Strategy

PhD in Strategy

Over the course of the five-year doctoral program focused on strategy, you’ll explore how companies develop and sustain competitive advantage as you prepare for a faculty position at a top university. Gain interdisciplinary insights to enhance your research, working collaboratively with renowned faculty within Ross and across the University of Michigan.

At Ross, I was not only equipped with the methodological skills needed to carry out high-quality research, but was also encouraged to pursue big questions in my field. The easy access to top-tier faculty members in other disciplines, including economics, sociology, political science, complex systems, etc. helped add to the depth and breadth of my thinking. Additionally, I benefited greatly from the efficient teaching training at Ross, which allowed me to accomplish my teaching responsibilities and still focus on research as I transitioned into my faculty position.

Cha Li, PhD '21, Assistant Professor of Management, McCombs School of Business, University of Texas at Austin

Strategy PhD Students

PhD students in the Michigan Ross Strategy Area are trained in rich, interdisciplinary theories and rigorous empirical methods for understanding why businesses behave as they do and what the consequences of those behaviors are for society.

Strategy PhD Program Structure

As a PhD student in strategy, you will take two years, or four to five terms, to complete the 16 to 20 course requirements. Courses, some of which are taken outside Michigan Ross, include:

Economics, organizational theory, psychology, sociology, or decision science (5–6 courses)
Methods (5–6 courses)
Strategy applications (6 doctoral seminars, plus seminars in related areas)

You are expected to complete a research paper by your third year in the program.

You are expected to take a Preliminary Exam by the end of the summer of your second year. You will qualify for candidacy after you have successfully completed all coursework, passed the Preliminary Exam, and completed your research paper. The remainder of the program is devoted to the dissertation.

For detailed information about the Strategy Area's Program Structure, please refer to Strategy Area PhD guidelines.

Begin Application

Strategy PhD Faculty

Michigan Ross strategy faculty include some of the world's foremost business thinkers and innovative practitioners who focus on issues of importance to global business strategy.

Yue Maggie Zhou

Associate Professor of Strategy

Strategy Faculty Doctoral Coordinator

Allan Afuah

Professor of Strategy

Felipe Csaszar

Professor of Strategy

Area Chair of Strategy

Justin Frake

Assistant Professor of Strategy

Cheng Gao

Assistant Professor of Strategy

Derek Harmon

Assistant Professor of Strategy

Michael Jensen

Professor of Strategy

Aneel Karnani

Professor of Strategy

Jordan Siegel

Professor of Strategy

Michael R. and Mary Kay Hallman Fellow

Jim Walsh

A.F. Thurnau Professor

Gerald and Esther Carey Professor of Business Administration

Professor of Management & Organizations

Professor of Strategy

James Westphal

Harvey C. Fruehauf Professor of Business Administration

Professor of Strategy

Co-Director of ICOS

Brian Wu

Robert G. Rodkey Collegiate Professor of Business Administration

Professor of Strategy

Learn more about the faculty and research contributions of the strategy area at Michigan Ross.

Strategy Faculty and Research

Recent Strategy Placements

Pablo Sanz, 2024
IESE Business School

Hyuck David Chung, 2024
Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Yun Ha Cho, 2024
Indiana University, Kelley School of Business

Jusang Lee, Post Doc, 2024
Institute of Management and Organisation at USI Lugano

Reuben Hurst, 2023
University of Maryland

Diana Jue-Rajasingh, 2023
Rice University

Mana Heshmati, 2023
University of Washington

Christine Choi, 2022
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Raji Kunapuli, 2021
Southwestern University

Cha Li, 2021
University of Texas at Austin

Harsh Ketkar, 2020
Bocconi University

Saerom (Ronnie) Lee, 2020
University of Pennsylvania

Casidhe Horan, 2018
London Business School

Gareth Keeves, 2018
Startup founder & CEO; University of Michigan (lecturer)

Sara Ryoo, 2018
SUNY Binghamton

Guy Shani, 2017
Michigan State

Heewon Chae, 2016
Arizona State

Gainluigi Giustiziero, 2015
SKEMA Business School

Heeyon Kim, 2014
National University of Singapore

Year	Name	Initial Placement
2013	John Chen	University of Florida
2013	Na-Eun Cho	Clarkson University
2012	Pranav Garg	Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore
2012	Sun Hyun Park	University of Southern California
2011	Bo Kyung Kim	Southern Methodist University
2011	Vivek Tandon	National University of Singapore
2010	David Benson	Brigham Young University
2009	David Zhu	Arizona State University
2008	Anne Bowers (Fleischer)	University of Toronto
2008	Aradhana Roy	Industry placement
2007	Benjamin Cole	New York University (visiting)
2006	Francisco Polidoro Jr.	University of Texas at Austin
2006	Puay Khoon (PK) Toh	University of Minnesota
2005	Zheng (Jane) Zhao	University of Kansas
2004	Aldas Kriauciunas	Purdue University
2004	Alexander Sleptsov	Tulane University
2003	Charles Williams	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2003	Anne Parmigiani	University of Oregon
2003	Nandini Lahiri	Indian School of Business
2002	Samina Karim	Boston University
2001	Bradley Killaly	University of California, Irvine
2001	Karen Schnatterly	University of Minnesota
2001	Glenn Hoetker	University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
2001	Daniel Byrd	Stanford University
2001	Juan Alcacer	New York University
2000	Glen Dowell	University of Notre Dame

Current Strategy PhD Students

Join the next generation of scholars preparing to solve the complex issues facing the strategy field.

Susie Choe
[email protected]

JT Gardner
[email protected]

Eklovya Jain
[email protected]

Trissanne Keen
[email protected]

Derek Lief
[email protected]

Kyle McCullers
[email protected]

Brenda Myung
[email protected]

Yein Shin
[email protected]

Aseem Sinha
[email protected]

Akshaya Varghese
[email protected]

Alice (Can) Wang
[email protected]

Weikun Yang
[email protected]

Featured Alumni

Alumni

PhD

Juan Alcacer

Harvard Business School

The University of Michigan is known for its interdisciplinary focus and a breadth of excellence across academic subjects. While he was studying strategy as a Michigan Ross PhD student, Juan Alcacer...