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Jason Park

Doctoral Candidate in Strategic Management

Degrees

Bachelor of Arts cum laude in philosophy, Harvard University

Profile

I am interested in corporate strategy, specifically the drivers of mergers and acquisitions (M&A), to which I apply organization and strategy theories and rely on quantitative as well as case-based methods to empirically test my model's fit to the data patterns. My dissertation analogizes from complex adaptive systems (CAS) such as avalanches in sandpiles and earthquakes in plate tectonics to aggregate U.S. M&A waves from 1895 through 2008 to integrate prior economic, behavioral and sociological explanations. My first essay supports a CAS model by observing a Paretian power-law distribution for the wave system. My second essay utilizes CAS concepts through a within-case analytical technique called process tracing to generate a multi-level process explanation of the first U.S. M&A wave of 1898-1903.

Dissertation committee:

  • Dr. Ravi Madhavan (Chair), Associate Professor of Business Administration, University of Pittsburgh
  • Dr. Benoit Morel, Associate Teaching Professor, Department of Engineering and Public Policy and Department of Physics, Carnegie-Mellon University
  • Dr. John Prescott, Thomas O'Brien Chair of Strategy, University of Pittsburgh
  • Dr. Frederic Schlingemann, Associate Professor of Finance, University of Pittsburgh
  • Dr. Sue Cohen, Associate Professor of Business Administration, University of Pittsburgh
  • Dr. Kevin Kim, Associate Professor of Psychology in Education, University of Pittsburgh

Research Interests

  • Phenomenon
    • M&A
      • Cross-border/domestic
      • M&A waves
      • M&A time-series analysis
      • Diversification M&A
      • Vertical integration
    • Environmental uncertainty
  • Theory
    • Complexity theory
    • Behavioral theory of the firm
    • Information processing theory
    • Resource dependence theory
    • Transaction cost economics
    • Punctuated equilibrium/Evolutionary theories
  • Methodology
    • Paretian statistics
    • Power/Zipf/Pareto laws
    • Quadratic Assignment Procedure (QAP) regression
    • Case study
    • Process tracing
    • Time-series modeling

Submitted Papers

  • Park, JW, Morel, B & Madhavan, R. 2009. Riding the wave: Self-organized criticality in merger and acquisition waves. Under review at Organization Science.
  • Park, JW & Madhavan, R. 2009. The uncertainty spread as a predictor of diversification mergers and acquisitions. Under review at Organization Science.

Working Papers

  • Park, JW, Kim, K & Shi, W. Merger and acquisition patterns and strategic business cycle management.
  • Iriyama, A, Park, JW & Madhavan, R. Resource dependence theory and cross-border corporate acquisitions.
  • Park, JW & Madhavan, R. If opposites attract, do they engage or marry? Patterns of inter-industry collaboration for strategic alliances and mergers and acquisitions.
  • Shi, W. & Park, JW. Social capital of middle managers: How, why and when does it change?

Presentations

  • Park, JW, Morel, B & Madhavan, R. 2009. Self-organized criticality in Gibrat's Law: Evidence from merger waves. Strategic Management Society conference, Washington, D.C.
  • Park, JW & Madhavan, R. 2009. Do opposites attract? An industry-dyad perspective of the effect of environmental uncertainty on diversification. Strategic Management Society conference, Washington, D.C.
  • Park, JW & Kim, K. 2009. Mergers and acquisitions and strategic business cycle management. Academy of Management annual meeting, Chicago, IL
  • Caner, T & Park, JW. 2008. Putting different eggs in one basket: Antecedents and consequents of alliance portfolio diversity. Strategic Management Society conference, Cologne, Germany
  • Iriyama, A, Park, JW & Madhavan, R. 2008. The influence of resource dependence structures on M&As in an international context. Academy of Management annual meeting, Anaheim, CA.
  • Iriyama, A, Park, JW & Madhavan, R. 2007. Cross-border mergers and acquisitions and domestic/international resource dependence structures. Strategic Management Society conference, San Diego, CA.
  • Park, JW & Madhavan, R. 2007. If opposites attract, do they engage or marry? Patterns of inter-industry collaboration for strategic alliances and mergers/acquisitions. Academy of Management meeting, Philadelphia, PA.

Service

  • 2007-present. Katz Organizations & Entrepreneurship Department Brown Bag Seminar Series Coordinator. External speakers include:
    • Gerry McNamara (Michigan State University)
    • Alfie Marcus (University of Minnesota)
    • Xavier Martin (Tilburg University)
    • Mohan Subramaniam (Boston College)
    • Pat Gibbons (University College, Dublin)
    • Raja Roy (Drexel University)
    • Amy Edmondson (Harvard University)
    • Shyam Kumar (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
    • Joseph Mahoney (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
    • Sandra Robinson (University of British Columbia)
    • Michael Pratt (Boston College)
  • 2006-07 Colloquium Coordinator of Katz Doctoral Student Organization (DSO). Liaison for faculty and doctoral students and organizer of doctoral student events

Awards and Honors

  • 2008 Student Honoree, University of Pittsburgh's 32nd Annual Honors Convocation
  • 2007-08 Recipient, Sunoco Chemical Fellowship
  • 2007 University of Pittsburgh's David Berg Center for Ethics and Leadership research grant ($1,000)
  • 2006 Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business Dean's Office Small Grant ($2,500)
  • 1997 - present. Varsity Club Member, Harvard University Lacrosse Team
  • 1993 - 97. Jazz DJ for WHRB 95.3-FM, Harvard Radio
  • 1989 & 1990. Solo piano performances at Carnegie Hall, NYC