and governmental negotiations; political and cultural environments of business; conflict and conflict management behavior; interpersonal communications and language use
Tom Wesson	Foreign subsidiaries and their parents; the transfer of skills and knowledge within multinationals and between foreign subsidiaries and their local suppliers and customers
Brenda Zimmerman	Complexity science applied to stategic management and change. Health care and voluntary sector organizations primary research sites. Current research projects include social innovation (linking all three sectors), changing nature of health care organizations and clinicians using a case study of two stroke care stategic alliances (Ontario and Quebec).

Scholarly development is an integral part of student life at Schulich School of Business. Working on research topics with award winning faculty, you will present your findings at industry conferences and publish them in key publications. Highlighted below is a list of PhD students in the Policy and Strategic Management area as well as a comprehensive list of dissertation topics of graduates in the program.

CURRENT STUDENTS

Majid Abdi	Wan Li
Ige Abiodun	Mekki MacAulay
Nada Basir	Rogerio Marques
Mohammad Keyhani	Trisha Ruebottom

AWARDS

2010	Nada Basir	SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship ($40, 000)
2010	Majid Abdi	Robert J. Litschert Best Student Paper Award, Academy of Management: Business Policy and Strategy division
2010	Majid Abdi	Temple/AIB Best Paper Award Nominee, Academy of International Business
2010	Majid Abdi	Best Reviewer Award, Academy of Management: International Management division

PUBLICATIONS

2010	Justin Tan and Liang Wang	MNCs’ Response to Ethical Pressure: An Institutional Logic Perspective. Published in "Journal of Business Ethics"
2010	Trisha Ruebottom	The Microstructures of Rhetorical Strategy in Social Entrepreneurship: Building Legitimacy through Heroes and Villains. Published in "Journal of Business Venturing, special issue: Institutions, Entrepreneurs and Community"
2010	Justin Tan and Liang Wang	Flexibility-efficiency Tradeoff and Performance Implications among Chinese SOEs. Published in "Journal of Business Research"
2010	Majid Abdi and Preet Aulakh	Internationalization and Performance: Degree, Duration and Scale of Operation. Published in "Academy of Management Proceedings"
2010	Mekki MacAulay	Growing Revenue with Open Source. Published in "Open Source Business Resource"
2010	Mekki MacAulay	Integrating Lessons from Other Disciplines into Open Source Practice. Published in "Open Source Business Resource" (Peer-reviewed publication)

CONFERENCES

2011	Trisha Ruebottom	Wealth, Culture and Corruption Revisited: A Longitudinal Study. Presented at the 2011 AOM Conference
2011	Mekki MacAulay	The Frontiers of Philosophy of Science in Strategic Management Presented at the ASAC 2011 Conference
2011	Mohammad Keyhani and Moren Levesque	The role of entrepreneurship in the market process: A simulation study Presented at the 2011 annual meeting of the Academy of Management, San Antonio, Texas
2011	Mohammad Keyhani and Moren Levesque	Returns to entrepreneurship in the market process Presented at the INFORMS 2011 annual meeting (November13-16, Charlotte, North Carolina)
2011	Mohammad Keyhani	The role of stakeholder values in the financial return to being green Presented at the annual conference of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC) (July 2-5,Montreal)
2011	Mohammad Keyhani	Doubtful decision making: Engaging uncertainty and surprise with abductive reasoning. Presented at the nnual conference of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC) (July 2-5, Montreal)
2010	Mekki MacAulay	Every Eyeball Has Value!: The User as a Passive Participant in Open Source Ecosystems Presented at the IEEE / FOSSLC SC2010 Open Source Technology Showcase Conference, Ottawa, Ontario
2010	Mekki MacAulay	Understanding the User: The Marginalized Open Source Contributor Proceedings of the 2010 Cambridge University Interdisciplinary Conference, University of Cambridge. Cambridge, United Kingdom
2010	Justin Tan and Liang Wang	MNCs and Business Ethics: An Institutional Logic Perspective. Presented at Academy of Management Annual Meeting. Montreal, Quebec
2010	Justin Tan and Liang Wang	Evolution of Networks in a Transitional Economy: A Simulation of Chinese Garment- Producing Clusters from 1985 to 2007. Presented at Academy of International Business Annual Meeting. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
2010	Justin Tan and Liang Wang	Ethics Strategy in the Global Context. Presented at Administrative Sciences Association of Canada Annual Meeting. Regina, Saskatchewan
2010	Majid Abdi and Preet Aulakh	Internationalization and Performance: Degree, Duration and Scale of Operation. Presented at Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Montreal, Quebec
2010	Majid Abdi and Preet Aulakh	Internationalization and Performance: Reassessment of Theoretical Underpinnings and Empirical Findings. Academy of International Business Meeting, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2010	Majid Abdi, Preet Aulakh and Anoop Madhok	Environmental Uncertainty, Transaction Hazards, and the Relationship between Formal Contracts and Relational Governance Academy of International Business Meeting, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2010	Majid Abdi, Preet Aulakh and Anoop Madhok	Environmental Uncertainty and the Relationship between Governance Mechanisms Proceeding of the Annual Meeting of Administrative Science Association of Canada(ASAC), Regina, Saskatchewan
2010	Majid Abdi	Agency Hazards & Firm’s Alliance Portfolio: The Composition of Weak/Strong & Vertical/Horizontal Ties Presented at Proceeding of the 7th Annual Sprott Doctoral Symposium, Ottawa, Ontario
2009	Trish Ruebottom	Greater than the sum of its Parts: Rhetoric and Legitimacy in Social Entrepreneurship Presented at Satter Conference on Social Entrepreneurs, Berkeley Center for Entrepreneurial Studies
2009	Majid Abdi	Agency Hazards & Firm’s Portfolio of Alliances Academy of Management Annual Meeting, Chicago, Illinois
2009	Nada Basir	The Great Patent Debate: An Institutional Approach Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of Administrative Science Association of  Canada (ASAC), Niagara Falls, Ontario
2009	Mohammad Keyhani	The Role of Constructive Conflict and Challenge in Technology Commercialization Presented at CCSBE/CCPME Conference, Toronto, Ontario
2009	Lauris Apse	The sources of technological Change Presented at The Meiji University GSBA 50th Anniversary Symposium, Tokyo, Japan
2008	Liang Wang and Anoop Madhok	Dynamic geographic concentration through industry life cycle: Preliminary evidence from wine production in Ontario, 1865-2007 Presented at 68th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management. Anaheim, California
2008	Majid Abdi, Anoop Madhok and Preet Aulakh	Environmental uncertainty and the interaction of formal contracts and relational governance. Presented at 68th Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management. Anaheim, California
2008	Hamid Akbari	Opportunity seizure in dynamic environments: The power of rules. Presented at 36th Annual Meeting of the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada. Halifax, Nova Scotia

DISSERTATION TOPICS

2012	Hamid Akbari	Internationalization and Performance of Emerging-Economy Firms: Institutional Embeddedness in Advanced Economies
2011	Liang Wang	Institutional, Temporal and Cross-Cluster Dynamics in Agglomeration
2010	Serdar Yavuz	An Attention-Based View of Internationalization: SMEs in Emerging Market Economies
2009	Pat Meredith	Why the Frog Does Not Jump Out of the Boiling Water: A Multi-Level Exploration of the Limited Responses of the Canadian Banks to Disruptive Changes in the Canadian Residential Mortgage Industry
2008	Karen Ekstein	Informational and Organizational Responsiveness: Keys to Sustainable Competitive Advantage
2007	Mark Fuller	S3 – Sustainable Stakeholder Strategy: An Investigation of Stakeholder Inclusion, Strategic Domains and Competitive Advantage in the Canadian Financial Services Industry
2007	Michael Valente	Sustainabilitiy as a Strategic Paradigm
2005	Barry Alexander Colbert	“Embedding Sustainability: Exploring the Role of Leaders in Building Sustainability Concepts into Organizational Processes and Dynamic Capabilities Development”
2005	Sofy Carayannopoulos	“Modes of Strategic Knowledge Acquisition and the Knowledge-Based View of the Firm”
2004	Paul Frederick Wayne	The Determinants of Audit Committee Effectiveness
2003	Stephen Thevanesar Alagaratnam	The Impact of Outside Directors and the Board on the Financial Performance of Large Federally-Chartered Savings and Loans Banks in America
2003	Richard Wayne Joseph LeBlanc	Boards of Directors: An Inside View
2002	Gerard Jude Kerr	Corporate Strategy in the Contemporary Multi-Industry Firm
2002	Nadeem Ahmad Siddiqi	The Characteristic of Private Debt Borrowers and the Structure of Private Debt Contracts
2001	Dean Xu	The effect of institutional distance on multinational enterprise strategy
2000	Didier Pomerleau	Competing mechanisms of control: On the cross substitutability of culture and structure in organizations
1999	Sarah Clarke	Knowledge networks and sustainable technology management: An interorganizational study of organizational practice
1999	Ruth Cruikshank	Strategy as organizational knowledge: Within firm dynamics and determinants
1998	Mark Schwartz	The relationship between corporate codes of ethics and behaviour: A descriptive exploration and normative evaluation
1997	Carolan McLarney	Navigating through a hurricane: An investigation of strategic planning effectiveness
1997	Toru Yoshikawa	Determinants of investor relations strategy: A study of large Japanese firms
1996	James Tiessen	The JV dilemma: Cooperating and competing in Japanese joint ventures in North America
1995	Tamara Johnson	Patterns of mind in the theory and practice of cooperative strategies