More than 40 dissertations and 12 finalists, but only one winner: Eli Broad Graduate School of Management doctoral student Linda Shi.

Shi, who received her bachelor's from Zhongshan University in Guangzhou, China, won a doctoral support award from a joint competition between the Teradata Center for Customer Relationship Management at Duke University, and the Institute for the Study of Business Markets at Pennsylvania State University.

Shi's dissertation proposal, "Global Account Relationship Management: Sources of Competitive Advantage and Performance," addresses global management - how a international company can deal with a global customer.

"There have only been a few papers that address how to measure a supplier's capability and global abilities to structure a successful global strategy," Shi said.

Shi, who came to MSU two years ago, previously worked for Procter & Gamble in China as a financial and auditing manager, where she gained experience in her field and with American culture and language. However, she still had to adjust to the American education system and MSU.

"The education system here is different," Shi said. "I am pursuing a research degree, so I have research-intensive seminars, doctoral discussions, everything here is more research-oriented."

Shi hopes to receive her Ph.D. and "become a tenured professor at a prestigious research university."

As to whether she would prefer to teach in America or go back to China, Shi said that it depends on where she gets a job offer.