Courses

The Strategic Management Ph.D. program seeks to train students to engage in research that addresses fundamental problems relating to business strategy formulation and implementation by firms.

 
The Strategy group at the UCLA Anderson School of Management administers the Strategic Management Ph.D. program. A strong analytical orientation, centered largely on economics, underlies the program.

The program trains students to analyze a firm's response to its environment and its competitors. It combines strong theory development with rigorous empirical methods to develop cutting-edge research on important questions in business strategy. Ph.D. candidates complete a series of core classes that introduce students to the core fields in strategic management and frontier research in a number of different fields, including competitive strategy, innovation, intellectual property, non-market strategy, global strategy, organization theory, entrepreneurship and market institutions. Students often choose to integrate strategic management with other disciplines, such as finance, entrepreneurship, technology management, political science, psychology and sociology.

Our program is differentiated from other top Ph.D. programs in a number of ways. The faculty expertise spans a broad theoretical base - encompassing economics, psychology, sociology, political science and statistics - with an inclination toward strong training in methods. We believe that this combination is required to produce well-trained students who will be able to grow intellectually over the course of their careers and, more immediately, obtain an academic appointment at a top business school. This allows students to select a level of analysis for their dissertation that conforms to their interests and strengths while also allowing them to conduct research on the cutting edge of interesting questions in strategy, innovation and decision-making.

Courses

 
In addition to individual requirements from the areas of study, known as major field requirements, all Ph.D. students are required to take 13 quarter courses from outside the major field of study.
Microeconomics

In their first year, all students in the program enroll in the graduate microeconomics sequence (ECON 201A, 201B and 201C) offered by the Economics department.

Econometrics

In their first year, all students in the Strategy Ph.D. program enroll in the graduate econometrics and statistics sequence (MGMTPHD 201A, 201B and 201C). Students must pass the econometrics exam.

Core Classes

In their first two years, all students in the Strategic Management Ph.D. program are required to enroll in the following classes:
MGMTPHD M251
Research and
Development Policy
MGMTPHD 252
Special Topics in
Management Theory
MGMTPHD 209
A, B and C
Strategy and Policy Workshop
MGMT 420
Business Strategy
One Course on
Industrial Organization
e.g., ECON 271A or B (Industrial Organization, Price Policies and Regulation)
Two Courses
from Industrial Organization, Labor Economics and/or Behavioral Economics
Electives

One or two advanced doctoral seminars are usually offered each year. Until advancement to candidacy, students will enroll in all seminar courses offered by faculty. Doctoral students may enroll in courses in the Anderson School or elsewhere on campus to develop the substantive background needed to complete a dissertation in their area of interest. These include, but are not limited to, finance, entrepreneurship, innovation and technology, game theory, stochastic processes and their applications, statistics, organizational behavior, economic sociology, psychology, behavioral decision-making, marketing, operations, law and political science.

Field Examination

In addition to an econometrics examination, students sit for a field examination administered by the Strategy area faculty. Regardless of their initial preparation for the Ph.D. program, students must sit for and pass the field examination by the end of the third year in the program. It is expected that most students will pass these exams one year before the respective deadlines.

Third Year

 

The third year of the program involves independent study and research supervised by a faculty adviser and culminating in a research paper. In addition, students receiving summer support must produce an initial research paper by the fall of their second year. The final stages of the Ph.D. program are focused on crafting and defending an independent research proposal before a faculty committee nominated by the student. This proposal forms the basis for the student's dissertation. We expect students to complete the program within four or five years.

Seminars

 
Three different seminar series provide a collegial forum for accessing the intellectual capital you need to succeed. These seminars further prepare our Ph.D. students for research, presentation and job market success.

Faculty Seminars

UCLA Anderson has an active faculty seminar series which are open to the public. Distinguished researchers from other universities present recent work. The Strategy area hosts several of these colloquia each term. For a list of past and future speakers, click here

Student-run Seminars

Our student-run seminars exist exclusively for Anderson and Strategy Ph.D. students. They present their current research and receive feedback. With no faculty in attendance, your peers critique your work and become invaluable, supportive colleagues and friends in the process.

Job Market Papers

These seminars provide the opportunity to defend your work, receive research and career feedback, and influence others’ work lives. With the toughest audiences you will ever face, this experience is all about preparing you for your professional life and positioning you for candidacy as a faculty member at one of the world’s highest caliber institutions.