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July 20, 2005

Wilma W Suen, PhD: Considering Corporate Collaborations From a Broader Perspective

For Fletcher PhD ('02) Wilma Suen, entering the book publishing market was a natural next step after her academic work. "I put together what I thought would be a compelling story [for] people who want to think about issues... Fletcher research is often very accessible, reaching beyond the lines of traditional academia."

Lucky for Suen, her research on private sector collaborations was not only accessible, but also highly marketable and relevant in today’s business world. Non-Cooperation: The Dark Side of Strategic Alliances (Palgrave, 2005) draws from Suen’s experience consulting with both public and private sector clients, including a stint with a major global airline alliance. In today's economy, however, Suen's research is more pertinent than ever: as it becomes more perilous for companies to "go it alone"; mitigating this risk through cooperation has become a common occurrence, and even leading academic and business conferences have devoted entire tracks to the issue of alliances.

Yet with the prevailing perspective in cooperation literature being "very pro, very positive," Suen has opted to take "a more realistic look." Acknowledging, unlike her peers, that "non-cooperative impulses will always exist," Suen chose to focus the book on "the forces and influences on firms that lead them to not want to cooperate."

Originally from Vancouver, Suen pursued a Masters Degree at the London School of Economics before heading to Fletcher in 1996. Initially, Suen had considered going to business school, but she decided that unlike MBA programs, Fletcher "has a much broader outlook on business, which isn't just about 'running the company,' but also dealing with the regulatory, political and legal issues that crop up."

Suen embraced an interdisciplinary approach in her PhD, applying international relations theory to a business context Working with Fletcher Professors Lee McKnight and Bob Pfaltzgraff, and bringing Brandeis Professor Ben Gomes-Casseres into her research, Suen completed the PhD in just three and a half years, submitting "Firm Power and Interdependence in International Strategic Alliances" as her dissertation. Although much of her research applied to the publication of her book, Suen found that the revision process entailed "more re-writing than revising," as she expanded her work into book format.

Now back in Canada, where "partnerships have always been part of the operating approach, more so than with [U.S.] counterparts," Suen is looking to see where her newly minted expertise can take her. "I've been lucky to be working in an area most directly related to my PhD in the past few years," says Suen. Now going into the field seems like the right fit: "I'd like to be on the implementing side." No doubt her innovative yet realistic perspectives will lead her to continued success.

Article by Stephanie Lindenbaum, MALD '05

Posted by jessica at July 20, 2005 08:30 AM