Strategy
Researchers in strategy seek to understand the mechanisms through which firms create value and sustain performance over time. Strategy scholars develop a foundation in microeconomics and econometrics, and often supplement their understanding with additional topics in economics—such as industrial organization, contract theory, or development economics—or by integrating insights from other disciplines such as sociology.
The doctoral program in Strategy encourages students to pursue multi-disciplinary research that employs multiple methodologies—both quantitative and qualitative—to study how companies and industries worldwide develop and sustain competitive advantage.
Prospective students will apply to the PhD in Business Administration and select Strategy as their area of study. Students work closely with faculty in the Strategy unit.
Curriculum & Coursework
Our programs are full-time degree programs which officially begin in August. Students are expected to complete their program in five years. Typically, the first two years are spent on coursework, at the end of which students take a field exam, and then another three years on dissertation research and writing. Students in the program are expected to master graduate-level microeconomic theory and econometrics. In addition, they are expected to devote substantial time to mastering one additional complementary discipline, such as psychology, sociology, or political science, and developing expertise in research methodologies suited to their particular interests, such as qualitative analysis, designing effective fieldwork, and analysis of survey data.
Program RequirementsResearch & Dissertation
Students in Strategy begin research in the summer preceding their first year by working with an HBS faculty member. Over the first two years in the program, students are encouraged to explore their research interests as they complete relevant coursework. By third year, students are working on dissertation research, and by fourth year, students are launched into a solid research and publication stream, typically developing three publishable papers by the end of the program.
Recent questions students have explored include:
the relationship between non-market experience and the use and outcome of patent strategies by pharmaceutical firms;
the antecedents and consequences of corporate strategy decision-making, specifically focusing on divestitures and governance;
the impact of religion on individual financial choices and institutional structures;
innovation in emerging markets; and
the casual effect of incentive policy reform, expatriates and social relationships on innovation.
Students in the program come from diverse backgrounds ranging from computer science to psychology. It’s really fascinating how different our worlds views are!
PhD, Strategy, 2019
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