Entrepreneurship Case Study

Dear Members of the Admission Committee,

I am applying to the PhD in Business Administration program to further develop my research interest in entrepreneurship and strategy. I wish to explore how nurturing entrepreneurship in family businesses influence growth and continuity. I am also interested in examining the competitive dynamics of small and medium businesses in Canada, as they attempt to internationalize and compete in developing, emerging and transitional economies.

The economic impact of family firms is significantly high (Astrachan, and Shanker 2003), and the level of a family 's influence on the firm, measured on a continuum of power, experience and culture (Astrachan, Klein, and Smyrnios 2002) distinguishes them from other types

Such environments require firms to develop and acquire capabilities to adapt to the surrounding changes to overcome challenges related to weak institutional infrastructures. According to the Resource-Based View, firms’ valuable and rare resources, and their ability to organize capabilities can explain how some companies develop and sustain competitive advantage (Barney et al., 2001). Dynamics Capability Framework is concerned with building abilities to better adapt, integrate and reconfigure valuable resources toward changing environment (Teece, Pisano, & Shuen, 1997). However, among the emerging economies, the institutional development level and economic development varies greatly (Hoskisson et al 2000). I am therefore interested in exploring how the Resource-Based View or the Dynamics Capabilities Framework can inform market entry strategies, entry timing and partner selection for companies that are internationalizing from developed economies to emerging economies. I am also interested in understanding the firm 's market entry and development decision making process, when there are few different plausible strategies that align with its

I see myself in the future as part of a cohort of researchers immersed in investigating and developing new knowledge that will further advance the management field. I want to work within an educational institution that is an advocate of advancing research in entrepreneurship, family business, and strategy.

During my visit to the program in November, I had the pleasure to meet with Dr. Peter Jaskiewicz and discuss my research interests. Working alongside Dr. Jaskiewicz will help me expand and evolve my ideas and will present to me a positive learning opportunity to develop my research in family business and entrepreneurship. I also explored the research areas of Dr. Rick Molz and Dr. Michael Carney, whose works intersect with my interests. I admire their active involvement in entrepreneurship, strategy and international business and I am certain that their ideas will be invaluable to my doctoral research.

Engaging with the research community at Concordia will also allow me to explore the intersection of the roles of educator, practitioner and researcher in Business Administration, and how each role feeds into and informs the other. I look forward to proactively contribute in the dissemination of research knowledge to academics and