STRATEGY, MANAGEMENT & ORGANISATION
The Strategy, Management and Organisation (SMO) specialisation is designed
for the academic, research-oriented student – a student who wants to study and
research new aspects of management theory and practice. Our objective is to provide an
environment in which talented scholars can develop key cross-cultural and cross-national
theoretical issues in management, and make significant contributions to the field through
path-breaking research, publication in leading journals, and teaching. PhD students in SMO
have the option to pursue their doctorate either with an emphasis in strategy or in
organisational behaviour. Each student, with the aid of faculty advisors, develops a
specific programme of specialised study.
The strategy field is designed to increase the
understanding of ways in which organisations function and of the factors that contribute
to firm performance. The study of a company’s external environment, strategic
resources, and capabilities and the organisation’s internal structure form the
foundation for analysing management decisions that have a fundamental impact on the
organisation. Major topics include corporate strategy, corporate governance, firm
performance, strategic decision-making processes, theory of the firm and top management
team processes.
The organisational behaviour field provides students with
conceptual frameworks for understanding human behaviour in organisations. This field
focuses on the individual and/or small groups as the unit of analysis in an organisational
context. Specific emphasis is placed on cross-cultural and intercultural implications of
organisational behaviour in the global environment. Research includes subjects such as
culture and personality, work motivation and satisfaction, negotiation, power and
influence, leadership, organisational learning, decision-making and team processes, and
strategic human resource management.
The intensity of the programme requires energy and passion in the pursuit
of knowledge, and a willingness to master behavioural sciences, economics, and statistics
that are the essential components of academic research in business-related disciplines.
Regular dialogue between students and their faculty advisors is instrumental in guiding
them through the programme and in helping them integrate coursework with their unique
research interests. By promoting interaction between students and faculty members, the
programme also allows students to make significant contributions to the overall research
activity of the school. Students are encouraged to adopt a comparative and international
perspective in their research and will be taught to employ the tools and insights of
economics, strategic management, sociology, social psychology, psychology, and other
disciplines to analyse a range of issues.
MANAGEMENT FACULTY & THEIR RESEARCH INTERESTS
ANG, Soon
PhD (University of Minnesota)
Strategic outsourcing, managing high technology professionals, and cross-cultural
competencies and organisational behaviour.
A
AHAD M. Osman-Gani
PhD (Ohio State University)
International HRD, cross-cultural & expatriate management, international technology
transfer, and quality/performance improvement.
BECK,
John Edward
PhD (Manchester University)
Management education, expatriation, and cross-cultural organisational behaviour.
CHEW, Irene
PhD (University of New South Wales)
International human resource management, achievement orientation, and cross-cultural
organisational behaviour.
DAS,
Shobha S.
PhD (University of Minnesota)
Business strategy and the management of innovation.
FANG, Yong Qing
PhD (Concordia University)
Cross-cultural organisational behaviour, and justice at the workplace.
CHAN, Teng Heng
PhD (University of London)
Change management, management consulting, training and learning, techology trends and
thought leadership.
HO, Janice
PhD (Nottingham University)
Organisational health and work stress.
KHATRI, Naresh
PhD (State University of New York)
Charismatic and visionary leadership, strategic decision making, and strategic human
resource management.
LEE, Chay Hoon
PhD (University of Cincinnati)
Cross-cultural organisational practices, work attitudes and organisational behaviour, and
strategic planning and performance of small businesses.
LI, Shu
PhD (University of New South Wales)
Human decision making, post-decision dissonance, cultural orientation and competitive
decision-making and collective-culture associated effects on general risk taking
behaviour.
QUAZI,
Hesan A.
PhD (Sussex University)
Total quality management, and environmental management.
TSANG,
Eric
PhD (Cambridge University)
Organisational learning, strategic alliance and resource-based theory.
TSUI-AUCH Lai Si
PhD (Michigan State University)
Organisational learning and Asian business networks and systems.
WEE, Beng Geok
PhD (University of Hull)
Strategy implementation and organisational change programmes, structuration theory and the
transfer of social technology and systems thinking in managing complexity.
FUNCTIONAL COURSE DESCRIPTIONS
Students in the management specialisation must choose at least two of the
following courses as part of their coursework component.
| Seminar in Organisational Behaviour |
This seminar offers theory-
and research-based perspectives on organisational phenomena at the micro-level
(organisational behaviour) and meso-level (interplay between individual behaviour &
organisation) of analysis. Contemporary issues include entrepreneurial behaviour; employee
attitudes and commitment; quality management; person-organisation fit; integrative
negotiation behaviour in teams; stress, coping and well-being in organisations; career
management; crisis management; diversity management; individual and team empowerment; and
the management of organisational change. |
| Seminar in Organisation Theory |
This seminar provides an
introduction to the key issues and perspectives in organisational theory, including the
classic origins of the field and the current research themes and ongoing debates. It also
discusses major theoretical lenses used to examine organisations such as rational models,
contingency theory, transaction cost theory, agency theory, power, resource dependency,
network analysis, population ecology, and institutional theory. |
| Seminar in Strategic Management |
This seminar examines
issues related to the allocation of resources that enables firms to improve their
performance. It focuses on the classical foundations and the cutting edge research in
strategic management. This seminar covers strategy content (strategies used by firms and
their effect on performance) as well as strategy process and implementation
(organisational structure, control, and process issues whereby strategies are executed). |
| Contemporary Issues in Organisation
Sciences |
This seminar is intended to
explore selected research topics in organisational sciences in greater depth. Students
will be expected to acquire an in-depth understanding of the selected research topics,
including theoretical issues, major empirical research, and the future direction of the
research. Students will also be required to propose and undertake a research project. |
| Contemporary Issues in Social Sciences |
This seminar provides
students with an overview of theory and research in the social sciences. The seminar will
focus on the major areas of psychology, social psychology, and/or sociology, and will
reflect a convergence of faculty and students’ interests. Students will analyse key
research papers in the selected areas and will present for discussion the main research
questions, theories, methodological approaches and findings of these papers. |
