Michael J. Mazzeo is a Professor of Strategy and a Faculty Associate at Northwestern University's Institute for Policy Research. He serves on the editorial board of the Review of Industrial Organization. He joined Kellogg in 1998 after completing his PhD in economics at Stanford University.

Mazzeo's research focuses on empirical industrial organization, in particular developing new statistical methodologies for examining the relationship between product differentiation strategies and market competition. He has published papers based on research in the airline, banking, health care, lodging, retail and telecommunications industries. He is also a co-author of the book: "Roadside MBA: Backroad Lessons for Entrepreneurs, Executives and Small Business Owners."

Mazzeo teaches Strategy courses in Kellogg's MBA and EMBA programs. He is a three-time recipient of the Chairs' Core Course Teaching Award and won the Best Elective award for EMBA in 2020.  Mazzeo is currently the Faculty Director for Kellogg’s Evening & Weekend and MSMS programs and served as Senior Associate Dean: Curriculum and Teaching from 2017 through 2020.

Industrial organization, organizational economics, strategy

• PhD, 1998, Economics, Stanford University
• AB, 1991, Economics, Urban Studies, Stanford University

• Professor, Strategy, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2021-present
• Faculty Associate, Institute for Policy Research, Northwestern University, 2007-present
• Associate Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 2005-present
• Assistant Professor, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University, 1998-2005

• Sidney J. Levy Teaching Award
• EMBA Outstanding Professor Award, 2019-2020
• Emmy Award Nominee – National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, San Francisco/Northern California Chapter in the “Informational/Instructional Program/Special” Category
• Recipient -- Key to the City, Dothan, Alabama
• Samsung Patent Prize, Stanford University, 2011
• Honorable Mention, Dick Wittink Prize, Quantitative Marketing and Economics journal, 2010

• Editorial Board, Review of Industrial Organization, 2004-present

Competitive strategy

Kellogg Internship Half-Time (STRT-514-N)
non-credit course for Kellogg students participating in an approved part-time internship

Intl Practicum/Cross-Cultural Management Practice (STRT-512-5)
This course was formerly known as MGMT 512-A
Intl Practicum/Cross-Cultural Management Practice

Strategies for Growth (STRTX-475-0)
"Strategies for Growth" is about effectively scaling a business. Because growth is an imperative for many organizations, it is crucial to understand the strategic fundamentals underpinning profitable growth. Therefore, the course connects frameworks from economics and strategy to the experiences of firms attempting growth initiatives to illustrate why some businesses can scale successfully while others struggle. The cases and examples in this course will focus on "middle-market" companies - organizations that are beyond the initial startup stage and are explicitly looking to expand their business. The case materials include first-person accounts of the challenges of growth for these companies, as collected in interviews conducted during the research stage of my "Roadside MBA" project (www.roadside-mba.com). The cases will be supplemented with discussions of strategy frameworks that can be used to extrapolate from experiences of these specific firms to general insights about growth and scaling.

Frameworks for Strategic Analysis (STRTX-430-5)

Strategic Thinking (STRTM-910-5)


Field Study (STRT-498-0)
Field Studies include those opportunities outside of the regular curriculum in which a student is working with an outside company or non-profit organization to address a real-world business challenge for course credit under the oversight of a faculty member.

Strategies for Growth (STRT-475-5)

This course is about effectively scaling a business. Because growth is an imperative for many organizations, it is crucial to understand the strategic fundamentals underpinning profitable growth. Therefore, the course connects frameworks from economics and strategy to the experiences of firms attempting growth initiatives to illustrate why some businesses can scale successfully while others struggle.

The cases and examples in this course will focus on "middle-market" companies - organizations that are beyond the initial startup stage and are explicitly looking to expand their business. The case materials include first-person accounts of the challenges of growth for these companies, as collected in interviews conducted during the research stage of the professor's "Roadside MBA." The cases will be supplemented with discussions of strategy frameworks that can be used to extrapolate from experiences of these specific firms to general insights about growth and scaling.