PhD in Strategy and Entrepreneurship

Distinguish your education

with a doctorate in Strategy and Entrepreneurship from the Leeds School of Business.

PhD in Strategy and Entrepreneurship Program FlyerÌýÌýÌýMeet Current StudentsÌýÌýÌýExplore FAQsÌý

PhD Students

PhD in Strategy and Entrepreneurship

The Strategy and Entrepreneurship PhD program gives students an opportunity to work with renowned scholars in state-of-the-art research on firm strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship. Faculty and PhD students draw upon multiple disciplinary perspectives to explore issues of: competitive strategy including competitive strategy and how firms gain and sustain a performance advantage; corporate strategy and what is the scope of the firm and how do they make decisions on acquisitions, alliances and internalization is a key area: innovation and how firms acquire, develop and renew knowledge assets to survive and grow in dynamic markets; and Entrepreneurship including how individuals recognize and exploit opportunities by developing new organizations such as startups, spinouts or social ventures.

Overall, the doctoral program places a heavy emphasis on training students through active engagement in the research process. Students develop a strong foundation in research methods while closely collaborating with multiple faculty members on research projects.

General details about the curriculum, requirements, and structure of the program can be found here. Please be aware this document is not an exhaustive list of the requirements for the program.

Program Faculty

Our renowned, award-winning Strategy and Entrepreneurship faculty are published experts on topics that include:

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  • Corporate Strategy

  • Entrepreneurship

  • Emerging Digital Technologies

  • Knowledge and Innovation

  • International Business

  • Technology Transfer

Professor • Robert H. and Beverly A. Deming Professorship in Entrepreneurship

Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor

Associate Professor • Dean’s Faculty Scholar • Strategy and Entrepreneurship PhD Program Director

Assistant Professor

Assistant Professor • Frank Schiff Faculty Scholar

Chair of the Strategy, Entrepreneurship, and Operations Division • Professor • Dean's Faculty Fellow • Thomas Stix Guggenheim Family Endowed Chair in Business Design and Innovation

Assistant Professor

Professor • Dean’s Faculty Fellow

Program Graduates

The PhD program prepares students to be researchers and teachers at major universities. See where our graduates started their careers and published research.

  • Hugo Leenders
    PhD: 2025
    Placement: New Mexico State University
    Dissertation: Building Change: Conflict and Competitive Tensions in R&D Alliances
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  • Yuping Li
    PhD: 2025
    Placement: Singapore Management University
    Dissertation: Navigating the Paradox of Openness in Corporate Growth: Evidence from Open Source Startups
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  • Jae Young Cho
    PhD: 2024
    Placement: Yongei University
    Dissertation: Artificial Intelligence in Corporate Strategy: AI Acquisition and Alliance
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  • Jing Deng
    PhD: 2024
    Placement: Visiting Assistant Professor, Georgetown University
    Current affiliation: Postdoctoral Scholar, Arizona State University
    Dissertation: Three Essays on Firms' Location Strategy and Relocation Decisions
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  • Elizabeth Embry
    PhD: 2023
    Placement: University of Kansas
    Dissertation: Building Change: A Multi-Level Analysis of Resilience through Sustainability, Health and Entrepreneurship in the Built Environment
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  • Sandip Bisui
    PhD: 2023
    Placement: Purdue University
    Dissertation: Essays on the Implications of Information Disclosures on New Ventures’
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  • Andrew Garofolo
    PhD: 2023
    Placement: Georgia Southern University
    Dissertation: The Time Dynamics of Acquisitions and Entrepreneurial Exit
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  • Nianchen Han
    PhD: 2022
    Placement: Nanyang Technological University
    Dissertation: How Value Appropriation Concerns Affect Knowledge Development Decisions: Evidence from Three Innovation Contexts
    Finalist of the Wiley-Blackwell Outstanding Dissertation Award, Strategic Management Division, Academy of Management, 2023
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  • Jessica Jones
    PhD: 2020
    Placement: University of Tennessee
    Dissertation: How Identity Influences the Investor-Entrepreneur Relationship: The Case of Impact Investing
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  • Harsha Tadikonda
    PhD: 2020
    Placement: Indian School of Business
    Dissertation: Essays on Intellectual Property Litigation
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  • Kun Zhang
    PhD: 2019
    Placement: Peking University | Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
    Dissertation: An Exploration of Knowledge Diffusion Through Organizational Boundary-Spanning and Employee Mobility
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  • Francisco Morales
    PhD: 2019
    Placement: Universidad Diego Portales, Chile
    Current affiliation: Universidad de los Andes, Chile
    Dissertation: Value Creation and Capture in Corporate Acquisitions: Essays on Inventor Collaboration and Knowledge Transfer
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  • Carla Bustamante
    PhD: 2016
    Placement: Universidad Adolfo Ibanez
    Dissertation: Institutions as Determinants of Startups’ Decisions and Outcomes in Particular, and Market Functioning At Large
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  • Yuchen Zhang
    PhD: 2016
    Placement: Tulane University
    Dissertation: Knowledge Transfer and Recombinant Innovation: Evidence from Three Types of Organizations
    Winner of the Robert J. Litschert Best Paper by Doctoral Students Award (based on a dissertation essay), Business Policy and Strategy Division, Academy of Management, 2014
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  • Jenni Dinger
    PhD: 2015
    Placement: Suffolk University
    Dissertation: An Examination of How Community Social Identity Motivates Crowdfunding of Entrepreneurs and Entrepreneurial Rebuilding after NaturalÌýDisasters
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  • Siddharth Vedula
    PhD: 2015
    Placement: Babson College
    Current affiliation: Miami University
    Dissertation: Startups in a spiky world: Three essays on geography and entrepreneurship
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  • Michael Conger
    PhD: 2014
    Placement: Miami University - Ohio
    Dissertation: Hybrid Social Enterprise: Collective Action, Identity, and Hybrid Business Models
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  • Richard Hunt
    PhD: 2013
    Placement: Research Fellow, Institute of Behavioral Sciences, CU ¶¶Òõ´«Ã½ÔÚÏß
    Current affiliation: Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
    Dissertation: Essays Concerning the Entry and Survival Strategies of Entrepreneurial Firms: A Transaction Perspective
    Winner of the National Federation of Independent Business Doctoral Dissertation Award, Entrepreneurship Division, 2014 Academy of Management Annual Meeting
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  • Shayne Kiefer
    PhD: 2013
    Placement: U.S. Air Force Academy
    Current affiliation: Rollins College
    Dissertation: Predicting and Examining Links Between IPO Hype, Managerial Expectations, and Firm Outcomes
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  • Daniel Lerner
    PhD: 2013
    Placement: University of Deusto, Spain
    Current affiliation: IE University, Spain
    Dissertation: Opportunity Pursuit and the Disinhibition Paradox
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  • Kenneth Younge
    PhD: 2012
    Placement: Postdoctoral Scholar, University of California, Berkeley
    Recent affiliation: EPFL - Swiss Federal Technology Institute of Lausanne
    Dissertation: Employee Mobility and the Appropriation of Value from Knowledge: Evidence from Three Essays
    Winner of the Wiley-Blackwell Outstanding Dissertation Award, Business Policy & Strategy, 2013 Academy of Management Annual Meeting
    Winner of the Strategic Management Society Best Conference Paper (based on a dissertation essay), Strategic Management Society, 2011
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  • Patrick Heflin
    PhD: 2012
    Placement: United States Air Force Academy
    Dissertation: Resistance and Compliance: Employee Reaction to Bureaucratic Control Measures in Autonomous Work Settings
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  • Markus Fitza
    PhD: 2010
    Placement: Bentley University
    Current Affiliation: Frankfurt School of Finance & Management
    Dissertation: IPO Underpricing From the Perspective of the Issuing Firm: Money Left on the Table or Strategic Gain?
    Finalist of the Wiley-Blackwell Outstanding Dissertation Award, Business Policy & Strategy, 2011 Academy of ManagementÌý
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  • Tandy Dilworth
    PhD: 2010
    Placement: Industry
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  • Marilyn Uy
    PhD: 2009
    Initial Placement: University of Victoria, Canada
    Current Affiliation: Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
    Dissertation: The Roller Coaster Ride: Affective Influences in Entrepreneurial Efforts
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  • Desiree Pacheco
    PhD: 2009
    Placement: Portland State University
    Current Affiliation: IESE Business School, Spain
    Dissertation: The Quest for Legitimacy in Nascent Industries: Exploring the Interplay Across Institutional Actors in the Emergence of Renewable Energy Sectors
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  • Asad Aziz
    PhD: 2008
    Placement: Colorado State University
    Dissertation: Striving or Coasting on Collective Tasks: A Regulatory Focus Perspective
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  • Charles Murnieks
    PhD: 2007
    Placement: United States Air Force Academy
    Current Affiliation: University of Missouri – Kansas City
    Dissertation: Who Am I? The Quest for an Entrepreneurial Identity and an Investigation of its Relationship to Entrepreneurial Passion and Goal-Setting
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  • Joy Godesiabois
    PhD: 2007
    Placement: Northeastern University
    Recent affiliation: Colorado School of Mines
    Dissertation: The Rise and Decline of Social Capitalists: A Longitudinal Study of Social Capital and Performance Among Startups in the Venture Capital Industry
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  • Lawrence Plummer
    PhD: 2007
    Placement: Clemson University
    Current affiliation: University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
    Dissertation: Good Neighbors or Bad? A Time-Space Model of the Effects of Entrepreneurial Entry on the Profits of Post-IPO Firms
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  • Arunee Tanvisuth
    PhD: 2007
    Placement: Thammasat University, Bangkok
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  • Michele Swift
    PhD: 2007
    Placement: Oregon State University
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  • Erik Monsen
    PhD: 2005
    Placement: Max Planck Institute of Economics
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  • James Haynie
    PhD: 2005
    Placement: Syracuse University
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  • Denis J. Gregoire
    PhD: 2005
    Placement: Georgia State University
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  • Michael Meeks
    PhD: 2004
    Placement: San Francisco State University
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  • Jeffery McMullen
    PhD: 2003
    Placement: Baylor University
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  • Sharon Alvarez
    PhD: 1999
    Placement: Ohio State University
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  • Gideon Markman
    PhD: 1999
    Placement: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

The PhD program prepares students to be researchers and teachers at major universities. Learn more about these talented scholars and their research areas of interest.