Mohammad Bakhtiar Rana

I am an associate professor in international business and strategy at the Department of Business and Management in Aalborg University, DK. I completed my Phd in international management and strategy from the International Business Center at Aalborg University, followed by an MSc in international business from the Stirling Management School, The University of Stirling, Scotland, UK. During the MSc study I had spent one semester at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands, and studied courses on the specialization of international marketing, which was run by the ‘European Academic Consortium for Management Studies’. I also completed MBA in marketing followed by a Bachelor of Business Studies in marketing from the University of Rajshahi, Bangladesh.

My PhD study focused on European multinational enterprises strategies’ in emerging economies, particularly in Bangladesh. Using a business systems perspective and institutionalism, I investigated how multinational subsidiaries legitimized their behavior in emerging markets, and what roles did national institutions, civil society actors, and transnational communities play in the process of internationalization, legitimization and sustainability.

Currently my research focuses on three broad themes: 1) MNEs internationalization and strategies for legitimization and sustainability in emerging markets from the comparative institutionalism and business systems perspectives; 2) Firm's innovation and technology adoption (AI, modular technology) in relation to product strategies in international marketing and international management; 3) Business models (including circular economy), firm capabilities, and competitive advantage of Western firms and Emerging market firms. I have worked on several large MNEs such as Novo Nordisk, Arla, Glaxo Smith Clyne (GSK), Nestle, Telenor (Grameenphone), and am currently working on Oticon, H&M, Bestseller, & Kube Data. In addition, I have also worked on Bangladeshi multinational corporations such as Walton Electronics, DBL Group, Micro Fiber Group, GMS Group (Apparel), ABA group (Apparel), and Interstoff Apparel.

I primarily work with qualitative techniques and case study methods, but am interested to work with panel data and quantitative techniques.

I have published in leading academic journals such as International Business Review, Journal of International Management, Advances in International Management, and so forth.

I personally enjoy travelling, reading books, and watching movies. I am a black belt in Karate (Shotokan), and I enjoy training it.