SUSIE CHOE

PHD CANDIDATE IN STRATEGY, ROSS SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

I'm Susie Choe, a Ph.D. candidate in Strategy at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. I am also a Ph.D. research fellow at the Ross Equitable Opportunity Lab

I am currently on the academic job market for 2024-2025.

My research explores the intersection of sociology, entrepreneurship, and market dynamics. Specifically, I study how producers' ascribed identities (e.g., ethnicity, race) shape their value creation and capture strategies, competitive advantages, and market positioning, with implications for broader societal stratification.

My dissertation examines how ascribed identities (“who produces”) shape the returns to their strategic choices (“how one produces”) in markets, particularly related to evaluations of authenticity, cultural brokerage and appropriation, and price positioning. I examine these questions across various market and entrepreneurial contexts, including Yelp restaurant reviews, the global art market, and Google business reviews. Empirically, I employ a mixed-methods approach, integrating archival data, experiments, case studies, text analysis, and AI-generated stimuli. This research has been selected as a finalist for the 2024 INFORMS/Organization Science Best Dissertation Proposal Competition. It has also been acknowledged by the Strategy Research Foundation (SRF) Will Mitchell Dissertation Research Grant (WMDRG) and the Ross DEI Research Award.

My interest in the sociological influences of strategy and the role of business in society stems from my experience co-founding a startup company and working at a UNESCO branch in South Korea. I grew up in Dallas, Texas, and attended schools in Seoul, Korea. Currently, I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

You can find my CV here and contact me at susiech@umich.edu.

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