Visiting corporate strategy scholar presents research

Dr. Asli Colpan, associate professor of corporate strategy at Japan’s Kyoto University Graduate School of Management, presented “Business groups in late-industrializing nations: Characteristic resources and competitive dynamics” to Penn State Harrisburg School of Business Administration faculty on Feb. 12, 2013.

The presentation aimed to “provide a systematic and balanced understanding of the nature, characteristics, and welfare effects of [business groups in late-industrializing nations] from theoretical, empirical, and internationally comparative perspectives.”

Away from Kyoto University, Colpan is a visiting professor at Harvard University’s Reischauer Institute and a visiting scholar at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her research areas include corporate strategy and governance, business history, and the evolution of large enterprises in developed and emerging economies. Author and editor of multiple publications, her work and findings have been published in journals including Industrial and Corporate Change, Journal of Management Studies, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, and Corporate Governance: An International Review.

“Dr. Colpan is a prolific researcher, and her recent research interests include studying ‘diversified business groups’ in emerging markets,” said Dr. Refik Culpan, Penn State Harrisburg professor of management, who organized Colpan’s visit. “She has been collaborating with top scholars at University of California, Berkeley; Harvard University; and MIT in the U.S., and with other prestigious institutions around the world.”