Entrepreneurship - PhD in Management

Entrepreneurship research at INSEAD seeks to understand the creation and growth of new organisations and markets, the renewal of existing companies, the creation of new businesses within existing firms, innovation, and family business in a global world. The area conducts research from the lens of management fields such as organisation theory and strategy and social science disciplines such as sociology, economics and psychology. It addresses the challenges and opportunities of building and developing new business as a mechanism for value creation.

The faculty members of the Entrepreneurship and Family Enterprise academic area are widely recognised for their excellence in research, as reflected by their prolific publications in top academic journals and their leadership positions in the academic community. Our outstanding faculty members serve as senior, associate and guest editors of leading journals in the management fields, such as Administrative Science Quarterly, Organization Science, Academy of Management Journal, and Strategic Management Journal, to name a few.

The expertise and research interests of the Entrepreneurship faculty include:

• nascent entrepreneurship
• serial entrepreneurship
• social entrepreneurship
• incumbent and new entrant strategic alliances
• the role of networks and social capital in the entrepreneurial process
• innovation and entrepreneurship in large firms
• business model innovation
• managing growth and value creation
• organisational change and evolution
• leadership in entrepreneurial firms
• management buy-outs and buy-ins
• private equity, venture capital and corporate venture capital 
• family business
• entrepreneurship in emerging markets

Visit the Entrepreneurship Academic Area Page

   Download the Entrepreneurship Course Template 

Candidates can come from a wide range of academic backgrounds in social sciences, sciences, management, technology and engineering, to name a few. Prior research experience is helpful but not an absolute necessity.

Given the Entrepreneurship area's approach to research, students will receive training in the foundation of organisation theory and strategy, core knowledge of entrepreneurship, and research methodology, so they have the essential tools to conduct rigorous research. In addition to receiving classroom instruction and discussion, participants will also work closely with faculty members who engage in the frontier of research in diverse areas. Through the PhD in Entrepreneurship, candidates lay a solid foundation for their research and identify and build promising research agendas.

Download the Call for Applications 2025 intake.

Here are some of our current students' backgrounds in the area:

• BA Economics and MA in Finance
• BA Business Administration and MS Organisation Theory
• BSc Business Administration and Organisational Communication and MSc International Marketing and Management
• BA Economics, BA Business Administration and MSc Finance and Economics
• BA Economics
• BA Finance and MSc Global Political Economy
• BS Marketing and International Business
• MEng, Manufacturing Engineering Tripos
• BA Finance and Banking, and MA Erasmus Mundus Joint European Master on Comparative Local Development

View the current Entrepreneurship PhD students' profiles.

Our PhD specialisation in Entrepreneurship is designed to cultivate exceptional academics at leading universities and business schools. Graduates have gone on to secure positions at top-tier institutions worldwide, including Imperial College London, Bocconi University, University of Washington's Foster Business School, and University of British Columbia, among others.

To learn more about the incredible achievements of our Global PhD Alumni Community, please visit our website.

We encourage prospects to plan for their application for the PhD in Management. Application for the following year's intake starts in the early Fall of the current year, with a preferred deadline of mid-December.

Go to the Admissions and Financing page

Moreover, we encourage prospects to attend our upcoming recruitment events or register below to receive the URLs of the Special Area Webinars we have conducted over the years.

Registration Link