Deirdre has completed a Bachelor of Engineering, specialising in Civil Engineering at University College Dublin, Ireland. Then, she completed a Master of Science in International Business and Management, before completing a Master of Research in Business Strategy at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, both graduating with Cum Laude (First Class Honours). Since 2020, she has been completing her PhD at WBS in the Strategy and International Business Department, focussing on how corporate development activities and ownership structures impact firm level outcomes and decision-making.

Research Topic

Ownership; Private Equity; Mergers & Acquisitions; Divestments; Corporate Governance; Organisational Learning.

Summary of the research area

Deirdre’s research focuses on ownership lifecycles and structures, with particular interest in how ownership structures shape corporate development activities, and how these interact to create or inflate value. Her current work focuses on Private Equity as a transient ownership form, and how their acquisition and divestment decision-making and performance is shaped by their ownership structures and practices. She is also interested in how learning in complex ownership structures occurs across governance layers, and how these change over time.

Supervisors

Professor Koen Heimeriks

Professor Sotirios Paroutis