Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship

RSM’s department of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship is one of the largest and most diverse of its kind. The department focuses on the consequential strategic decisions that executives, entrepreneurs, and managers make in order for people, organizations, industries and societies to thrive in today’s dynamic and global business environment. It ranks among the best in Europe in terms of research productivity and impact.

At the department of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship we strive to do high quality research that addresses important big challenges of organisations and society. Translating these findings into world-class teaching and actionable tools and techniques is key to our mission.

Prof. Vareska van de Vrande, Department Chair

Our expertise is in significant strategic decisions

The focus of all our research, teaching, and outreach activities is on the significant strategic decisions that firms need to make so people and organisations can thrive in today’s dynamic and global business environment. Such decisions involve organizational challenges, innovation, business development, corporate venturing, strategic change, exploration and exploitation of firm resources and capabilities, ownership and governance of firms, corporate development such as mergers and acquisitions and divestitures, internationalization, and the challenges that come with managing firm activities across different institutional contexts in which contemporary business takes place. In essence, our focus is on navigating the major strategic challenges that firms are confronted with in today’s business landscape.

Our core activities

Our faculty aims to combine innovative teaching, engagement with business and societal leaders, and rigorous research, to provide a rich source of novel thinking on a wide variety of critical topics ranging from strategic organization, strategic consulting, strategic entrepreneurship, corporate governance, knowledge and innovation, strategic decision-making to global strategy. The department of strategic management and entrepreneurship is involved three core activities:

Research: As an academic institution, our expertise is based on our research. This means that we seek to develop and disseminate knowledge that is innovative, evidence-based, and that can meet the highest academic quality standards as well as being a force for positive change in the world. We also feel that our research ultimately serves to improve economic value creation in the broadest sense of what ‘value’ should be taken to mean.

Education: In order to help develop current and future business leaders, we leverage our expertise and disseminate our knowledge through the 13 educational programmes in which we are involved. Many educational programmes at RSM include personal development as well as skills and knowledge, and prepare students, academics and people in business to be a force for positive change as critical, creative, caring and collaborative thinkers and doers.

Impact: As a department of strategic management and entrepreneurship we cannot afford to live in an ivory tower. We therefore engage actively with both business and societal leaders in order to develop research questions that matter, acquire resources to help fund our core activities, and secure the most fitting placements for our graduates. Specifically, we seek to actively involve leading firms in our educational programmes so that students learn from experienced business leaders, while firms can meet our students and spot the best talents that we are helping to develop.