Bahman (Ben) Ashraf Semnani

PhD Candidate & Contract Instructor

• PMP (Project Management Institute, USA), MSc. in Executive Management-Strategy, BSc. In Electrical Engineering-Electronics
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Ben Semnani is a PhD Candidate in Management at the Sprott School of Business, Carleton University, specializing in Strategy. His research focuses on business ecosystem strategy and governance, ecosystem-level capabilities, and AI-driven platform ecosystem governance. His doctoral research focuses on Ecosystem Ambidexterity as an ecosystem-level dynamic capability, examining how business ecosystems collectively pursue exploration and exploitation simultaneously, the impact of ecosystem focal firms’ governing practices on Ecosystem Ambidexterity and the impact of Ecosystem Ambidexterity on ecosystem members’ Organizational Ambidexterity. 

Ben has been awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS). He has also presented his work at the Academy of Management (AOM), the European Academy of Management (EURAM), and the Administrative Sciences Association of Canada (ASAC). In addition, Ben served as the Strategy Division’s Coordinator for ASAC 2025, served as the Strategy Division’s Editor for ASAC 2026, and will continue in this role for ASAC 2027.

Before entering academia, Ben accumulated nearly 18 years of industry experience, primarily in the IT/ICT sector, including approximately 15 years in managerial roles. His professional experience spans project and program management, technology management, business development, commercial management, marketing, and corporate strategy. He has led and contributed to complex technology and business initiatives and worked across organizational and functional boundaries in both local and international business environments. He is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP). This extensive industry background informs both his research interests and his emphasis on addressing strategically relevant problems faced by organizations and managers.

Ben has extensive teaching experience at the undergraduate and graduate levels at Carleton University, Queen’s University, and Algonquin College. He has taught courses such as Corporate and Business Strategy, Conflict and Negotiation, and Power and Influence in Sprott’s eMBA program. He also taught Organization Theories, Marketing Research, Entrepreneurial Strategies, and Project Management at Sprott School of Business. At Queen’s University’s Smith Business School, he taught Digital Strategy and Transformation. His teaching emphasizes contextual learning, real-world managerial application, and interactive learning, drawing on his industry experience to connect theoretical concepts with the practical challenges faced by managers and organizations.

Ben welcomes opportunities for research collaboration with scholars whose interests complement his own. He is particularly interested in collaborative and interdisciplinary projects that bring together different theoretical, methodological, and practical perspectives to address meaningful research questions.

Supervisor: Dr. Stelios Zyglidopoulos