PhD in Strategic Management & Entrepreneurship

Our doctoral program is designed to develop world-class researchers in Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship. We combine in-depth knowledge of key topics with strong training in research methods and analytical skills. By joining our PhD program, you'll become part of a collaborative, cutting-edge research community. Our group covers a wide range of topics, with faculty and PhD candidates working across nearly all areas of strategic management and entrepreneurship.

The initial coursework will provide you with an in-depth exposure to different areas of the field before choosing your specific focus for your doctoral work. In addition to coursework, you will become part of the department’s research culture from the start on by joining research seminars and engaging in conversations with faculty about their research interests. These interactions will help you to identify your specific focus for your doctoral work that aligns with your intellectual interests and your skill set.

Alumni of the PhD programme hold academic positions in renowned academic institutes around the world, including Cambridge, Copenhagen Business School, ETH Zurich, HEC Paris, INSEAD, Kellogg, McGill, University of Georgia, the University of South Carolina, Renmin University, and WHU. 

More information is on the “PhD in Strategic Management” website: https://www.erim.eur.nl/doctoral-programme/phd-in-management/specialisations/strategy-entrepreneurship/.

Strategic management, corporate entrepreneurship, inclusive entrepreneurship, corporate governance, global strategy, strategy and organization, behavioral strategy, innovation strategy, corporate strategy, collaborative strategies

The field of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship focuses on understanding why some firms perform better than others, how firms behave, and what determines success in international competition. Given its broad scope, the field is highly integrative and multi-disciplinary, and feeds on insights from a wide range of disciplines, such as sociology, psychology, law, finance, and economics. The field focuses on actions associated with changing the firm's scope and profile of business lines. It also addresses questions of how decision-makers can best leverage knowledge and innovation to foster competitive advantage for their firms as well as how external forces influence firms and entrepreneurs in a global context and in societies expecting more sustainable strategies. Other topics include entrepreneurial behavior in new ventures, scale-ups, and established organizations. Moreover, the field focuses on how strategic leadership and governance shape firms, firm behavior, and outcomes.

Current themes that have the focus of our faculty and PhD candidates are:

1. Strategy, Organization, and Governance. This line aims to explain and identify the mechanisms through which modern firms shape and align their organizational structures, governance and ownership with the strategies, resource dependencies, and business models through which they create and capture value.

2. Strategic Entrepreneurship. This strand is concerned with understanding how organizations link entrepreneurial behaviour and strategic advantage-seeking actions to create and capture wealth.

3. Strategy, Knowledge, and Innovation. This theme focuses on how managers and entrepreneurs build and renew the technological, social, and relational capital to leverage new technologies and business models.

4. Global Strategy. This branch aims to enrich our understanding of how internationally operating firms form and implement their strategies, and how firms shape, and are shaped by, their global context and societies expecting sustainable practices.

5. Behavioural Strategy and Entrepreneurial Behaviour. This branch informs us about the psychology behind high-impact and complex strategic and entrepreneurial decisions.

During the first 18 months, PhD candidates follow an intensive trajectory of courses to build the theoretical knowledge and develop methodological skills needed to become successful researchers. Through a series of content-oriented courses, PhD candidates are exposed to foundational works and current debates in different areas of strategic management. Methods courses include quantitative techniques, qualitative methods, as well as critical analytical techniques. After 3 months of coursework and socialization, candidates choose a supervising team among the SME faculty. Within 15 months, candidates submit their research proposal in collaboration with their supervising team. The research proposal describes research question(s), intended contributions, positioning in the field, and methodological approach of the research they will carry out during the remainder of the trajectory.

This second stage will build on the research proposal with a focus on implementing and writing up the studies that together make up the dissertation. Progress of candidates is assessed through coursework, research papers, and presentations of their work. The complete PhD programme in Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship typically takes five years.

We welcome applications from outstanding candidates of diverse disciplinary and national backgrounds who are passionate about academic research in strategy. Ideal candidates have strong academic credentials and a demonstrated ability to conduct high-quality research. This includes excellent analytical skills, as demonstrated in the motivation letter, and proficiency in empirical research methods, evidenced by an MSc thesis or relevant research papers (co-)authored by the applicant. While not required, a high GMAT or GRE score is an advantage. Applications that indicate how the applicant’s research interests overlap with those of our faculty are highly valued.

Required by ERIM

All application documents required by ERIM can be found here.

In the Strategy and Entrepreneurship group, a Ph.D. thesis will typically consist of a number of high quality papers that have either been published or that aim for publication in the field’s leading journals. We have a strong focus on publications in the field’s top journals, such as the Academy of Management Journal, Academy of Management Review, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Management, Journal of Management Studies, Organization Science, Organization Studies, and Strategic Management Journal.

Researchers in the Strategy and Entrepreneurship group regularly attend major conferences and collaborate with renowned scholars from leading business schools around the world. We also encourage PhD candidates to build an international network by attending conferences and other research events, which often lead to collaborative projects with, and research visits to, leading scholars in the field. Generous funding is available for these activities.

The Strategy and Entrepreneurship group has a strong ambition to develop and carry out research that matters to managers, practitioners, firms, and (global) society at large. The group actively encourages valorization of research findings through various research-related outreach activities, including publications and seminars for practitioners, executive education, media interventions, and the development of cases and other teaching materials that translate academic knowledge into actionable insights.

The Strategy and Entrepreneurship group aims to contribute to ongoing research streams in the fields of strategic management and entrepreneurship as well as to pioneer and define new research areas in these fields.

ERIM offers fully-funded and salaried PhD positions, which means that accepted PhD candidates become employees (promovendi) of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Salary and benefits are in accordance with the Collective Labour Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO).

Erasmus University Rotterdam aspires to be an equitable and inclusive community. We nurture an open culture, where everyone is supported to fulfil their full potential. We see inclusivity of talent as the basis of our successes, and the diversity of perspectives and people as a highly valued outcome. EUR provides equal opportunities to all employees and applicants regardless of gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, age, neurodiversity, functional impairment, citizenship, or any other aspect which makes them unique. We look forward to welcoming you to our community.

For questions regarding the PhD application and selection procedure, please check the Admissions or send us an e-mail via phdadmissions@erim.eur.nl.