PhD in Department of Strategy and Innovation

Updated: 27 days ago
Deadline: 29 Feb 2024

PhD in Department of Strategy and Innovation

Copenhagen Business School invites applications for a number of vacant PhD scholarships (2-3) at the Department of Strategy and Innovation. Expected starting date is 1 September 2024. 

The Department of Strategy and Innovation’s (SI) research is focused on strategy, innovation, entrepreneurship and international business.  The department’s ambition is to host an internationally leading environment for research and teaching within the broad area of strategy. The department’s research is generally cross-disciplinary. Faculty members have backgrounds in management, economics, sociology and economic geography. The theoretical foundation for research in these areas is eclectic, combining strategy, innovation, and/or internationalization theory with insights from economics, sociology, psychology, and economic geography. The department has 45 faculty members (professors, associate professors, tenure track assistant professors), 8 administrative staff, and 30 members of staff who are hired on temporary contracts as research assistants, post docs or PhD students.   

The department puts substantial emphasis on the solid application of scientific research method. The department has a pluralistic approach to research methods that includes, for example, formal theoretical models, quantitative empirical methods such as (lab and field) experiments, econometric applications to register data or survey data, as well as qualitative research methods. PhD project proposals should be based on coherent theoretical arguments and contain well-informed methodological considerations.  To find out more about the department please go to https://www.cbs.dk/si . 

Project topics

SI particularly invites for PhD project applications pertaining to the following broad topics, although applications that address other topics within the research scope of the department will also be considered (please indicate the number and title from the list below in your project proposal):

  • The role of human-AI interactions in scientific knowledge production and science-based innovation: Scientific research and science-based innovation have become less productive due to the increasing complexity of problems and the burden of past knowledge accumulation. Scientists must specialize, work in larger and more diverse teams, and process vast amounts of information to generate new and societally relevant knowledge. While artificial intelligence (AI) offers potential solutions, research suggests that for more complex tasks, humans need to work closely with AI rather than delegate tasks entirely. This dissertation project focuses on the complementary interaction of scientists and AI in key stages of scientific research and science-based innovation, using a mix of qualitative and quantitative data analysis and experimental methods.
  • International supply chains and firm promotion of global sustainability: Firms make modest or even negative contributions when it comes to improving environmental sustainability and socially responsible behavior among both international customers and suppliers. The project seeks to explore strategies and incentives firms can employ to help addressing grand challenges like climate change and human rights in their global supply-chains. The project will apply econometric tools and build on unique combinations of longitudinal data using information on supply-chains, green patents, firm business conduct and environmental impact, and firm financials.
  • Gender inequality and Venture Capital: A very small portion of venture capital investments (less than 5%) goes to female entrepreneurs, with this gender gap being consistent across years and regions. Inequality in access to financing and the distribution of equity among new venture founders has potential implications for firm performance and constitutes an important component of the gender wealth gap in modern economies. This dissertation project investigates the antecedents of gender inequality and its effect on individuals and firms in different settings, using quantitative data analysis and experimental methods.
  • The green transition of firms and employees: Climate change is pressuring governments, firms, and society at large to achieve new sustainability targets. How can we accelerate the green transition of firms? Which regulations are most effective and under which circumstances? What is the role of human capital in this green transformation? What are the returns – for individuals and firms – of investing in the development of “green human capital”? These and related questions can be studied with quantitative methods and Danish employer-employee linked data.  
  • Financial markets and corporate innovation: There is increasing evidence that financial markets exercise feedback effects towards firms’ investment decisions. Prior research has shown that ownership structure, intermediaries, and the institutional environment can affect firm’s incentives to invest in innovation. However, beyond the rate of innovation, it is not clear whether firms’ innovation strategies are affected, such as the relative weight of internal R&D and external knowledge sourcing modes such as M&A or licensing. This project aims to provide new insights on the relationship between financial markets and firms’ innovation strategies.
  • Resilience in global value chains: Very tight global value chains make companies vulnerable in case of disruptions. This project will search for new ways of making the global value chains of companies more resilient. The project will build on register data from Statistics Denmark as well as own surveys.
  • Firm formalization: Around the world and especially in areas of widespread poverty, firms operate in the informal economy. The project will explore questions around the drivers, processes and consequences of informality and formalization. The PhD student will be able to use data from an ongoing field experiment in Uganda as well as collect primary data.
  • Political polarization and its effect on the strategic decision making of firms: Extreme parties have made gains in elections in many countries. They promise to constrain immigration, denounce foreign investment and offshoring, or raise doubts about new technologies such as vaccines or sustainable energy. This trend affects the growth strategies of firms because the political headwinds may make it hard to hire skilled experts from abroad, expand into foreign markets, or introduce innovative products. In this project, we want to understand which firms are particularly compliant or defiant in the face of political polarization and how they adjust their strategies. For this purpose, we will analyze large-scale data for election outcomes and firm behavior in Denmark.
  • The Mærsk Mc-Kinney Møller Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship welcomes proposals for PhD studies in the area of entrepreneurship: Topics to be investigated may include:
    • What leads individuals to create new ventures?
    • What makes some existing organizations more entrepreneurial than others?
    • Which strategies do people and organizations adopt to become entrepreneurial?
    • What are the implications of the strategies adopted for the success of the ventures?
    • What are the implications of the presence of such organizations for society?

    A diverse set of factors can be specifically considered to answer the questions above:

    • the constraints affecting entrepreneurial organizations and the strategies followed by them to engage resources in their ventures, namely in mobilizing funds, attracting employees, and founding and managerial teams;
    • the contribution of abilities/capabilities for entrepreneurship and the extent to which these are innate and how they are developed;
    • the geographical origins of people and organizations and their impact upon entrepreneurship, namely the forces affecting the creation of new ventures abroad and entrepreneurship by immigrants;
    • women entrepreneurship, namely the different extent to which women engage in entrepreneurial ventures and gender differences in the strategies and success in entrepreneurship.

    We seek proposals that will mostly use empirical methods. A particular strength of the department is in the use of large-scale microdata sets, in particular the excellent Danish micro-data, but other sources like lab and field experiments or other types of primary data like own surveys and secondary data collected by third parties can also be used.

    About the PhD program

    The three-year PhD program at CBS allows you to conduct research under the supervision of CBS professors, supported by research training courses. The program is highly international, and you are expected to participate in international research conferences and to spend time abroad as a visiting PhD student.  

    The PhD student will be enrolled in the CBS PhD School. The selected candidates will participate in the SI PhD cohort, which is a formal research-training program. This includes a package of foundational courses within the main SI research areas and methods courses (econometrics, experiments and qualitative methods).

    CBS PhD graduates are held in high esteem not only in academia and research institutions but also in government and business where their research qualifications are increasingly demanded. Recent SI PhD graduates have been successfully placed at institutions such as Pompeu Fabra, SKEMA, KTH, Tilburg University, Leeds University Business School, the University of Utah, and NOVA University Lisbon. 

    Qualifications
    The Department will give priority to applicants with the following qualifications: high grades from their universities, an educational background in the social sciences, and finally, the applicants must be fluent in English.

    To be considered for the 3 years program, the candidate should have a basic training at the Master’s level (similar to the 3 + 2 Bologna process and a total of 180+120 ECTS). However, applicants who hold a one- year Master’s degree may also be considered for evaluation. PhD students who enter the PhD program with a one-year Master’s degree (60 ECTS) will be offered a 4 years program and will be considered a Master’s student for the first 2 years of the program.  

    General information
    The PhD scholarship includes teaching obligations.

    The 3-year scholarships are fully salaried positions, according to the national Danish collective agreement. The scholarship includes the tuition fees, office space, travel grants plus a salary, currently starting with per month app. DKK 29,000 (app. 3,800 euro) up to DKK 34,000 (app. 4,500 euro), depending on seniority, plus a pension contribution totalling 17.1% of the base salary.  

    The salary level and appointment is determined by the Ministry of Taxation’s collective agreement with the Central Academic Organization. 

    The application
    Copenhagen Business School must receive all application material, including all appendices by the application deadline. Application must be sent via the electronic recruitment system, using the link below. 

    The application material must include: 

    • Copy of diplomas and grade transcripts from Bachelor’s and Master’s level education,
    • Curriculum vitae (CV),
    • If relevant, a list of papers and publications,
    • Sample of a written work (e.g. Master’s thesis), 
    • A 5-page PhD project description. This research proposal should contain a presentation of an original research question preferably pertaining to one of the projects listed above, a description of the initial theoretical framework and methodology, a presentation of the suggested empirical material as well as a work-plan. 

    Please find guidelines and further information on the website of the PhD School: https://www.cbs.dk/en/research/phd-programmes/admission .

    Recruitment procedure
    The Recruitment Committee will shortlist a number of applicants to be assessed by the Assessment Committee. All applicants will be notified of their status in the recruitment process shortly after the application deadline.  

    Applicants selected for assessment will be notified about the composition of the Assessment Committee and later in the process about the result of the assessment. 

    Once the recruitment process is completed each applicant will be notified of the outcome of their application. 

    To find out more about working and living in Denmark, please go to https://www.cbs.dk/en/about-cbs/jobs-cbs .

    Information meeting
    There will be an online information meeting regarding this call on February 8, 2024, from 15.00-17.00 (3pm-5pm CET). There will be a presentation of the SI Department and an opportunity to ask questions. In order to get a link for the meeting, please sign up at: https://cbs.nemtilmeld.dk/875/

    For further information please contact: PhD coordinator, Professor H.C. Kongsted, e-mail: [email protected] .

    Closing date: February 29, 2024.

    Closing date: 29 February 2024.

    Apply online


    CBS is a globally recognised business school with deep roots in the Nordic socio-economic model. Our faculty has a broad focus on societal challenges, and we have earned a reputation for high-quality disciplinary and interdisciplinary research and education. 

    We are located at Frederiksberg and have approximately 20,000 full and part-time students, 800 full-time faculty members, 200 PhD students and 700 administrative staff, and a full portfolio of bachelor, master, MBA/EMBA, PhD and executive programmes taught in English and Danish. 

    Our global profile carries the obligation to address critical challenges in our research and to develop the transformational capabilities of students, graduates and business leaders via our educational activities and opportunities for lifelong learning. Complex challenges call for joint action, and therefore our strategy focuses on strengthening current and starting new partnerships with other sciences, the business community, authorities and civil society.

    CBS is working continuously on becoming a diverse and inclusive organisation, and we encourage all regardless of gender identity and expression, ethnicity, religious beliefs, LGBT+ status, cultural background etc. to apply.
    Reach out to us if you need assistance in the application or recruitment process, if there is something we should know, or if as a person with disability you wish to make use of your preferential access.



    Similar Positions