This seminar surveys the major theoretical perspectives and issues studied in strategic management research. The course draws upon theoretical perspectives from economics, sociology and organization theory to supplement more traditional strategy approaches towards understanding firm performance and related issues. An illustrative list of the issues addressed in strategy research includes identifying the profit potential of industries, exploring relationships between firm resources, behaviour and performance, and understanding the managerial and organizational determinants of firm level outcomes. Many of the issues examined, for example, vertical integration, firm diversification, industry structure, and inter-organizational cooperation, are also common themes in other disciplines such as industrial organization economics, marketing, and organizational and economic sociology.

This course focuses on research in international business – especially international business strategy and foreign direct investment. The objectives of this course are three-fold: to discuss past and current research in these areas, to aid students when framing and designing research projects in these areas, and to challenge the current state of knowledge in the field & discuss avenues for future research.

Special Topics in this seminar surveys the core conceptual issues in innovation and entrepreneurship research, examines the key theoretical approaches for addressing these issues, and reviews the major past and current research work that have made significant contribution to our understanding of these issues. The seminar will draw on the core disciplines of economics, sociology, strategy and organizational behaviour and apply them to identify and answer key questions in innovation and entrepreneurship.