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Hi there! I am a high school student who is been admitted by two fairly renowned b-schools (hkust and bocconi), and I am seriously considering the possibility of becoming a b-school professor in strategic management, which requires a Phd. To better prepare myself, I started learning the basics of the subject several months ago, but I've really no idea as to whether my method is appropriate or not: this is why I would like to ask for your kind help! I would like to list my learning approaches, and I was wondering if I might have your opinion on them. My current approach is to read undergraduate-level textbooks and the works/papers by the most authoritative figures in the field. I also write my understanding/insights and then aggregate them into my OneNote notes. I've used this approach for several months now, but somehow I think that I am really not doing enough: by doing this, all I can gain is probably an undergraduate-level understanding of strategic management, which is really far from enough. So I have been thinking about adopting another approach. I have been browsing prestigious/good b-schools' websites to find out their Phd curriculums for almost a day, and luckily, it seems like that Bocconi and Wharton were generous enough to publish their Phd curriculums in detail, specifying their materials used and so on (Bocconi: PhD IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT - Bocconi University Milan ; Wharton: PhD Course Descriptions - Management Department). Of course, the essence of a Phd education is discussion and exchange of ideas, not just some study materials. But my study options are really somehow limited, and I think the following will be my study plan: 1. Knowing the basics. I still need to learn the basics of the field, and I think I am going to do this by 1)reading some undergraduate-level textbooks and 2) following undergraduate/mba level curriculums published by Wharton. 2. Delving into the field. This phrase somehow troubles me. I have been able to find several good textbooks (e.g., "TheBehavior Foundations of Strategic Management," EconomicFoundations of Strategy," and the like). And I intend to use them in conjunction with the curriculums published by the two above-mentioned b-schools and the most widely cited papers/works. But really, is this a good way? Without proper guidance, I fear about losing myself in the immense field of strategic management. Would you say that this is a proper way to study phd-level strategic management concepts? What would you do differently? 3. Choosing a small topic on which to focus my study and hopefully produce some papers that are worth of being published by some journal. This is because I would like to apply for prestigious/good universities for my phd/masters study. Also, this is the ultimate purpose of all my study: to land a job as a professor at a good b-school, which necessitates publishing papers in well-regarded journals. However, I have really no idea whatsoever as to how to pick a small topic in the field. Some people on the Internet suggest that I should read the conferences documents released by the top management journals. Would you say that this is a good source? Might I know how do phd candidates and b-school professors find ideas/topics to write about? Thanks for your time and reading! Any advice will be highly appreciated!

Hey Everyone, I am a strategic management applicant and I was wondering what the best way is to determine "rankings" for PhD programs. I see forum users talking about the top 5 or top 50 schools rather frequently and I am a bit confused about how this is being determined. I am trying to balance my research fit, which is of course the most important thing, with a quality school ranking so I can achieve a good placement upon finishing. I found the UT Dallas top 100 ranking and I am finding this to be the only real ranking available. Since I am in strategy, I ranked by journal and selected only the strategic management related journals through 2015 -2020. Although, there is much overlap with OB in terms of journals so it is hard to differentiate. I also tried only selecting Academy of Management (AMJ) and Strategic Management Journal (SMJ). The results do not seem to be representative of what people are saying. For example, Minnesota is ranked very high at number 4 for just AMJ and SMJ and yet I do not frequently see Minnesota hailed as Top 5. Yet Berkeley is 89th, Stanford is 61st, and Columbia is 26th and seem to be considered some of the best. Are these schools riding on their national reputation or MBA rankings? Or perhaps, on the non-management departments research? I guess I am confused if there is a better ranking system somewhere or if maybe some users here know the reputation for strategic management specifically among schools that might help me decide which programs will land better placements given that they have scholars focused on my research interest. Thanks in advance for your valuable insights.

Hi there! I was wondering if someone might be able to offer some insights into the level of prestige that Bocconi enjoys in the academic field of strategic management. I have done a quick research through the UDT ranking myself, and if one selects only the journals in the field of strategic management (i.e., AMJ, AMR, SMJ, ASQ, Org Science, and Management Science), it seems like Bocconi is a respected but not excellent research institution in the field. However, unsure about the usefulness of the ranking results since they do not take into account the differences in the faculty numbers at different schools, I would like to kindly ask some "insiders" to help me compare Bocconi against some other top research institutions. Specifically, would someone be so kind as to tell me how is Bocconi compared with INSEAD, Harvard, Wharton, HEC, HKUST, and so on IN THE FIELD OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT IN TERMS OF ACADEMIC STATUS? Is Bocconi among the top 10 or 20 most respected research institutions in the field? Thanks for reading and time!

strategic management track