Michael J. Mazzeo is an Associate Professor in the Department 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.

Mazzeo's research focuses on empirical industrial organization, in particular the role of differentiation and product choice in firm strategy and market competition. His work has focused on developing new statistical methodologies for examining the role of product differentiation in markets, and quantifying these effects in studies of a variety of industries. Mazzeo 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. He joined the faculty in 1998 after completing his PhD in economics at Stanford University.

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

• 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

• 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

Based on time-tested economic principles for profitability and growth, this program offers strategy-focused leaders a blend of modern theory, strategic analysis and practical application for sustaining an organization’s long-term competitive advantage.

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.