Specializations

PhD in Strategy

The PhD in Strategy provides students with the theoretical and methodological foundations to conduct research in the fields of strategic management and organization theory. Strategy is an interdisciplinary area that combines theories from sociology, economics, and psychology to study organizational behaviour. This literature examines how organizations develop strategy to build competitive advantage and achieve specific economic or social goals, how industries evolve, and how organizations relate to their institutional and social environments.

Students will have an opportunity to develop in-depth knowledge in the areas of competitive strategy, strategy-making process, corporate intelligence, industry transformation, institutional change, culture and organizations, strategic alliances, acquisitions, social entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial networks, nonmarket strategy, etc. Students will build on the various expertise of our faculty to develop their own research interests during the program.

The Strategy and Organization area is an active research group whose members publish in top-tier academic journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management, Organization Studies, Journal of Business Ethics, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, among others. Our Faculty members sit on the editorial boards of leading journals including the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Strategic Management Journal, Journal of Management, and Strategic Organization. Smith Strategy faculty has received prestigious research awards, as well as numerous competitive research grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and other granting agencies.

Typically, successful candidates will have a research-based masters degree and a GMAT/GRE score around the 80th percentile or higher.