What Trader Joe’s Tells Us About Strategy
Chicago Booth’s Ram Shivakumar explains how the grocery chain has thrived, and what it says about business strategy in a highly competitive market.
What Trader Joe’s Tells Us About StrategyAcademic Areas Strategy and Leadership Faculty and Research
At Booth, a key component of our mission is to educate current and future leaders.
The strategy and leadership faculty at Chicago Booth are producing groundbreaking research that they incorporate into the Booth classroom—from the use of strategy to predict business failure or success to the application of behavioral science theory to leadership, strategy, creativity, and innovation.
In addition to conducting their research and teaching the next generation of leaders, our faculty are active in making an impact in their communities—from providing their insights to the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic to serving on Illinois governor JB Pritzker’s Commission on Equitable Early Childhood Education and Care Funding.
Faculty in this area are sought after by global media outlets, including Bloomberg, and they win top awards, such as Crain’s Chicago Business’s 40 Under 40.
Strategy and Leadership Faculty
At Booth, you’ll find that a number of strategy and leadership courses provide students with an experiential approach to learning.
The Leadership Studio is an innovative and first-of-its-kind course that uses fieldwork and leadership coaching to help students learn, practice, and unleash leadership agility throughout their careers. Interpersonal Dynamics takes an experiential-learning approach to help students build interpersonal communication skills, learn how they are perceived by others, and use emotions as an information channel. Leadership Practicum offers students three invaluable inputs toward helping them develop: the fundamentals of leading, guidance toward building a personal development strategy, and coaching to accelerate development.
Discover more about our strategy and leadership faculty, including the classes they teach, below.
Featured Research in Chicago Booth Review
Discover some of the latest research from our strategy and leadership professors.
The Valedictorian’s Fallacy
A rigorous regime of training and testing provides inadequate preparation for professional advancement.
The Valedictorian’s Fallacy
Don’t Avoid Workplace Conflict
Chicago Booth’s Lisa Stefanac says that clashes between colleagues contain valuable information.
Don’t Avoid Workplace ConflictOur MBA Concentrations in This Area
Strategic Management
Build the skills you need to create and implement key strategies—and shape the structure and functioning of your firm.
Strategic Management
Choose Your Path to Success
Tell us about yourself, and we will show you the value of a Booth education.
Strategy and Leadership Faculty in the News
Could assembling Google Chromebooks come back to bite us?
December 8, 2025 | Profit
“Whenever a country promises to buy a product in order to secure a substantial investment, they become the company’s essential customer in that country,” Chicago Booth’s John Paul Rollert says of Google’s plans to build a plant in Pakistan.
How a polka-dotted pumpkin became the world’s most coveted art installation
October 26, 2025 | Washington Post
“If you can show an artist that has this kind of universal appeal for all ages without a controversy and still has real artistic chops and real depth, it’s kind of a win-win,” says Chicago Booth’s Mary Ittelson of sculptor Yayoi Kusama.
Partnering across the University of Chicago and Beyond
Our strategy and leadership faculty members are active in and outside of Booth.
Harry L. Davis and Robert H. Gertner serve as trustees of the National Opinion Research Center (NORC) at the University of Chicago, and Christina Hachikian serves on Illinois governor JB Pritzker’s Commission on Equitable Early Childhood Education and Care Funding.
Apply to Faculty Positions
Learn more about applying to our open faculty positions and joining the world-renowned faculty at Booth.
Apply to Faculty Positions
Learn About Our Research Workshops
Our research workshops provide a forum for faculty, PhD students, and invited guests to present, discuss, and debate new research.
Learn About Our Research WorkshopsResearch Centers in This Area
Research centers across Booth and the University of Chicago are hubs for innovation and world-changing research. The centers provide our faculty with research support, and our faculty members lend their expertise to the centers, enriching the student experience and the broader academic community at Booth.
Harry L. Davis Center for Leadership
The Davis Center for Leadership supports students and alumni in developing leadership identities and skills.
Harry L. Davis Center for Leadership
The Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation
Booth’s social impact hub harnesses the power of business to make the world more sustainable and equitable.
The Rustandy Center for Social Sector Innovation