Faculty

Daniel Blake is a professor in the Strategy Department, where his research and teaching activities center on the political, legal and institutional environment for business, with much of his work focusing on the heterogeneous conditions firms encounter in different contexts around the globe. “Many firms today,” he says, “have no alternative but to compete internationally by servicing markets abroad and internationalizing production.  As firms do so they encounter a variety of political and institutional contexts, both domestic and international, that pose diverse challenges as well as opportunities for managers.”

Dr. Blake’s research has focused on several dimensions of firms’ non-market operating environments including the international legal regime governing foreign direct investment, the sources of political risk and its effects on investment decisions, and the role of political institutions in shaping the emergence and activities of multinational firms from developing and emerging market economies.  In all of these areas he finds considerable diversity in how governments have sought to manipulate the operating environment for businesses and how firms have responded to political forces and institutional incentives.  “Understanding why firms and political actors adopt different strategies, and why they succeed and fail, is invaluable from a practical standpoint,” he asserts.

It is such an understanding that he seeks to develop in his students in courses such as Business, Government and Society. His background in political science enables him to help students appreciate the factors that underpin firms’ broader environments and drive the behavior of non-market actors such as bureaucrats, regulators, political parties, NGOs, international organizations and judicial bodies. “Understanding these factors is a prerequisite to effective management in many contexts,” he argues, adding that, “successful managers will be aware of how their activities fit into, as well as shape, the broader political and social context in which they operate.  They will know who the key actors are, understand what motivates them, anticipate what strategies they are likely to pursue and will therefore be able to respond effectively.”  

Education

• Ph.D. Political Science, Ohio State University, 2010
• M.A. Political Science, Ohio State University, 2006
• B.A. International Relations, Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, May 2004

Academic Experience

• Professor of Strategy, IE Business School, 2011-Present
• Fellow, Niehaus Center for Globalization and Governance, Princeton University, 2010-2011
• Senior Fellow, Program in Statistics and Methodology, Dept. of Political Science, The Ohio State University, 2009-2010
• Instructor, Dept. of Political Science, The Ohio State University, 2007-2009
• Research Associate, Dept. of Political Science, The Ohio State University, 2004-2007