– DOCTORAL OR POST-DOCTORAL OFFER –
"Don't Waste a Crisis: CEO & Board Team Strategizing in turbulent contexts"
Using video-ethnography to study strategic decision making
The CEO & Strategic Management Hub at HEC Montréal invites promising students with an outstanding academic record to apply for admission to the PhD Program in Management, Strategy, and Entrepreneurship. The application deadline is January 6, 2023 for the September 2023 cohort. We also seek post-doctoral students who can apply anytime for the position.
The doctoral or post-doctoral students will be committed to a study that examines decision making among CEOs and their board teams during statutory meetings (board meetings, ex-com, etc.) using innovative qualitative methods such as video-ethnography.
The students will work with a research team that includes researchers who are recognized in their field:
- Alaric Bourgoin, Associate Professeur, Dpt of management at HEC Montréal
- Linda Rouleau, Full Professor, Dpt de management at HEC Montréal
- Feng Liu, Associate Professor, Dpt de management at Saint Mary's University
- Michael Jarret, Professor of Management Practice, at INSEAD
For consideration, please email your CV with a cover letter to Alaric Bourgoin at alaric.bourgoin@hec.ca
Brief summary of the study:
CEOs and boards of directors make critical decisions that are fundamental to corporate survival and performance. Researchers argue that contexts of crisis and turbulences complicate CEOs and boards decision making process: they have to deal with novel issues for which they have no precedent or policy; they have to work with information overflow on the one hand and lack of information on the other. As a result, they have to spend significantly increased amounts of time on deliberative discussions to explore different options, weigh competing alternatives, and prioritize; and more challengingly, they have to do all of these with maximum efficiency during extreme uncertainty about the future. In this proposed research program, we will specifically focus on these deliberative discussions and examine how CEO-board interacts when they make strategic decisions in contexts of turbulences. The overarching methodology for this program of research is video ethnography. This method is highly suited to identifying and analyzing micro-behaviors and interactions, as it captures how the combination of different modes, that is, talk, gestures, movement, tools, texts, are used in concert.
Candidates:
Applicants must have completed a master or a Ph.D. in a relevant discipline (e.g., Sociology, Psychology, Communication, Strategy, Management, Organizational behavior, Philosophie or Political Sciences) within the last three years. In addition, they should be interested in observing and analyzing behavioral dynamics in board meetings. Furthermore, they should have fluency in written and spoken English, the ability to work cooperatively, and strong organizational skills. Fluency in French in an asset.
Employment conditions:
Location: Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Start Date: Depends on the profile. For the Ph.D. program, the application deadline for the Fall 2023 enrollment is January 6, 2023. For detailed instruction on the application procedure and the required supporting documents, please visit the PhD Program admission website. For post-doctoral position, the position is open now and until filled.
Salary: To be negotiated. The research program benefits from a government funding.
Presentation of the CEO & Strategic Management Hub:
HEC Montreal has recently created a one-of-a kind research center bridging together former and actual CEOs of leading Canadian organizations, with professors in Strategy, Organizational Behavior and Organizational Theory. This research center will benefit from unparalleled access to Canadian CEOs and top executives thanks to its wide network of participants. The aim of the center is to offer relevant insights to the new generation of CEOs through the production of cutting-edge research on three broad themes:
- The CEO as an individual (personality, work-like balance, image and status, gender, etc.)
- The CEO as an architect at the top (strategic orientations, dynamic capabilities, change capabilities, cultural change, etc.)
- The CEO as a leader of the top management team dynamics (TMT, strategic dialogue, strategy as practice in meetings, collective decision making, etc.)
HEC Montréal offers a vibrant research environment, where PhD students can develop their skills, collaborating with multiple researchers, faculty, and students, not only from HEC Montreal, but also from other Montreal universities. Members of the Departments of Management and Entrepreneurship cover a wide range of research interests and have published in the top academic journals.
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Marie-Ann Betschinger
HEC Montréal
Montréal QC
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