Gies College of Business
Irwin Hall in autumn

BADM PhD Specialization - Strategy & Entrepreneurship

Strategy & Entrepreneurship is designed to prepare you for an academic and research career in the interdisciplinary study of how firms create, capture, and sustain value. A unique feature of the program is its emphasis on multidisciplinary theoretical and empirical approaches to the study of strategy and entrepreneurship.

Overview

Typical Coursework

Foundational courses:

  • Economic foundations of strategy
  • Corporate strategy
  • Entrepreneurship

Methodology classes:

  • Econometrics
  • Qualitative research methods

Disciplinary courses in:

  • Economics
  • Sociology

Proseminars:

  • Strategy & International Business Speaker Series featuring globally renowned researchers
  • Teaching and professional development

Alumni Highlights

  • Martin Ganco, University of Wisconsin
  • Denisa Mindruta, HEC Paris
  • John Mawdsley, HEC Paris

Recent Placements

  • Oklahoma State University
  • University of Connecticut
  • University of Science and Technology of China
  • University of South Carolina
Irwin Doctoral Hall at Gies College of Business

Research and Faculty Engagement

  • Angel/VC investing
  • Business models
  • Employee mobility
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Entrepreneurial strategy
  • High-skilled Immigration Policy
  • Human capital
  • Industry clusters
  • Innovation
  • Intellectual property
  • Mergers and acquisitions
  • Resource redeployment
  • R&D employees
  • University technology transfer
  • User innovation
  • Academy of Management Journal
  • Academy of Management Review
  • Administrative Science Quarterly
  • Management Science
  • Organization Science
  • Research Policy
  • Strategic Management Journal
  • Strategic Management Review
  • Strategy Science
  • Organization Science
  • Strategic Entrepreneurship Journal
  • Strategic Management Journal
  • Strategic Management Review
  • Strategy Science

Recent faculty awards and leadership positions

Melissa Graebner

Melissa Graebner

Fellow, Strategic Management Society, 2021 to present
Bill Glueck Best Paper Award, The Strategy Division of the Academy of Management, 2022

Min Jung Kim

Min Jung Kim

Poets & Quants 50 Best Undergraduate Business Professors 2023

Arkadiy Sakhartov

Arkadiy Sakhartov

Corporate Strategy Best Paper Finalist*, Strategic Management Society, 2021

*with Shihao Zhou, Weiliang Zhang, and Xi Chen

Hear from PhD students and alumni

Valerie Isakova

I am grateful to the Gies PhD Program in Strategy and Entrepreneurship for shaping me as a scholar and teacher and for preparing me to be competitive in the academic world. Throughout my doctoral journey, I have received a great deal of attention and support from my advisor, faculty, and administrative staff, who have always gone the extra mile to assist me in my dissertation research, teaching, conference travel, and other needs.

Valerie Isakova

Current PhD Student
Hyeonsuh Lee

The PhD program at Gies College of Business offers a unique environment where doctoral students find a truly supportive, friendly, and intellectually inspiring atmosphere. The collegial and interdisciplinary environment at Gies provided me with wonderful opportunities to interact with faculty members and PhD students from different disciplines.

Hyeonsuh Lee, PhD ’22

Assistant Professor, West Virginia University
Gies College of Business
515 East Gregory Drive
Champaign, IL 61820
Phone: 217-300-7327