Analytical Methods for Strategy Research

HBSDOC 4115 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

The purpose of this course is to help PhD students in the field of strategy (or closely related fields) become better consumers and producers of theory – both from a conceptual and from a methodological perspective. The course will look both at the nature of good theory – what makes something a theory and what makes it a good theory – and the methods used to derive theory – from modeling and formal analysis over simulations to inductive and qualitative approaches. (It will not focus on field research, as there are more focused courses for that.) Whereas the course will discuss papers from strategy and closely related fields, it is not a survey of models in these fields or any subfield but will simply draw on these literatures to provide material to learn about theory and theory development. At the same time, the ultimate focus will be intently on the strategy field (and areas that feed directly into strategy).

Prerequisites

The course is for PhD students intending to do research in strategy or closely related fields. (Master students will not be admitted.) Prerequisites for the course are HBS 4010 and 4011 (Micro-economics 1 and 2) and HBS 4110 (Foundations of Strategy) or equivalent. 
Equivalencies must be approved by the instructor. Only more advanced courses or very close equivalents will be approved.