Voices 

Emma SjöströmEmma Sjöström joined the PhD programme in 2003. She is analysing how shareholders are influencing corporations to take responsibility for environmental and social matters ("CSR"). She is also a co-founder of SuRe - Sustainability Research Group at the school. Recently Emma visited Hong Kong University for six months thanks to a grant from SSE. Emma Sjöström holds an MSc in Business and Economics from Uppsala University. She was previously a marketing assistant at Alstom Power Sweden and at IBM in New York. After four years in the business world she decided to go back to school for her PhD degree.

"The PhD programme gives me a unique opportunity to deepen my knowledge and expertise within an area that I feel passionate about. When I was an undergraduate student I always thought about PhD students as dorks that couldn’t get a "real job". Now I know better: Life as a PhD student at SSE is for ambitious and socially competent people who choose to devote time to something they feel very strongly about. I think there is good opportunity for interesting careers after having completed this programme."

Jonas GunnarssonJonas Gunnarsson took his masters at the Stockholm School of Economics in 1993 and joined the PhD program. He presented his PhD in 1999 on behavioral segmentation and consumer behavior in the financial services sector. A year after completing his PhD, he joined ICA as Market Research Manager. ICA is Sweden's largest food retailer with stores in Sweden, Norway and the three Baltic States. He maintains ties with the research community.

"The SSE's PhD program provided me with the necessary tools to elevate ICA's market research function to the next level. In the Department for Marketing there were strong ties with the food retailing industry and the financial services industry. This provided me with the right network for both my own research and subsequent work within ICA. The atmosphere at the SSE was warm and informal. The PhD program was well-structured, with plenty of opportunites to study abroad. Whether you work in Sweden or internationally, the SSE is a well-known brand that facilitates post-doc projects or working in the business or government sector."

Martin Carlsson-Wall Martin Carlsson-Wall received his masters at the Stockholm School of Economics in 2002 and joined the PhD program in 2003. His research concerns management accounting in outsourcing relations, specifically focusing on product development activities. Parallel with his PhD thesis, Martin has written several papers and book chapters, which have been presented at international conferences. In 2005, he was awarded the Hedelius-scholarship.
This made it possible to conduct a research exchange at the University of Alberta, the best accounting department in Canada. Additional to his research, Martin has been a teacher at both the master program and various executive education programs.

"I have always been quite an entrepreneur. Therefore, it was quite surprising for some of my friends when I joined the PhD-program. However, having done a research internship in the fall of 2002, I realized that academia offers a lot of freedom. It is really a big 'smörgåsbord'. During my time at SSE, I have been able to combine research, teaching and international exchanges. This has enabled me to sharpen my analytical capability and build an international network of research colleagues."