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Strategy

Strategy

  • Program Requirements
The doctoral program in Strategy encourages students to pursue multi-disciplinary research that utilizes multiple methodologies—quantitative, as well as qualitative—to study how companies and industries around the world develop and sustain competitive advantage.

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.

Students in the Strategy doctoral program work closely with faculty in the Strategy Unit. In addition to the doctoral program in Strategy, the Strategy unit offers a program in Business Economics, which is designed to attract students interested in pursuing research using a purely economics-based methodology.

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.

The program requires a minimum of 13 semester long doctoral courses. Students in the Strategy program complete courses in the areas of business management theory, economic theory, quantitative research methods, academic field seminars, and two MBA elective curriculum courses. In addition to HBS courses, students may take courses at other Harvard Schools and MIT.

Research & Dissertation

Students in strategy begin research in their first year typically by working with a faculty member. By their third and fourth years, most students are launched on a solid research and publication stream. The dissertation may take the form of three publishable papers or one longer dissertation.

Examples of thesis research 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 causal effect of incentive policy reform, expatriates and social relationships on innovation.

Program Requirements

Profiles

Anoop Menon

Strategy

Sarah Wolfolds

Strategy

Do Yoon Kim

Strategy
“ Students in the program come from diverse backgrounds ranging from computer science to psychology. It's really fascinating how different our worlds views are! ”
Do Yoon Kim
“ Students in the program come from diverse backgrounds ranging from computer science to psychology. It's really fascinating how different our worlds views are! ”
Do Yoon Kim

Current HBS Faculty

  • Juan Alcacer
  • Laura Alfaro
  • Bharat N. Anand
  • Julie Battilana
  • Ethan S. Bernstein
  • Ramon Casadesus-Masanell
  • Prithwiraj Choudhury
  • David J. Collis
  • Leemore S. Dafny
  • Shane M. Greenstein
  • Boris Groysberg
  • Paul M. Healy
  • Rebecca M. Henderson
  • William R. Kerr
  • Tarun Khanna
  • Rembrand M. Koning
  • Michael Luca
  • Hong Luo
  • Alexander J. MacKay
  • Deepak Malhotra
  • Deepak Malhotra
  • Cynthia A. Montgomery
  • Frank Nagle
  • Felix Oberholzer-Gee
  • Sophus A. Reinert
  • Meg Rithmire
  • Jan W. Rivkin
  • Maria P. Roche
  • Raffaella Sadun
  • Ariel D. Stern
  • Jorge Tamayo
  • Eric J. Van den Steen
  • Andy Wu
  • Dennis A. Yao
  • David B. Yoffie
Current HBS Faculty
  • Juan Alcacer
  • Laura Alfaro
  • Bharat N. Anand
  • Julie Battilana
  • Ethan S. Bernstein
  • Ramon Casadesus-Masanell
  • Prithwiraj Choudhury
  • David J. Collis
  • Leemore S. Dafny
  • Shane M. Greenstein
  • Boris Groysberg
  • Paul M. Healy
  • Rebecca M. Henderson
  • William R. Kerr
  • Tarun Khanna
  • Rembrand M. Koning
  • Michael Luca
  • Hong Luo
  • Alexander J. MacKay
  • Deepak Malhotra
  • Deepak Malhotra
  • Cynthia A. Montgomery
  • Frank Nagle
  • Felix Oberholzer-Gee
  • Sophus A. Reinert
  • Meg Rithmire
  • Jan W. Rivkin
  • Maria P. Roche
  • Raffaella Sadun
  • Ariel D. Stern
  • Jorge Tamayo
  • Eric J. Van den Steen
  • Andy Wu
  • Dennis A. Yao
  • David B. Yoffie
Close

Current Strategy Students

  • Daniel J. Brown
  • Rowan Clarke
  • Innessa Colaiacovo
  • Fulton Christopher Eaglin
  • Young Hou
  • Laura Katsnelson
  • Nataliya Langburd
  • Aticus Peterson
  • Kyle Schirmann
  • Yifei Wu
Current Strategy Students
  • Daniel J. Brown
  • Rowan Clarke
  • Innessa Colaiacovo
  • Fulton Christopher Eaglin
  • Young Hou
  • Laura Katsnelson
  • Nataliya Langburd
  • Aticus Peterson
  • Kyle Schirmann
  • Yifei Wu
Close

Current HBS Faculty & Students by Interest

Competitive advantage
  • Ramon Casadesus-Masanell
  • Cynthia A. Montgomery
  • Jan W. Rivkin
  • Eric J. Van den Steen
  • David B. Yoffie
Competitive strategy
  • Ramon Casadesus-Masanell
  • Leemore S. Dafny
  • Jan W. Rivkin
  • Eric J. Van den Steen
  • Dennis A. Yao
Corporate governance
  • Paul M. Healy
  • Cynthia A. Montgomery
Corporate strategy
  • Juan Alcacer
  • Bharat N. Anand
  • David J. Collis
  • Cynthia A. Montgomery
Disclosure strategy
  • Aticus Peterson
Economic development
  • Rowan Clarke
  • Tarun Khanna
  • Sophus A. Reinert
  • Meg Rithmire
  • Yifei Wu
Economics
  • Laura Alfaro
  • Kevin Chen
  • Rowan Clarke
  • Raffaella Sadun
  • Jeffrey Yang
  • Dennis A. Yao
Emerging markets
  • Tarun Khanna
  • Meg Rithmire
  • Kyle Schirmann
  • Yifei Wu
Game theory
  • Ramon Casadesus-Masanell
Government & business
  • Sophus A. Reinert
  • Dennis A. Yao
International business
  • Juan Alcacer
  • David J. Collis
  • William R. Kerr
  • Nataliya Langburd Wright
Strategy
  • Juan Alcacer
  • Ryan Thomas Allen
  • Bharat N. Anand
  • Ramon Casadesus-Masanell
  • Rowan Clarke
  • David J. Collis
  • Leemore S. Dafny
  • Tarun Khanna
  • Rembrand M. Koning
  • Deepak Malhotra
  • Cynthia A. Montgomery
  • Felix Oberholzer-Gee
  • Ashley Kristin Palmarozzo
  • Aticus Peterson
  • Jan W. Rivkin
  • Maria P. Roche
  • Raffaella Sadun
  • Kyle Schirmann
  • Eric J. Van den Steen
  • Kala Valli Viswanathan
  • Andy Wu
  • Yifei Wu
  • Dennis A. Yao
  • David B. Yoffie
Current HBS Faculty & Students by Interest
Competitive advantage
  • Ramon Casadesus-Masanell
  • Cynthia A. Montgomery
  • Jan W. Rivkin
  • Eric J. Van den Steen
  • David B. Yoffie
Competitive strategy
  • Ramon Casadesus-Masanell
  • Leemore S. Dafny
  • Jan W. Rivkin
  • Eric J. Van den Steen
  • Dennis A. Yao
Corporate governance
  • Paul M. Healy
  • Cynthia A. Montgomery
Corporate strategy
  • Juan Alcacer
  • Bharat N. Anand
  • David J. Collis
  • Cynthia A. Montgomery
Disclosure strategy
  • Aticus Peterson
Economic development
  • Rowan Clarke
  • Tarun Khanna
  • Sophus A. Reinert
  • Meg Rithmire
  • Yifei Wu
Economics
  • Laura Alfaro
  • Kevin Chen
  • Rowan Clarke
  • Raffaella Sadun
  • Jeffrey Yang
  • Dennis A. Yao
Emerging markets
  • Tarun Khanna
  • Meg Rithmire
  • Kyle Schirmann
  • Yifei Wu
Game theory
  • Ramon Casadesus-Masanell
Government & business
  • Sophus A. Reinert
  • Dennis A. Yao
International business
  • Juan Alcacer
  • David J. Collis
  • William R. Kerr
  • Nataliya Langburd Wright
Strategy
  • Juan Alcacer
  • Ryan Thomas Allen
  • Bharat N. Anand
  • Ramon Casadesus-Masanell
  • Rowan Clarke
  • David J. Collis
  • Leemore S. Dafny
  • Tarun Khanna
  • Rembrand M. Koning
  • Deepak Malhotra
  • Cynthia A. Montgomery
  • Felix Oberholzer-Gee
  • Ashley Kristin Palmarozzo
  • Aticus Peterson
  • Jan W. Rivkin
  • Maria P. Roche
  • Raffaella Sadun
  • Kyle Schirmann
  • Eric J. Van den Steen
  • Kala Valli Viswanathan
  • Andy Wu
  • Yifei Wu
  • Dennis A. Yao
  • David B. Yoffie
Close

Recent Placement

Hyunjin Kim, 2020

INSEAD

Jasmina Chauvin, 2018

Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business

Mike Teodorescu, 2018

Boston College, Carroll School of Management, Department of Information Sciences

Megan Lawrence, 2016

Vanderbilt University, Owen Graduate School of Management

Andrea Hugill, 2015

Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, Visiting Assistant Professor

J. Yo-Jud Cheng, 2019

University of Virginia, Darden School of Business, Strategy, Ethics & Entrepreneurship Area

Cheng Gao, 2018

University of Michigan, Ross School of Business, Strategy Area

Jin Hyung Kim, 2017

George Washington University, International Business Department

Juan Ma, 2016

INSEAD, Strategy Department

Do Yoon Kim, 2019

Boston College, Carroll School of Management, Information Systems Department

Christopher Poliquin, 2018

University of California at Los Angeles, Anderson School of Management, Strategy Department

Nishani Siriwardane, 2017

NEOMA Business School, People and Organizations Department

Sarah Wolfolds, 2016

Cornell University, Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management

Hyunjin Kim, 2020

INSEAD

J. Yo-Jud Cheng, 2019

University of Virginia, Darden School of Business, Strategy, Ethics & Entrepreneurship Area

Do Yoon Kim, 2019

Boston College, Carroll School of Management, Information Systems Department

Jasmina Chauvin, 2018

Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business

Cheng Gao, 2018

University of Michigan, Ross School of Business, Strategy Area

Christopher Poliquin, 2018

University of California at Los Angeles, Anderson School of Management, Strategy Department

Mike Teodorescu, 2018

Boston College, Carroll School of Management, Department of Information Sciences

Jin Hyung Kim, 2017

George Washington University, International Business Department

Nishani Siriwardane, 2017

NEOMA Business School, People and Organizations Department

Megan Lawrence, 2016

Vanderbilt University, Owen Graduate School of Management

Juan Ma, 2016

INSEAD, Strategy Department

Sarah Wolfolds, 2016

Cornell University, Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management

Andrea Hugill, 2015

Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, Visiting Assistant Professor
See All Placement
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